Enamel loss

[Guest]

Hello everyone,

As you might know by the title I am embarrassed to go to my dentist for fear of what he would say about the condition of my teeth.

He has been my dentist since I was 5, i am now 23 and I am still embarrassed to go to him now. I Know this is common but I still cant get myself over it. I want to get help and get them fixed but I just fear everything about it. I have had fillings done before but havent really seen him reguarly since i was about 15 or 16. He has always been nice and has not made any insulting comments that I can recall But I still feel embarrassed to go.

Last time I was there was in august to get a wisdom tooth out because it was killing me, it wasnt impacted or anything just messed up i guess. He gave me novicaine at least 3 times and it still hurt like hell when he was pulling the tooth and I let him know but grunting a couple times saying "Oww" I felt like such a wuss at 23 years old and being a male.

The problem with my teeth are numerous but they are not black or anything like that. Talking you really wouldnt notice anything besides the light yellow shade.

What the problem is I noticed is that 5 or 6 of my teeth are starting to lose enamel from the gum line exposing the dentin and I am SO SO SO Scared that my dentist for some reason will insult me and I fear that there is no fix for this and the enamel will continue to erode away. I do not know how they fix this but if its painful I will not know what to do. Also I have a cracked tooth and I am scared that it will get infected also I have a lower wisdom tooth that is still there but rotted out and i am scared it will spread to the other teeth and maybe this is what is causing the enamel to erode away. Also several fillings have fallen out and I am scared because 2 of them have no tooth left on the edges so he cant just yank them out, he would have to drill straight up in them, ouch!!!!

I do not have dental coverage only health care but my dentist knows this and I just do payments. For my tooth removal he only charged my $50 and sometimes when I went he didnt charge me at all!!!

It is so frustrating because I have always managed to brush my teeth once a day and the past couple weeks have been doing it 4 TIMES A DAY. When I see people who have great teeth and they never see a dentist or they dont brush regularly it just makes me mad and I get so frustrated because I cannot be like that. My mom and dad both had bad teeth my mom had to get false teeth and my dad goes to the dentist all the time. My dentist says some of it has to do with genetics so I guess I am screwed.

I am so so so scared and dont know what to do. I guess I can call him and tell him how I feel about the embarrassment and just let him know everything that is wrong with me. What kind of fixes can they do for my losing enamel problem? The other stuff I know what he would do but this part has really got me scared.

Thank you for listening to my wussy ramblings.

 

[Guest]

Hi there,

I guess I can call him and tell him how I feel about the embarrassment and just let him know everything that is wrong with me.

Great idea

Losing enamel could be due to various things, for example over-enthusiastic brushing or grinding the teeth in your sleep. The usual advice is to use a toothpaste for sensitive teeth (because the affected areas are often more sensitive due to dentine exposure). If you're applying too much pressure when brushing, you may want to switch to an electric toothbrush which has a built-in function to slow down if too much pressure is applied (generally these are higher-end rechargable ones, e.g. Oral B 3D). If the enamel loss is more severe, it's possible to put some white bonding material over the affected area to protect it.

This would be a very common cause of the problem you're describing. Of course, it would be best to ask a dentist in person. Maybe try and get recommendations for other dentists if your current one has trouble getting you numb?

 

[Guest]

Thank you for the comments, it makes me feel a lot better.

 

[Guest]

Can't really add anything to this, other than to suggest that you could do a couple of simple things:
1) Don't brush your teeth immediately after eating, especially if it's something acidic like an orange, the enamel is softer after eating and can be abraded more easily. Leave it about 20 mins at least.
2) Don't "swish" soda around your mouth when you drink it, most of these drinks are about as acid as car battery liquid and have the "bonus" of about 14 spoons of sugar in a can. Even the sugar free sodas are acid enough to literally dissolve the enamel off your teeth.

Sensodyne works better to stop sensitivity if it's massaged into the sore area with a finger, rather than used as a toothpaste. Make sure you leave it in place, don't go rinsing out when you're finished.