J
Jesslcmo
Junior member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2023
- Messages
- 1
- Location
- Saskatchewan
I’ve had rank anxiety my entire life, and it also included visits to the dentist being a very triggering experience. I wasn’t taken regularly as a child until my family decided to get me braces. The brackets were put along the gum line of the teeth and some of my gum tissue ended up dying off from being trapped under the brackets and the wires. I got my braces off in 2010. I didn’t go back to the dentist until 2014 when I worked up the courage to get a filling that I knew I needed on a smooth surface of one of my premolars (I found it hard to keep my mouth in working order with braces. The brackets were always pushed into my gums and it was hard to clean around them). The filling was fine. The X-rays showed nothing else of concern. I had a bit of staining on my back teeth but not much else. I was convinced that I actually needed a lot more dental work done and saw a second dentist for a second opinion. He said things looked okay. I went to regular hygienist visits from that point on, but would never find it in me to have X-rays or assessments by the dentist. And no one ever taught me about gum disease either.
I stopped going to the hygienist when I had to move for work. I kept changing jobs and never stayed long enough to get full dental benefits. The dental clinics had very long waitlists in this new area and so I kept putting off going. Then the pandemic happened. By that point it had been 2 years since I saw a hygienist. I was paranoid during the pandemic and told myself I wasn’t going to go in for any dental treatment of any kind for fear of catching something. Well, I finally worked up the courage to see a new hygienist. I went in for two appointments yesterday and Monday. I asked her if all of my teeth need drilling and pulling and she gave me a look like I was crazy. I said I have severe anxiety and I’ve been avoiding coming in for so long and I’m scared to know what might be wrong with me. I told her that I did brush regularly but rarely flossed (mostly due to an intense gag reflex), and that there was a period in my life where I was depressed during the pandemic and neglected my mouth for a month. I knew I had years worth of buildup to get rid of. But I had a fear that while she does the cleaning that my teeth will come out. Or that under the calculus there will be a bunch of gaping holes that need to be filled. I told her about my worries and she said she would use hand tools to make me feel less scared. She performed an exam and X-rays and said she didn’t see anything problematic. She pushed on every single tooth to see if there was any cavities under some of the darker stained decay. Then she did the gum measurements. I had been googling in my anxious state of mind freaking about periodontal disease, because I had actually never heard of it before coming on the forum! Thankfully this forum allowed me to learn and motivate myself to finally go this year. She found one pocket on one back tooth that measured 4mm. The rest of the teeth were okay. She used the X-ray to look for any calculus deposits below the gum line at the 4mm pocket, and gave a numbing gum gel and went in to clear out the little bit she had missed during the initial cleaning. She didn’t say anything else beyond that. She just said that I should come back to talk to the dentist next month about any recommendations he might have for me. She thinks I need Invisalign because my bite doesn’t match up properly and my teeth are wearing each other down incorrectly. But she didn’t say anything about my gums, whether I need a deep cleaning, root planing, nothing. She didn’t say gingivitis or periodontal disease. So I went home and googled how bad this might be and of course I come across some horror stories. I guess I’m just wondering, am I doomed? I’m going to floss twice a day now and use the toothpaste specifically for gums. I also use MI paste with fluoride and bioavailable calcium and phosphorus. I bought xylitol candies. I’m terrified about losing my teeth. I hope someone can calm me down and tell me I’m not about to be toothless at 31 years old. I keep breaking down about it. I just don’t want to be petrified of my follow up after taking so many years to work up the courage to go back.
I stopped going to the hygienist when I had to move for work. I kept changing jobs and never stayed long enough to get full dental benefits. The dental clinics had very long waitlists in this new area and so I kept putting off going. Then the pandemic happened. By that point it had been 2 years since I saw a hygienist. I was paranoid during the pandemic and told myself I wasn’t going to go in for any dental treatment of any kind for fear of catching something. Well, I finally worked up the courage to see a new hygienist. I went in for two appointments yesterday and Monday. I asked her if all of my teeth need drilling and pulling and she gave me a look like I was crazy. I said I have severe anxiety and I’ve been avoiding coming in for so long and I’m scared to know what might be wrong with me. I told her that I did brush regularly but rarely flossed (mostly due to an intense gag reflex), and that there was a period in my life where I was depressed during the pandemic and neglected my mouth for a month. I knew I had years worth of buildup to get rid of. But I had a fear that while she does the cleaning that my teeth will come out. Or that under the calculus there will be a bunch of gaping holes that need to be filled. I told her about my worries and she said she would use hand tools to make me feel less scared. She performed an exam and X-rays and said she didn’t see anything problematic. She pushed on every single tooth to see if there was any cavities under some of the darker stained decay. Then she did the gum measurements. I had been googling in my anxious state of mind freaking about periodontal disease, because I had actually never heard of it before coming on the forum! Thankfully this forum allowed me to learn and motivate myself to finally go this year. She found one pocket on one back tooth that measured 4mm. The rest of the teeth were okay. She used the X-ray to look for any calculus deposits below the gum line at the 4mm pocket, and gave a numbing gum gel and went in to clear out the little bit she had missed during the initial cleaning. She didn’t say anything else beyond that. She just said that I should come back to talk to the dentist next month about any recommendations he might have for me. She thinks I need Invisalign because my bite doesn’t match up properly and my teeth are wearing each other down incorrectly. But she didn’t say anything about my gums, whether I need a deep cleaning, root planing, nothing. She didn’t say gingivitis or periodontal disease. So I went home and googled how bad this might be and of course I come across some horror stories. I guess I’m just wondering, am I doomed? I’m going to floss twice a day now and use the toothpaste specifically for gums. I also use MI paste with fluoride and bioavailable calcium and phosphorus. I bought xylitol candies. I’m terrified about losing my teeth. I hope someone can calm me down and tell me I’m not about to be toothless at 31 years old. I keep breaking down about it. I just don’t want to be petrified of my follow up after taking so many years to work up the courage to go back.
