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Depression flare up because of dental issues

F

FM30992

Former Member
Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?

So I recently started "being and adult and taking care of my teeth" and now my anxiety and depression are through the roof. And not just about any potential upcoming procedures and dentist visits but about food in general. I'm depressed because I feel like I screwed up my oral health and I'm anxious about eating ANYTHING because I don't want to make anything worse. So right now I'm so upset that I WANT to eat the candy I have in the fridge or the cookies in the cabinet, but I'm scared because it's SUGAR and I have 3 cavities with fillings and a 5 that are in the "watch and see" stage. Or what if something gets stuck in between my teeth? What if I eat a sharp chip and I cut my gums? I'm a mess. I know a lot of it is indeed the anxiety, but it's hard to talk yourself down off of the ledge, you know?

(This explains where I am currently:https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/forum/threads/gulp-deep-cleaning-on-tues.28804/ )
 
To answer the question whether anyone else experienced this phenomenon? The answer for my part: absolutely. I have hardly ever have been such a mess emotionally like during the period of tackling my dental fear.. and that period was a long one. I also have been avoiding certain foods for several years.

You are tackling your anxiety right now and the fact of having appointments and procedures coming up makes you think about dental stuff more, worry about how the procedures will be, worrying about how your anxiety will be.. and a chain of many other thoughts... and as anxiety is about avoiding dentists, one of the understandable fears is that things may get worse or new stuff that needs attentions may come up and make you need more extensive treatment and as you are worrying about this, you indeed look for ways to avoid it.. and there comes the last part - if you don't have a passion for dentistry yourself and do not have a trusted dentist who can explain to you how teeth work, your anxiety/imagination are happy to come up with images about what needs to happen for things to get worse and that's where ideas such as "if I eat this candy, I will end up needing further treatment" or "if I eat ANYTHING, I will potentially end up needing further treatment" comes in.

So I guess a part of this needs to get embraced, we are simply much more of a mess if we deal with appointments and another part can be solved by getting accurate information about how to look after your teeth and prevent damage. Here on the site we have very detailed articles about how to prevent tooth decay (or prevent it from getting worse), how to prevent gum problems, and how to prevent acid damage. I am confident that the information in those three will be hugely helpful for you and allow you to enjoy your candy (or eat at all!) and not feel bad about it :)
 
Absolutely. I had actually always had regular dental checkups, as I was scared that if I didn’t go I would have issues. I had a lot of work done as a kid and teen due to overcrowding.
Last year, I had a series of dental issues that brought my anxiety back full force. Depression as well. I lost about 15 lbs from being scared to eat anything not soft for fear it would cause more issues. I actually went on antidepressants for about six months, for what my doctor called situational depression.
 
Yes can relate a lot.. it starts to trick the mind so much, I had to go so many times back and forth to the dentist the last couple of years and my mind and life started to be obsessed with it. Especially the cavities or when i feel something gets sensitive i start to think about it. But it will come to a point that you are just done with it... you get bored of it. So maybe be more worried about it till the point you are like damn it start to bore me. Then do something else, start a project, hobby, maybe a business, things that give more meaning to your life. hope that helps
 
Yes. I was totally depressed for months. I cancelled a holiday, refused to go on another that got booked as a replacement
(sending my family without me, I pretty much stayed in bed for 3 days tbh), I didn't eat any breakfast or lunch because if my mouth was anything other than perfectly clean my teeth would hurt..
I did get to the point where I thought it's wasted energy and I'm trying, really trying, to work through my issues.
But if I'm honest, after a recent painful trip to the dentist for a deep filling (that feels too high and I still can't chew with) & is now beginning to cause pain (and will likely result in a RCT) I'm feeling pretty fed up again. I just can't get on top of it all.
I also had a filling on a front tooth, that I can still feel some weird feelings in.. as if my tooth is about to break/feels fragile. Its not changed the sensitivity I went with in the first place either.
I can only chew with the front left 6 or so. I still have 11 missing chewing/back teeth that will cost thousands, virtually the price of a small car to rectify. I still can't eat anything hard.. then I look at my husband, he constantly drinks juice, chews and eats what he wants and never seems to have any issues, where as mine are relentless. I just chipped a front tooth as they're all so thin they're transparent at the tips.
I don't know what the next 40 years looks like, but it's pretty grim from where I'm sat tbh, I probably started this journey 6 -8 years ago and they just seem to rot, chip or need pulling.

I would like to get a dog, look forward to holidays, enjoy Christmases and not worry the dentist is closed, but my teeth and the pain are front and centre of everything. As soon as I hope I've sorted one issue, another comes up.. I've not even made it 4 days with the last lot of work before the pain has flared up. I've still got tooth that will need to come out, another I'm convinced has decay/a hole in..

I've seen three dentists in 6months, all differing opinions, some found work where others didn't.. it's honestly overwhelming and confusing.. who to trust.

I did try Regenerate toothpaste and Gel, lots of ppl seem to have good results rebuilding enamel etc, I think mine are just to far gone. But it's worth a try.

In all truth I just try to ignore it all as best I can, I just keep going to appointments and hope I come across someone who can actually get me out of pain, hoping I don't drive my husband away in the meantime with my issues, complaints of pain and reluctance to plan anything.

There's a lot of people with happy success stories though. You just have to find someone who you can trust and do decent work I think.
 
Yes. I was totally depressed for months. I cancelled a holiday, refused to go on another that got booked as a replacement
(sending my family without me, I pretty much stayed in bed for 3 days tbh), I didn't eat any breakfast or lunch because if my mouth was anything other than perfectly clean my teeth would hurt..
I did get to the point where I thought it's wasted energy and I'm trying, really trying, to work through my issues.
But if I'm honest, after a recent painful trip to the dentist for a deep filling (that feels too high and I still can't chew with) & is now beginning to cause pain (and will likely result in a RCT) I'm feeling pretty fed up again. I just can't get on top of it all.
I also had a filling on a front tooth, that I can still feel some weird feelings in.. as if my tooth is about to break/feels fragile. Its not changed the sensitivity I went with in the first place either.
I can only chew with the front left 6 or so. I still have 11 missing chewing/back teeth that will cost thousands, virtually the price of a small car to rectify. I still can't eat anything hard.. then I look at my husband, he constantly drinks juice, chews and eats what he wants and never seems to have any issues, where as mine are relentless. I just chipped a front tooth as they're all so thin they're transparent at the tips.
I don't know what the next 40 years looks like, but it's pretty grim from where I'm sat tbh, I probably started this journey 6 -8 years ago and they just seem to rot, chip or need pulling.

I would like to get a dog, look forward to holidays, enjoy Christmases and not worry the dentist is closed, but my teeth and the pain are front and centre of everything. As soon as I hope I've sorted one issue, another comes up.. I've not even made it 4 days with the last lot of work before the pain has flared up. I've still got tooth that will need to come out, another I'm convinced has decay/a hole in..

I've seen three dentists in 6months, all differing opinions, some found work where others didn't.. it's honestly overwhelming and confusing.. who to trust.

I did try Regenerate toothpaste and Gel, lots of ppl seem to have good results rebuilding enamel etc, I think mine are just to far gone. But it's worth a try.

In all truth I just try to ignore it all as best I can, I just keep going to appointments and hope I come across someone who can actually get me out of pain, hoping I don't drive my husband away in the meantime with my issues, complaints of pain and reluctance to plan anything.

There's a lot of people with happy success stories though. You just have to find someone who you can trust and do decent work I think.
Hey Nicci, sorry to hear you have to go through all this.. it's a pain in the ass, least said. Going to all these appointments.. I had to go every week almost for a long time.. not that my teeth were super bad but dentist made a medical failure, I had the same as you the front teeth started to be thin because I grinded my teeth at night for years. So this dentist wanted to fix it with crowns in the front and he made everything worse.. to the point of having to pull those teeth. So please know you are not the only one and yes it's unfair others have no problems. I had that feeling for years 'why is this happening to me'... it caused lots of anxiety. If your filling is too high, he has to finetune it and make it lower so your bite is better.. this bad bite caused me lots of problems as well like stiff neck and shoulders pulled upwards.

You are very right it's super annoying because all dentist say different stuff.. i personally think having it as much natural is always best.. i don't know if you grind your teeth at night but maybe that's a start with a mouthguard, if the dentist sees it's damage from grinding teeth. With me they put a layer on those damaged molars and then i had to find lots of dentists to make the bite good again, so it's also bit risky. but for me it helped with sensitivity. first i think you have try to get rid of the pain, let them fill the cavities and let them numb it good so you won't feel it. step by step. it's good that you try different dentist till you find a good one.. but i know like no other it's painful, also financially..

I want implants on the teeth that i now miss in the front and that's annoying i'm thinking about the costs to in the future but i got to stay in the present moment. step by step. first the goal is pain free, lower fillings that are to high so bite is better.
hope that helps if you need talk just message
 
Hey Nicci, sorry to hear you have to go through all this.. it's a pain in the ass, least said. Going to all these appointments.. I had to go every week almost for a long time.. not that my teeth were super bad but dentist made a medical failure, I had the same as you the front teeth started to be thin because I grinded my teeth at night for years. So this dentist wanted to fix it with crowns in the front and he made everything worse.. to the point of having to pull those teeth. So please know you are not the only one and yes it's unfair others have no problems. I had that feeling for years 'why is this happening to me'... it caused lots of anxiety. If your filling is too high, he has to finetune it and make it lower so your bite is better.. this bad bite caused me lots of problems as well like stiff neck and shoulders pulled upwards.

You are very right it's super annoying because all dentist say different stuff.. i personally think having it as much natural is always best.. i don't know if you grind your teeth at night but maybe that's a start with a mouthguard, if the dentist sees it's damage from grinding teeth. With me they put a layer on those damaged molars and then i had to find lots of dentists to make the bite good again, so it's also bit risky. but for me it helped with sensitivity. first i think you have try to get rid of the pain, let them fill the cavities and let them numb it good so you won't feel it. step by step. it's good that you try different dentist till you find a good one.. but i know like no other it's painful, also financially..

I want implants on the teeth that i now miss in the front and that's annoying i'm thinking about the costs to in the future but i got to stay in the present moment. step by step. first the goal is pain free, lower fillings that are to high so bite is better.
hope that helps if you need talk just message
Thank you very much for your reply ?
I don't think I grind my teeth, they're not smooth on the edges (I assume that's what you get with grinding), they're just transparent.. one of the dentists said it was because of my bite, they're rubbing on the outside of my lower teeth, not helped by me chewing with front teeth only.

I'm trying to be a bit more positive (believe it or not), I think it has just worn me down over a long time. I've a few other health issues so I think I have a low tolerance (mentally and physically) for pain.. I get fed up of struggling and know I could be happier if I were well. I guess it just takes more effort, besides, some people are in a lot worse a position than me x
The ew failing is still hurting (bit more today), but I'm just trying to take it as it comes, if I have to go back again that's just what I'll have to do. I just need to get my natural teeth stable before I can focus on partials.. and trying not to think of the cost just yet lol Anyway, don't want to hijack this thread more than I have. I just want to say i appreciate your reply.thank you again, I hope you're doing well x
 
@Gijsbon how many of the crowned teeth had to be pulled? Are you now wearing a partial?
 
@NickP1101 Hey Nick, excuse me for the late reply.. so yeah, I had 4 front upper teeth crowned, then got a lot of problems with them and the nerve pain.. so 3 of those 4 teeth had rootcanals.. multiple times actually..

it was a big problem, so then still I felt really sick and my body started to have fibromyalgia symptoms but no doctor didn't really know what was going on.

So I decided to let the dentist pull out those rootcanal treated teeth with crowns on top of them.. they were already coloured because it's basically dead tissue

I had to try a lot to find that dentist who wanted to do this because dentists are not against rootcanals.. and now I have since 2 years partials for the missing 3 teeth..

It's not that bad but it didn't heal my issues perhaps.. mainly the fibro issues that are actually worse then my teeth, I didn't care I just wanted to feel good again.

So yea now partail, maybe implants if I have the money in the future..
I started to have a weird smell in my mouth not sure why.. since these extractions

Long story short.. been a long road.. 4 years going to dentists almost every week because the bite and tmj problems as well.. I think the stress and trauma caused imbalances but I can now finally kind of cope with it and who knows I completely heal in the future..

How are you? is your dental fixed and physical health ok?
 
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