S
Sonicfan287
Junior member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2024
- Messages
- 8
- Location
- Connecticut
Hello everyone,
I've been a long time lurker on these forums, reading people's experiences either with dentures or other difficult dental procedures and struggling with the act of actually calling the dentist and getting that ball rolling. Long story short, I'm having all my teeth pulled in a few days ... it's been a long time coming. My front teeth are more or less completely gone (chipped off nearly to the gums) -- many other teeth are missing or damaged and have decay.
I'm so very very angry but not at the dentists, not at anyone else (everyone has actually been very understanding) but angry at myself for I watched my teeth decay for the better part of 3 years (I'd say I started to notice signs of wear in 2021, like serious wear). I never "loved" going to the dentist but I did it through my teen years and then once I got old enough and no longer had mom kind of "forcing" me to go, I just put it off. I'd maybe go once in a while and then once in a while became less and less.
After the Covid lockdown closed my regular dentist's office for a few months, I told myself I'd reschedule an appointment for a cleaning once they re-opened. Well, that never happened. I got a new full time job in late 2020 and focused on that. 2021 is when I started to experience some toothaches or light pain in the jaw. I ignored it, hoped it would get better. Then I started to see cracks in my teeth ... I ignored that too, I'm so very stupid ... I SAW it, I don't know if I thought it would go away or maybe it was a "trick of the light" -- any excuse to not go to a dentist.
Through 2021-2023, I'd see parts or entire teeth crack or wear down, mostly from acid reflux, poor care of my teeth, a combination of things. I wanted to tell someone, I wanted to call a dentist but I always made excuses. I'm a known procrastinator at a lot of things in life but this is not something you put off.
Finally in April of this year, I bit down on a pork chop and it happened. My front left tooth completely cracked off. I was in tears. I called my mom, I called a dentist. I was so terrified and hoped naively they could just fix the front tooth, maybe do some procedures on other teeth that were worn. Maybe a bridge? Some kind of partial denture? No such luck. The broken front tooth, while bad, was only a part of the problem. My teeth were deemed unsaveable (terminal dentition) and even though this wasn't a surprise, I've done nothing but curse at myself since.
This process feels like it's dragged on and on and I haven't even gotten to the worst part. I saw a few different dentists to get other opinions and yes, with my crippling anxiety, it was hard enough to see ONE dentist, let alone three. They were all very sympathetic and nice, so I'm not speaking badly of them but still, that pit in my stomach when sitting in the chair or waiting room just got worse every time only to hear the same diagnosis. It's either dentures or implants.
I can't afford implants, but I can (barely) afford to do bottom implant supported dentures with standard removeable tops (the bottoms will be removable too, but with implants but that's a long way off)
So the day is finally almost here. I've had no front teeth (the other one broke off about a month later) for over 2 months. I've gone from wearing face masks to hide it, to trying to speak with my upper lip pulled down to just saying screw it, and lately I just talk openly. I'm sure people notice the gap in my mouth but ... I'm almost to the end of this horrid journey or rather, to the beginning of what I fear will be an even worse one.
Wednesday morning, July 24, 2024 will be the last morning of my life I wake up with natural teeth (or remnants of them). I'm terrified of the procedure and even more terrified of what comes next. I've read the positive and negative stories about people who got dentures, the upsides and downsides and in some way I'm almost glad it's come to this because at least there will be SOME resolution. I realize this isn't the end but it's at least a step.
To this point, it's been getting impressions done, wax bites, all of that. They couldn't get me in for an appointment for 3 months from the time this all started. In those 3 months, I've been going to work, not in pain (strangely my teeth don't really hurt) but extremely bogged down with guilt, finding it hard to focus, supreme anxiety over this procedure even when it was a couple months off and now it's just a couple days away.
I am a nervous wreck, but I'm also the kind of person who tries not to let that show. I have no idea how I'm going to return to work (I took about a week off) and act like nothing's wrong. People know about my bad teeth but I didn't tell them I needed dentures. My age makes me extremely embarrassed about it. Being 35, you don't expect to be telling people "yeah I'm having all my teeth pulled" and I realize that's a superficial worry when the medical worries should be more front and center, but yeah, it's going to be VERY hard for me to resume "business as usual" when it comes to going to work, maintaining a professional and positive attitude and having to address why my "teeth" suddenly look like they're made of plastic. My coworkers knew I was having my fronts pulled out (it's pretty obvious they're damaged) and replaced with a small bridge but again, not like they see ALL my teeth, so they don't know. Again, I'm just a very secretive person when it comes to stuff like that. I don't want to worry anyone. I can eat small meals at work, and kind of keep my talking to a minimum so from a practical standpoint, I can make it work.
That's to say nothing of my social life which was NEVER great to begin with and I feel like this just torpedoes my confidence further but more than all of that is just that burning anger I feel towards myself. I let this happen. Nobody made it happen. I didn't get punched in the face, no bad accidents, just ... neglect, nerves, anxiety ... a combination of things.
A periodontist told me I have periodontal disease and let's just the x-rays were ... ugly. I'm sorry in advance for how long this is. I've been holding this in for a very very long time. I really don't know if anyone can help me. The mouth may heal and the dentures may feel fine after a long time, but I don't know if my own self image of myself will ever be the same
I've been a long time lurker on these forums, reading people's experiences either with dentures or other difficult dental procedures and struggling with the act of actually calling the dentist and getting that ball rolling. Long story short, I'm having all my teeth pulled in a few days ... it's been a long time coming. My front teeth are more or less completely gone (chipped off nearly to the gums) -- many other teeth are missing or damaged and have decay.
I'm so very very angry but not at the dentists, not at anyone else (everyone has actually been very understanding) but angry at myself for I watched my teeth decay for the better part of 3 years (I'd say I started to notice signs of wear in 2021, like serious wear). I never "loved" going to the dentist but I did it through my teen years and then once I got old enough and no longer had mom kind of "forcing" me to go, I just put it off. I'd maybe go once in a while and then once in a while became less and less.
After the Covid lockdown closed my regular dentist's office for a few months, I told myself I'd reschedule an appointment for a cleaning once they re-opened. Well, that never happened. I got a new full time job in late 2020 and focused on that. 2021 is when I started to experience some toothaches or light pain in the jaw. I ignored it, hoped it would get better. Then I started to see cracks in my teeth ... I ignored that too, I'm so very stupid ... I SAW it, I don't know if I thought it would go away or maybe it was a "trick of the light" -- any excuse to not go to a dentist.
Through 2021-2023, I'd see parts or entire teeth crack or wear down, mostly from acid reflux, poor care of my teeth, a combination of things. I wanted to tell someone, I wanted to call a dentist but I always made excuses. I'm a known procrastinator at a lot of things in life but this is not something you put off.
Finally in April of this year, I bit down on a pork chop and it happened. My front left tooth completely cracked off. I was in tears. I called my mom, I called a dentist. I was so terrified and hoped naively they could just fix the front tooth, maybe do some procedures on other teeth that were worn. Maybe a bridge? Some kind of partial denture? No such luck. The broken front tooth, while bad, was only a part of the problem. My teeth were deemed unsaveable (terminal dentition) and even though this wasn't a surprise, I've done nothing but curse at myself since.
This process feels like it's dragged on and on and I haven't even gotten to the worst part. I saw a few different dentists to get other opinions and yes, with my crippling anxiety, it was hard enough to see ONE dentist, let alone three. They were all very sympathetic and nice, so I'm not speaking badly of them but still, that pit in my stomach when sitting in the chair or waiting room just got worse every time only to hear the same diagnosis. It's either dentures or implants.
I can't afford implants, but I can (barely) afford to do bottom implant supported dentures with standard removeable tops (the bottoms will be removable too, but with implants but that's a long way off)
So the day is finally almost here. I've had no front teeth (the other one broke off about a month later) for over 2 months. I've gone from wearing face masks to hide it, to trying to speak with my upper lip pulled down to just saying screw it, and lately I just talk openly. I'm sure people notice the gap in my mouth but ... I'm almost to the end of this horrid journey or rather, to the beginning of what I fear will be an even worse one.
Wednesday morning, July 24, 2024 will be the last morning of my life I wake up with natural teeth (or remnants of them). I'm terrified of the procedure and even more terrified of what comes next. I've read the positive and negative stories about people who got dentures, the upsides and downsides and in some way I'm almost glad it's come to this because at least there will be SOME resolution. I realize this isn't the end but it's at least a step.
To this point, it's been getting impressions done, wax bites, all of that. They couldn't get me in for an appointment for 3 months from the time this all started. In those 3 months, I've been going to work, not in pain (strangely my teeth don't really hurt) but extremely bogged down with guilt, finding it hard to focus, supreme anxiety over this procedure even when it was a couple months off and now it's just a couple days away.
I am a nervous wreck, but I'm also the kind of person who tries not to let that show. I have no idea how I'm going to return to work (I took about a week off) and act like nothing's wrong. People know about my bad teeth but I didn't tell them I needed dentures. My age makes me extremely embarrassed about it. Being 35, you don't expect to be telling people "yeah I'm having all my teeth pulled" and I realize that's a superficial worry when the medical worries should be more front and center, but yeah, it's going to be VERY hard for me to resume "business as usual" when it comes to going to work, maintaining a professional and positive attitude and having to address why my "teeth" suddenly look like they're made of plastic. My coworkers knew I was having my fronts pulled out (it's pretty obvious they're damaged) and replaced with a small bridge but again, not like they see ALL my teeth, so they don't know. Again, I'm just a very secretive person when it comes to stuff like that. I don't want to worry anyone. I can eat small meals at work, and kind of keep my talking to a minimum so from a practical standpoint, I can make it work.
That's to say nothing of my social life which was NEVER great to begin with and I feel like this just torpedoes my confidence further but more than all of that is just that burning anger I feel towards myself. I let this happen. Nobody made it happen. I didn't get punched in the face, no bad accidents, just ... neglect, nerves, anxiety ... a combination of things.
A periodontist told me I have periodontal disease and let's just the x-rays were ... ugly. I'm sorry in advance for how long this is. I've been holding this in for a very very long time. I really don't know if anyone can help me. The mouth may heal and the dentures may feel fine after a long time, but I don't know if my own self image of myself will ever be the same