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Haven't been to dentist in ~5 years and ashamed of my teeth

C

cb1437

Junior member
Joined
Aug 27, 2017
Messages
2
Hi guys

So I haven't been to the dentist in roughly five years. The last time was just before I turned 18, when I got it for free on the NHS. Since then I haven't been able to afford dental treatment, particularly since I lived in a fairly expensive part of my city and there weren't any local NHS dentists, and private treatment was way out of my price range! Now I've moved to a small village and there's an NHS dentist in the next town over which is taking new patients, so I can finally afford to go to the dentist. I also had braces as a teenager, which was a thoroughly miserable experience which didn't even fully fix the issues with my mouth, as I still have (I think) a cross bite so I bite pretty unevenly. To top it all off, the one thing I remember from my last dental appointment is him taking x-rays and telling me that I still have some of my baby teeth, since the adult teeth have never developed.

Now though, I'm too scared to go to the dentist because I feel like they're going to judge me for not taking better care of my teeth. I think due to it not being drilled into me at a young age, and me having recent mental health issues, my dental hygiene has fallen by the wayside. Even now I'm just trying to get myself into the habit of brushing twice daily, as I'd previously just mostly brush my teeth before I left the house in the morning. I have a lot of visible tartar, particularly on my lower front teeth and on the occlusal surfaces, I have stuff that I can't tell whether it's staining or cavities. Either way, if it is cavities then that's just adding to the anxiety. Even the idea of getting a mouth full of silver fillings (because this weird colouring is on pretty much every molar and pre-molar) is making me really anxious. I'm already really self-conscious about my smile, have been ever since I had braces and I feel like the silver fillings are really conspicuous. Like, if I have them then people will see them and judge me for not having taken better care of my teeth.

Thing is I know I really need to go, as my gums are quite painful and bleed/hurt when I brush them, and my understanding is that getting rid of that underlying gum disease when there's still tartar on your teeth can be difficult. I've also had a bit of pain recently when chewing in my upper right molars. And I do want to get rid of the tartar on my front teeth because it looks awful. But I just can't bring myself to make an appointment?

Any help/advice/stories of similar experiences would be much appreciated :)
 
Hi :welcome:to the forum.

Don't be worried about being judged they won't. They are there to help and advise you. You could email the dentist and explain how you have on here how nervous and worried you feel. You could call in to register and explain to them how you feel, they are used to nervous patients and you will find that dentist these days have an understanding about how afraid we feel.

They won't do anything at the first appointment other than have a look and maybe an x ray. They are really understanding if you say you feel really nervous and afraid. You are in charge of what happens and if you feel that you can't do the x rays or a full examination then say so and they can do it next time. The important thing is to try and make the first appointment, that is sometimes the hardest move. Once you have been to your first appointment everything becomes a lot easier and you will feel so much better in yourself. It is like climbing a mountain, you will be really pleased with yourself.

I had a period of not going a few years ago and after that first appointment I was still terrified but I felt really happy and felt like skipping out of there. It took a few visits but I did get comfortable going to my appointments.

All the best to you :XXLhug::XXLhug::XXLhug:
 
Hi Carole :)

I think you've hit the nail on the head, that I need to just try and make the first appointment. Now I think about it, I've had this in other things I've been anxious about. Once I've actually started doing it, then it isn't as bad as I've built it up to be in my head. I'll try emailing them, as phoning is another thing that gets me very anxious! Or I might pop in to the practice if I've got time.

Also I've just remembered something else that I'm worried about... I'm 99% certain I'll need a scale and polish due to the tartar build up. I'm pretty sensitive to noise, and the noise of the scaler is something I really react badly to. I'm training as a vet at the moment and even hearing it being done on a dog the other side of the room to me makes me want to cover my ears and try to block it out! So with that in mind, are most dentists likely to be OK with me listening to music through earphones to block out the noise whilst they're scaling?
 
Hi I think you will find that the dentist will be fine with you listening to music through your earphones, a lot of people do this when having treatment. Explain this to the dentist and I am sure they will be fine with it. Calling in would be a good idea you can have a look at the practice and meet some of the staff. Explain to them how you feel.

All the best to you :XXLhug::XXLhug::XXLhug:
 
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