• Dental Phobia Support

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Full dentures at 26... VERY NERVOUS I'm making the wrong decision

M

Mandy09

Junior member
Joined
Oct 24, 2015
Messages
2
I'm a 26 yr old mother of 2. 3 if you count my baby boy who was made an angel June 1st while I was 8 months pregnant.. But that's not why I'm here. I've always had phobias of dentists as I'm sure as most people, I've avoided them at all costs for years.. Never really had any issues other than staining from coffee and cigarettes which I easily fixed with those teeth whitening deals... I recently realized it was when I became pregnant with my oldest, that's when I started having trouble with my teeth.. Then before her first birthday I was already pregnant again with my son.. I mean I practiced good hygene.. No I didn't see a dentist, there were a few ER visits where I would go in extreme pain and beg a doctor to light me up with enough lido/novocaine so I can make it through the night without banging my head against a wall.. When I was pregnant I took my vitamins.. Drank milk.. But every time I got pregnant I always knew because my teeth would start hurting real bad for no reason.. This past year when we found out I was pregnant again I promised my husband I would go to a dentist and get my teeth fixed once the baby was born, considering at this point they were cracking badly, just overall not doing good at all and I became veryyyyyy self conscious over it to where I would find ways to hide my mouth while talking to people and hated smiling in pictures, even the mirror. Anyway.. Enough backstory.. Like I said June 1st I lost my baby boy at 8 months.. Causing a hell of a lot of emotional problems for me as you could imagine.. So my family ( I guess trying to lift my spirits) suggested I do my teeth finally..my mother in law went ahead and made an apt for me without my knowledge beforehand (which I wasn't too happy with but that's how she is) with a dentist who on my first visit.. Knew right away all my teeth were gonna have to go.. I mean I knew they were bad but.. I thought some would be able to be saved.. Caps.. Something.. But nope. Unfortunately I cannot afford implants or anything fancy as my aunt is the one who will be paying for my actual dentures.. I've already had all of my right teeth( upper and lower) taken out..and a few in the front. As I'm closing in on getting what's left in my mouth, taken out.. I'm feeling like I made the wrong choice or that I could have had a second or third opinion to see if there was a better option. I mean, toothless mom at 26. I'm sure I'll be suchhh a turn on for my husband after this.. Or even during this process.. He just says it's better than having what I had before and that I'll feel more confident but he doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies about it still... I feel like you can always tell when someone is wearing dentures. I'm nervous they're gonna look fake and people will automatically know. I mean I've seen and heard young people like me with their stories and they've gotten partials and caps and implants and Ofcourse they look amazing.. This has been the worst year of my life and I already have anxiety/panic disorder from my son passing..which sometimes I wonder if my teeth caused his passing ( I obsess over what could have caused it) But all of this just amplifies it all and it makes a million bad things run through my head.. If I could just hear some success stories, get some support ..kind words.. Anything.. I'd truly appreciate it. I don't get much support on anything around here.. It's more like " ok it happened.. Now move on" type of deal.. so any bit counts.. Thanks for sticking through my whole rambling saga.. & Thank You in Advance...
 
Welcome to the forum. First of all, I'm really sorry to hear about losing your baby. That must have been so hard. It's quite common to have teeth issues during pregnancy - in my country pregnant women are offered free dental work regardless of income, for that very reason. Hormonal changes can make your gums inflamed and more susceptible to infection etc. So you're not alone there!

As for dentures well, I'm 26 and I have full dentures. It wasn't a walk in the park, but I'm much better off now than I was before, honestly. My teeth looked so bad that I didn't feel I could be social. I stayed indoors for years. It was hell. Now that self-consciousness is gone. As for it being obvious someone is wearing dentures - I don't think that's the case at all. Mine look super natural. And other people don't pay as much attention to people's teeth as us phobics do. We might pay attention because we're constantly aware of them and comparing our own to everyone else's. But others don't do that. It's actually so freeing to have dentures. I don't need to fear the dentist drill any more.

If you can get a second opinion, there's no harm in it. Another dentist might think some teeth can be saved. But dentures are not the end of the world. The adjustment process is tough as anything, but you DO adjust, and quite quickly. You'll be fine, I promise. :)
 
As to aesthetics ask for not too white of teeth and tell the dentist you would like a more natural look
 
Sorry it's taken me a while, I've had some of personal issues to take care of,. But I wanted to thank those of you who responded with kind words and advice. I feel it is unfortunately too late for second or third opinions being that I have no teeth left ( upper or lower) on my right side and I have 4 left on my left top, 4 left on my left bottom and 7 in front.. With the lovely chipped front tooth that I hate the most. That didn't happen from a funny story or a drunken night.. That came from when I was very small and had a high fever which in my older years left "stains" on my teeth that looked like the color of toothpaste. So this awesome doctor shaved my tooth into a concave shape leaving basically nothing.. And then used this puddy sort ( honestly forget the real term or name) to make it a regular looking tooth without that hideous stain. Unfortunately when I started having my babies as my other teeth started to basically rot.. The front ones became very brittle.. Causing this chip in my left front tooth leaving me to look even worse.. Like a junkie, some hills have eyes kinda thing.. I hate it. I avoid talking in public or even taking pictures because of it.. I feel like I've just met my fate and I will be toothless at 27 and have my dentures fly out at the worst times or hang out when I'm asleep and have to buy fixedent or however you spell it with the other old ladies in the pharmacies.. And I fear my dentist doesn't even truly care about me.. Since I'm not on some fancy high paying insurance. She hasn't made my impressions yet for my temporary plate for when she pulls the rest of my top teeth.. I fear she's just gonna pull them all out and send me out with no teeth until I get to my guy who is making my teeth. Which I'm told will take a few days but still.. I absolutely do not want to be with zero teeth.. God this all really sucks. I just have to say that. Any part of having to have this done at a young age just sucks. Even if your having a partial or can afford implants or whatever else they have... It sucks. Lol sorry for my rant. I'm just tired of looking not like me.. Like I live under a bridge.. Or do crack on an hourly basis.. ( I don't look that bad I'm exaggerating but I feel that way) all of this teeth nonsense just sucks and I wish I would have gotten 15 different opinions before pulling anything... Unfortunately you can't take back time.. So soon I shall be the toothless 27 year old wife and mother of 3.. Wish me luck? Or whatever you wish someone going through something like this,. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. <3
 
Mandy..... I feel for you because im a 38 year old mother of a 2 year old and 7 year old and im in need of full dentures. i have lost most of my teeth to just lack of dental insurance and finances for years and not taking care of my teeth. I am ashamed of myself. Im afraid people will be able to tell. I recently started seeing someone and i fear them falling out or something when we kiss. I havent the remaining 9 teeth pulled and I want to but IM TERRIFIED. what if i cant eat, what if i cant chew, talk, kiss. There's no turning back for me either.. nothing to be saved.
 
I'll be honest. At first, eating is hard. Talking is hard. Chewing is hard. Everything is hard! And it's a really tough process. I don't want to make anyone think it will be easy when it's not. It takes time to adjust, time for your tongue and brain get used to the new thing in your mouth. And the adjustment period can be really hard. A lot of people feel really hopeless in that period. I did.

But it DOES get better. And you DO adjust. And as someone with dentures, if you asked me if I wanted to go back in time to my teeth before they were removed - I would say no! Not in a million years. The adjustment was hard, but getting through it and being able to be social and happy again? So worth it! Like, my life was awful before. I was depressed and felt like I couldn't be social. Now I can be as social as I want. And overall, the difference to my life has been huge.
 
I feel your pain im forever down the dentist having work i even got depression over it. I dont wear wear dentures yet but have a few failing teeth and it scares the hell out of me that i could end up wearing a partial denture but i just try to keep thinking its not the end of the world i mean people have fake legs, eyes u name it. Always here for a chat much love :grin:
 
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