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Dental treatment soon after approx. 10 years

Well I know I said I wasn’t gonna update again but still feeling down. Just feel like all my teeth with fillings are doomed. When I had my fillings as a kid, nobody really explained to me the life cycle of a tooth with fillings.

Fillings can last a very long time, depending on your own habits (diet, cleaning etc.) and how well they were made in the first place (we have some tips for finding a good dentist here). Here are some threads which might be useful:



So even though some fillings may need replacing somewhere along the line, it's not as if they'll all catastrophically break down every so many years ?.
 
Here’s a photo of my teeth after cleaning. Maybe I’ll feel better once my big cavities are
Fillings can last a very long time, depending on your own habits (diet, cleaning etc.) and how well they were made in the first place (we have some tips for finding a good dentist here). Here are some threads which might be useful:



So even though some fillings may need replacing somewhere along the line, it's not as if they'll all catastrophically break down every so many years ?.
Thank you. I am going to do all I can to keep my mouth clean and healthy for as long as possible. I hope I can keep the rest of my teeth for a very very long time.
 
Here’s my teeth all cleaned after my first cleaning in ten years! Can’t wait to get that front cavity fixed…hoping it just needs a filling like he thinks and no root canal. Will probably also feel better once my molar with a big cavity gets filled too and I know if I avoid rct on that one.

I will prob need root canals on all my molars eventually, just due to how deep the cavities are, but hoping I can avoid it for many years. I learned about “sealants” for the first time on this site. My molars had tons of grooves and I never had sealant as a kid, so maybe I could’ve had a better outcome for longer if I had.

Ps I know my lip looks weird but I was trying to see the whole teeth lol
 

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still feeling really jealous of people who went as long as me or longer and only had a few cavities. I have always had good hygiene but I guess there were some tears I should’ve flossed more. Just sucks. None of the sugar and carbs I ate was worth this feeling of hopelessness. I have a couple big cavities and I know those fillings won’t last forever. I hope I can make it ten years without any major dental work needed. Get me to 40 really, so 12 years. Would love a break from worrying about it. I hope I feel better after phase 1 of my treatment is done. Implant and healing of recent root canal is the other thing but I know I’m a good 6 months out from that unless pain happens so I don’t worry about that as urgently as getting my cavities fixed. As long as I have no pain after all the other stuff is fixed, I think I will be able to calm down a little. I hope! Don’t wanna spend the last two years of my 20s like this. Just wanna be able to stop the deteriorating of my teeth and turn things around for decades to come.

I know I’ll need crowns eventually, I just hope it can wait til middle age for most of my teeth. Crowns are beautiful, I just mean because I would feel like my mouth is holding up better the longer I can go without needing more
 
I think I’ll regret this for the rest of my life. I know this whole journal has just been me feeling sorry for myself, but I’ve been crying a lot so it’s nice to have a place to write it out into the void

Another conference room cry at work today. If my root canal I just had doesn’t heal then I’m going to be in a really sorry state even worse than now somehow.

I feel like I’m never going to enjoy food again out of fear. And even that may not be enough to save my teeth from getting worse. I truly hate myself at this point
 
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Felt a little better today outside of moments of panic about my recent RCT possibly not healing since the infection was so big. Won’t know for a while. Would love to hang onto this tooth for at least ten years.

Anyway…realistically I’m a long way off from needing all my teeth taken out. The dentist said so and I know that as long as I keep up hygiene and limit carbs and sugar to very rare occasions, I will be doing all I can do. At that point it’s up to fate I guess lol and the skill of my dentist

Getting my crown tomorrow. First crown ever since the whole reason I need a tooth extracted at all is due to not getting a crown on a RCT as a teenager. Hoping it goes well. Dentist #2 said he’d look it over and make sure it’s good, since Dentist #1 who I didn’t like much is doing it since I paid for it already.

I also know that unless I get very lucky, I will likely lose more teeth as I age. Namely my molars with big fillings. Dentist said crowns will eventually happen but I shouldn’t worry about that in the short to mid term. So if I’m VERY lucky, my some of my crowned teeth could last my life or til I’m super old. I’m just hoping by the time I need any additional teeth out…implants are even better and long lasting. Tech is improving all the time, so I hope they’re still working on making these things better and it will benefit me in the future.

I didn’t cry about my teeth at all today ?
 
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Izzy if you keep up a good regimen of brushing, flossing and visiting your dentist for cleaning regularly you will be fine and can eat what you want. It's when you fall of that regimen that things go to hell.
I am the most cavity prone person and I went for a good long stretch of about 15 years where I was very good. (After being very bad before that.) Then I moved to another location, didn't like the dentist I tried here and fell off the dental wagon. Now it's payback time. But in general if you visit the dentist every 6-months to 1 year your teeth are going to be fine for a verrry long time, probably your lifetime.
 
I also
Izzy if you keep up a good regimen of brushing, flossing and visiting your dentist for cleaning regularly you will be fine and can eat what you want. It's when you fall of that regimen that things go to hell.
I am the most cavity prone person and I went for a good long stretch of about 15 years where I was very good. (After being very bad before that.) Then I moved to another location, didn't like the dentist I tried here and fell off the dental wagon. Now it's payback time. But in general if you visit the dentist every 6-months to 1 year your teeth are going to be fine for a verrry long time, probably your lifetime.
thanks Booble! I always brushed but maybe didn’t floss enough and didn’t go for cleanings so hopefully that will make the difference to me. I really hope I can get stable here for a while. I’m going to try my hardest.

How are things going for you?
 
I got my crown. Took barely a half hour. The color is brighter than the rest of my back teeth since they made it to match my front teeth. It does kinda stand out with my mouth open but I’m not gonna worry about it too much for now since we don’t even know if my root canal will heal.

Will see what Dentist #2 thinks about it next week when he does my fillings, since he said he’d look at the crown and make sure it’s ok
 
Nice! I got my permanent crown yesterday as well.

I was nervous if I'd have another reaction like the migraine aura or worse yet the awful hands/heart/blood pressure thing which someone suggested to me might have been a form of anaphylaxis. I didn't need any anesthesia since it was a root canal'ed tooth and the dentist just put some cement in the crown and stuck it on and held it there.
But the thought of an allergic reaction to the cement was definitely on my mind.
 
Hi there! I’ve been reading over your journal & just wanted to pop in and wish you the best. I, too, avoided the dentist for 10+ years. I’d had a bad experience with a previous dentist & then insurance changed and the dentist I had at the time (and really liked) wasn’t covered under my new plan. I just went into some strange denial/avoidance pattern & stopped going. The fear and shame both just grew and grew. Finally, a bad tooth infection forced me to find a new dentist and make an appointment. I was petrified to even call to make an appointment, so I researched dentists in my area that are good with very (VERY!!) anxious patients and emailed. Long story short, found the perfect dental practice & initially just worked with them to get out of pain. Ended up needing a RCT and crown on the very painful/infected tooth. I worried about the RCT failing, but decided I’d take the risk of it meant keeping my own tooth. That was back in March & since then I’ve had 2 exams and cleanings, full X-rays, a few fillings replaced & another root canal (on a different, cracked molar). I’m one of those “older” people you speak of (I’m 47) and I’m doing just fine. Yeah, I’ve had a few fillings replaced (that were 20+ years old) and a couple root canals + crowns, but my teeth and gums as a whole are in good shape. Finally getting these things worked on has settled my mind so much. Thoughts of my teeth and losing my teeth don’t consume me 24/7 anymore. I will get a couple more fillings replaced and one more crown placed on a cracked tooth come January (when my benefits refresh) but aside from that, I don’t need to go back until beginning of April for a standard cleaning/exam appointment. I think my lesson in all of this is that no matter what, keep up with your yearly cleanings/exams, that way small issues don’t become huge issues. Big hugs! You’ll get through this & have many more years with healthy, beautiful teeth (your teeth look great to me in the photo you shared). ❤️
 
Hi there! I’ve been reading over your journal & just wanted to pop in and wish you the best. I, too, avoided the dentist for 10+ years. I’d had a bad experience with a previous dentist & then insurance changed and the dentist I had at the time (and really liked) wasn’t covered under my new plan. I just went into some strange denial/avoidance pattern & stopped going. The fear and shame both just grew and grew. Finally, a bad tooth infection forced me to find a new dentist and make an appointment. I was petrified to even call to make an appointment, so I researched dentists in my area that are good with very (VERY!!) anxious patients and emailed. Long story short, found the perfect dental practice & initially just worked with them to get out of pain. Ended up needing a RCT and crown on the very painful/infected tooth. I worried about the RCT failing, but decided I’d take the risk of it meant keeping my own tooth. That was back in March & since then I’ve had 2 exams and cleanings, full X-rays, a few fillings replaced & another root canal (on a different, cracked molar). I’m one of those “older” people you speak of (I’m 47) and I’m doing just fine. Yeah, I’ve had a few fillings replaced (that were 20+ years old) and a couple root canals + crowns, but my teeth and gums as a whole are in good shape. Finally getting these things worked on has settled my mind so much. Thoughts of my teeth and losing my teeth don’t consume me 24/7 anymore. I will get a couple more fillings replaced and one more crown placed on a cracked tooth come January (when my benefits refresh) but aside from that, I don’t need to go back until beginning of April for a standard cleaning/exam appointment. I think my lesson in all of this is that no matter what, keep up with your yearly cleanings/exams, that way small issues don’t become huge issues. Big hugs! You’ll get through this & have many more years with healthy, beautiful teeth (your teeth look great to me in the photo you shared). ❤️
Thank you so much for writing this out. I have spiraled a lot thinning I’ve ruined my teeth for life, but it does make me feel better to know that other people have been able to keep their teeth for many years after having issues! I get a bit obsessive over things and it causes me to only think about that one thing for days. And then I panic. But I’m trying to work through it and stories like yours help. I hope once I get everything finished I will have some relief for a while!

And thank you for saying that about my teeth :)
 
Nice! I got my permanent crown yesterday as well.

I was nervous if I'd have another reaction like the migraine aura or worse yet the awful hands/heart/blood pressure thing which someone suggested to me might have been a form of anaphylaxis. I didn't need any anesthesia since it was a root canal'ed tooth and the dentist just put some cement in the crown and stuck it on and held it there.
But the thought of an allergic reaction to the cement was definitely on my mind.

I’m so glad it went well. How scary it must be to have to worry that your body will have a reaction to the dental work that you can’t control! I hope that doesn’t happen again in the future
 
I have a son who’s 18 and also becomes fixated on something he’s concerned/worried about. He creates all of the “worst case scenarios” in his mind and tends to spiral when thinking about it. It’s hard and I understand the difficulties you’re going through. I’m glad you’re working with a therapist as you deserve to be happy and (relatively) worry-free. ❤️
 
I have a son who’s 18 and also becomes fixated on something he’s concerned/worried about. He creates all of the “worst case scenarios” in his mind and tends to spiral when thinking about it. It’s hard and I understand the difficulties you’re going through. I’m glad you’re working with a therapist as you deserve to be happy and (relatively) worry-free. ❤️
Thank you, you are so kind. And by the way, 47 is not old!!! Lol
 
Can I just say…I really hope they can eventually figure out stem cells in my lifetime. I would pay 10k a tooth ?

If they ever get to human trials I am applying! Lol
 
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Also I think my crown is too big? It’s for a premolar but is pretty much the same size as a molar. Gonna have dentist #2 look at it Wednesday. I trust him more as he’s more thorough. I’ll go with whatever he says

No biting issue so far or anything it just looks huge compared to the same premolar on the other side. And really looks about as big as the molar next to it. I’m not panicking about it though. So there’s a success! Hoping to have a good weekend since next weekend I’ll be recovering from wisdom removal and my one molar that I never got crowned as a teen :(
 
Having good days and bad days. Today is a not so good day. Really hoping everything turns out okay.
 
My mom told me today that they’d help me financially if my teeth got really bad. She doesn’t think it will come to that. I really think losing this tooth at 28 is messing me up psychologically. I hope I can have a successful implant and that this other root canal heals and lasts me at least a decade. It’s a lot for me to deal with emotionally. I don’t enjoy food anymore because I worry about how it could be affecting my oral health. Even when I’m not eating I’m worrying about my teeth.
 
Fillings with dentist #2 on Wednesday and extractions on Friday. This is gonna be a hard week for me. I’m already anxious about it. I’m very freaked out about getting this molar removed. Not the surgery but just the fact that it will be gone from my mouth. The worst part is both dentists made it sound like they could’ve saved it for more years if my childhood dentist I went to last December hadn’t grinded it down so much
 
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