Haven't brushed since Kindergarten and now considering going to a dentist

[EmptySmile]

This is almost too embarrassing to type...

I haven't brushed my teeth since Kingergarten. When I was a kid every moment was special to me so I always thought tooth brushing was useless and wasted five or so minutes of my time. Even when I learned that it was harmful and dangerous the habit naturally just stuck because I would FORGET that I had to brush since I hadn't for so long.

I'm 22 now and needless to say my teeth are extremely yellow. The bottom center teeth have felt...I don't know the word, dehydrated(?) for a while but I just ignored it like I've been trying to with my other problems. That clearly didn't work since this past week the back of one of my teeth crumbled out entirely. No pain but it was still a terrifying realization. I thought brushing my teeth immediately after would be a good idea so I did that and when I spat it out there was a bit of blood. I have Christmas coming up soon and I'm trying my best to make it a happy one for my family (my mom died in May so it's been tough) and I have to visit my college counselor so it's been an extremely stressful past week and it just feels extremely overwhelming. I'm sort of scared about the crumbling tooth, but I'm infinitely more scared about the concept of getting it checked.

I know I have to visit a dentist, but everything about it is terrifying to the point where I just sit down and cry whenever I consider the concept. I'm afraid of the inevitable embarrassment, not to mention the pain of the treatments. I've always been a coward in regards to just about everything (I can't take blood tests without being terrified of the needle) so the concept of having someone evaluate almost 20 years of negligence and then fixing it with drills and needles and other things is just...I don't know the word for it. Terrifying isn't extreme enough. I know I have to do it, but I can't bring myself to take that first step without backing down in the last minute.

Reading some of the stories here I know I should consider myself lucky (there are four crumbling teeth but I've never ever had any kind of mouth pain) and it feels really bad to even talk about it because of that but this still feels like the worst thing in the world to go through. I live with my dad, so I can't even schedule an appointment or look around until he goes to work tomorrow and looks into his company's dental insurance so this waiting and feeling of inevitability is unbearable. All I can think about is how I'm going to visit the dentist and how they're going to tell me I'm going to have to have all my teeth pulled and get dentures before I'm even 25 and how much it's going to HURT and that coupled with the rest of my life issues is making me panic and cry and just freak out nonstop. Apart from the decay I've mentioned I've never had a chipped tooth before and they aren't black or anything so I want to tell myself it isn't as bad but I'm afraid that if I do that then the news will actually come off as even worse than it might be.

 

[Abner C. Kemp]

Re: Haven't brushed since Kindergarten and now considering going to a dentist

Well there's good and bad here. The bad thing is the obvious fact that you need some dental help. That is the only bad thing. Having someone take a look at your teeth is a good idea and it will help you to get a handle on exactly what needs to be done. I think it's important to remember that routine dental surgery (fillings and extractions) is not really that painful. Generally, the shot of anesthetic is the most painful part of the procedure and the pain afterwards is generally minor and can be treated with a simple over the counter painkiller.

I was similar to you in that while I brushed my teeth growing up I didn't always do a great job and sometimes I skipped a few days. This has led to me needing a bunch of fillings and 2 root canals. I can honestly say, the fillings do not hurt nearly as much as having a legitimate tooth ache. Root canals suck but they aren't even as bad as a bad toothache. Your better off getting everything taken care of while you can before the problem gets worse. Trust me, I have had over 20 fillings in my lifetime and I can honestly say it is not nearly as bad as you think. In the meantime, brush and floss your teeth to minimize the damage. Good luck!!