C
CrimsonHorn
Junior member
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2009
- Messages
- 1
This is going to be a long post. I hope it gives others some courage. Sorry for my inevitable long-winded delivery.
I made my first trip to the dentist yesterday for the first time in at least 10 years. I just turned 23 years old and for all this time, I really didn't bother ever examining my teeth growing up. I should have had braces 10 years ago, because I have crowding on the left side on both top and bottom, enough to where 2 teeth came out further up the gum line than the other teeth. It's quite embarrassing, but also convenient because you can't tell I have that problem even when I smile, because I naturally developed a smile that hid those 2 teeth. What's even funnier about that is I have actually gotten compliments about my good teeth from time to time, and I always say thanks and then on the inside "if you only knew..."
The problem over the years has been my lack of flossing. Even when I tried to floss, it would always get stuck and was a real pain to get out because my bottom teeth are packed in really close. Last year my gums were bleeding quite easily for about 3 weeks, and I started a better brushing routine, and eventually my gums got better, but not to the point where I had fixed the problem. Last Saturday, I finally decided to examine my teeth thoroughly, and was pretty frightened by what I saw. About 3 teeth on the bottom row had been affected with significant calculus buildup, and the gum had receeded a bit. I even started noticing calculus buildup on almost every tooth on the top row, which looks better but I never realized this. I was just so stupid for never taking the time to do this but it was horrifying. I just KNEW that my teeth were going to fall out. I spent an entire hour thoroughly examining my teeth that night, and actually couldn't wait to call the dentist on Monday.
I'm not afraid of pain, or the dentist, but I'm afraid of humiliation. I think that has been the reason why I never took the time to do this. I just always thought that if my teeth look good enough from a distance (photo distance) then it's really not worth the time or effort to go to the dentist or get braces for my crowding. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Since my fear wasn't really dentists, but just the thought of humiliation that somebody would see these teeth and look at my gums, I decided to torture myself. After looking through the yellow pages ads and going to all of their websites, I chose the one dentist that specialized the most in cosmetic dentistry while still being a general practitioneer. I mean, their whole website was dedicated to all these frilly, superficial dentistry things like veneers, tooth whitening, etc. Well, I really chose these guys because I can literally walk to their office and their mission statement seems forthcoming and honest, but I figured if I really humbled myself by chosing that kind of dentist that I would get over it easier.
I'm so glad I made that choice. I called on Monday, and I asked if there was an opening this week for a new patient. She asked me if I needed (and then she lists off some of those more cosmetic things), and I just said, "No, you're not going to let me out of that chair when I get in there." She booked me for 4:00 pm the next day. Yesterday I go in there, and it's like every nurse and front office worker is a freaking supermodel. great, this is going to be awesome. Everybody in there had ridiculously perfect teeth. Quite embarrassing.
I get in the room, have a seat, and she asks me what I'm in for. Before I answer, she says, "Just not happy with where your smile is?" Yeah, something like that. I'm not even sure what I said, I just pulled my bottom lip down and let her see. "Yep, you've got gum disease." Really? WOW!!!!! She got the doctor to come in and have a talk with me. They were extremely nice people, and we talked about a few things. I told them I was actually going into health after I graduate, and how it's kinda pathetic I let my teeth get to this point. I really felt instantly at ease about my situation, because the doctor was very optimistic about what my results would be after taking 10-12 photos and having a general look. I was thoroughly surprised. I had built up this idea in my mind that I had the worst teeth ever.
We were going to do a scaling to get rid of all the buildup. "Do you want the nitrous oxide?" No, I'm a MAAAANNN!!!!!!!! I told her let's see how bad it is first. To be honest, it wasn't something I would look forward to, but the worst part was the suction fighting against the water irrigation and not drowning while she worked on my teeth. The pain was moderately painful at times, due to my tender and swollen gums, and I could just taste the blood. I was positive that my face would be gushing blood for the next 3 hours after we were done, but I wasn't really bleeding at all. She said I did extremely well, and was surprised I kept as still and quiet as I did through the process.
I'm going back in 2 weeks for them to do the x-rays and do a measurement to see how bad my peridontitis is. I'll probably ask for the nitrous oxide for that one. I'm not that much of a man. I can tell you this though, my teeth feel so good when I run my tongue over them. I can actually floss my lower teeth now, because so much buildup was removed. Of course, I expected to look in the mirror and see just how much gum I had lost over the years, but it looks very good! My teeth already look so much better now, and I still have swollen and disgusting gums, but it's amazing how much better everything looks without that calculus buildup. They said I would be sore for the next few days, but aside from taking a few Excedrin yesterday, I feel real good today.
I received nothing but a warm reception from everybody there yesterday. They liked the fact that I came there with complete humility and humor about the whole thing, and I told them that my goal was to have teeth like theirs, but I'm fully committed to the process of getting my mouth healthy and clean before we get there. It might be a month before I can go get braces, but already I can see this is going to be a great decision very soon. Even the doctor said, "You're going to be amazed at how different you look in just 2 weeks by getting rid of that bacteria."
After looking at all the pictures, it looks like I'm somewhere between simple gingivitis and early peridontitis. It's not really as bad as I thought. If I had waited another year though, it WOULD have been a lot worse. Please, if you're humiliated about your teeth, go today. Please, go today and save yourself years of worry and concern. If your real worry is worrying about getting braces because it will look bad, or you're embarrassed, just go in and be upbeat and positive and everybody around you will actually respect you and look up to you for biting the bullet. Nobody will worry about how you look today if you know you're doing it now to look like that girl or guy in the brochures later on.
I made my first trip to the dentist yesterday for the first time in at least 10 years. I just turned 23 years old and for all this time, I really didn't bother ever examining my teeth growing up. I should have had braces 10 years ago, because I have crowding on the left side on both top and bottom, enough to where 2 teeth came out further up the gum line than the other teeth. It's quite embarrassing, but also convenient because you can't tell I have that problem even when I smile, because I naturally developed a smile that hid those 2 teeth. What's even funnier about that is I have actually gotten compliments about my good teeth from time to time, and I always say thanks and then on the inside "if you only knew..."
The problem over the years has been my lack of flossing. Even when I tried to floss, it would always get stuck and was a real pain to get out because my bottom teeth are packed in really close. Last year my gums were bleeding quite easily for about 3 weeks, and I started a better brushing routine, and eventually my gums got better, but not to the point where I had fixed the problem. Last Saturday, I finally decided to examine my teeth thoroughly, and was pretty frightened by what I saw. About 3 teeth on the bottom row had been affected with significant calculus buildup, and the gum had receeded a bit. I even started noticing calculus buildup on almost every tooth on the top row, which looks better but I never realized this. I was just so stupid for never taking the time to do this but it was horrifying. I just KNEW that my teeth were going to fall out. I spent an entire hour thoroughly examining my teeth that night, and actually couldn't wait to call the dentist on Monday.
I'm not afraid of pain, or the dentist, but I'm afraid of humiliation. I think that has been the reason why I never took the time to do this. I just always thought that if my teeth look good enough from a distance (photo distance) then it's really not worth the time or effort to go to the dentist or get braces for my crowding. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Since my fear wasn't really dentists, but just the thought of humiliation that somebody would see these teeth and look at my gums, I decided to torture myself. After looking through the yellow pages ads and going to all of their websites, I chose the one dentist that specialized the most in cosmetic dentistry while still being a general practitioneer. I mean, their whole website was dedicated to all these frilly, superficial dentistry things like veneers, tooth whitening, etc. Well, I really chose these guys because I can literally walk to their office and their mission statement seems forthcoming and honest, but I figured if I really humbled myself by chosing that kind of dentist that I would get over it easier.
I'm so glad I made that choice. I called on Monday, and I asked if there was an opening this week for a new patient. She asked me if I needed (and then she lists off some of those more cosmetic things), and I just said, "No, you're not going to let me out of that chair when I get in there." She booked me for 4:00 pm the next day. Yesterday I go in there, and it's like every nurse and front office worker is a freaking supermodel. great, this is going to be awesome. Everybody in there had ridiculously perfect teeth. Quite embarrassing.
I get in the room, have a seat, and she asks me what I'm in for. Before I answer, she says, "Just not happy with where your smile is?" Yeah, something like that. I'm not even sure what I said, I just pulled my bottom lip down and let her see. "Yep, you've got gum disease." Really? WOW!!!!! She got the doctor to come in and have a talk with me. They were extremely nice people, and we talked about a few things. I told them I was actually going into health after I graduate, and how it's kinda pathetic I let my teeth get to this point. I really felt instantly at ease about my situation, because the doctor was very optimistic about what my results would be after taking 10-12 photos and having a general look. I was thoroughly surprised. I had built up this idea in my mind that I had the worst teeth ever.
We were going to do a scaling to get rid of all the buildup. "Do you want the nitrous oxide?" No, I'm a MAAAANNN!!!!!!!! I told her let's see how bad it is first. To be honest, it wasn't something I would look forward to, but the worst part was the suction fighting against the water irrigation and not drowning while she worked on my teeth. The pain was moderately painful at times, due to my tender and swollen gums, and I could just taste the blood. I was positive that my face would be gushing blood for the next 3 hours after we were done, but I wasn't really bleeding at all. She said I did extremely well, and was surprised I kept as still and quiet as I did through the process.
I'm going back in 2 weeks for them to do the x-rays and do a measurement to see how bad my peridontitis is. I'll probably ask for the nitrous oxide for that one. I'm not that much of a man. I can tell you this though, my teeth feel so good when I run my tongue over them. I can actually floss my lower teeth now, because so much buildup was removed. Of course, I expected to look in the mirror and see just how much gum I had lost over the years, but it looks very good! My teeth already look so much better now, and I still have swollen and disgusting gums, but it's amazing how much better everything looks without that calculus buildup. They said I would be sore for the next few days, but aside from taking a few Excedrin yesterday, I feel real good today.
I received nothing but a warm reception from everybody there yesterday. They liked the fact that I came there with complete humility and humor about the whole thing, and I told them that my goal was to have teeth like theirs, but I'm fully committed to the process of getting my mouth healthy and clean before we get there. It might be a month before I can go get braces, but already I can see this is going to be a great decision very soon. Even the doctor said, "You're going to be amazed at how different you look in just 2 weeks by getting rid of that bacteria."
After looking at all the pictures, it looks like I'm somewhere between simple gingivitis and early peridontitis. It's not really as bad as I thought. If I had waited another year though, it WOULD have been a lot worse. Please, if you're humiliated about your teeth, go today. Please, go today and save yourself years of worry and concern. If your real worry is worrying about getting braces because it will look bad, or you're embarrassed, just go in and be upbeat and positive and everybody around you will actually respect you and look up to you for biting the bullet. Nobody will worry about how you look today if you know you're doing it now to look like that girl or guy in the brochures later on.
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