• Dental Phobia Support

    Welcome! This is an online support group for anyone who is has a severe fear of the dentist or dental treatment. Please note that this is NOT a general dental problems or health anxiety forum! You can find a list of them here.

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Just venting a little bit I guess

A

axolotl

Junior member
Joined
Sep 6, 2015
Messages
3
Hi everyone,

I'm am writing because I feel way frustrated right now, and kind of need to release some thoughts about it. I don't want to make it too long though.



Well, I am 27 years old and had a history of depression during my 17's-23's, and yeah as you can guess I didn't take care of my teeth cause I had other physical issues--my teeth were the last thing on earth I would have thought about. The consequences showed up when I was 22, just when I was feeling better and kind of recovering from my depression. I had many fillings then, my three upper front teeth had root canals and big fillings in the front so they don't look so good now, and had many other fillings in both upper and lower teeth.
I was so scared back then and I run away from treatment...

Since then I have felt sad and self-conscious when talking and smiling, and as you can also guess, my confidence is way low right now.

Well, even though my situation, I have been taking care of my teeth, brushing and flossing three times a day, rinsing and so on. But no matter what I do I continue getting new cavities, this year I had another root canal and like 5 new fillings or so... and I need another 3 ones, that maybe are the results of me not finishing the treatment back then, but I was really scared and didn't have the right support from others nor could find any in myself. I have fillings in all my upper teeth and in my lower back molars.

Anyway, the whole situation is like a lost battle, however, I think I have to continue flossing, brushing, rinsing and getting dental treatment even though it will eventually end up with me losing all the remainings of my teeth, but there is no other better thing to do, I guess. Sorry for the rant but I really have mixed feelings of anger, disappointment, embarrassment, sadness and frustration...

They say I need orthodontic treatment too. I don't know if this will be any good for me because of my situation, maybe after the orthodontic treatment I will get many other cavities, because there is a higher risk with all the devices installed in your teeth... I just don't know whether or not to have them in my situation... they will worth the try?, I am kind of scared too.

I am trying to occupy my mind in other more productive things and not letting my teeth to consume my whole life, it's not that easy though...

The funny thing is that I like to learn new languages (I'm learning German now and eventually wold like to learn French) but maybe I will end up having no teeth to speak them :o ha. This also frightens me.


Well this was quite long indeed.

If you have some words of relief or some recommendation about dental treatment, orthodontic, etc. just let me know.

Hope you all the best!!
 
Except for the needing orthodonture part (I did that as a teen), I can relate very much to your story. I had many years of dental neglect due to a number of reasons including severe phobia. I've been going to the dentist regularly now for almost 8 years. During this time of have been taking excellent care of my teeth. However, despite this, it seems the damage has been done and my teeth continue to decay. My goal now is just to be able to go a year without dental work. I know many people in this site are lucky enough to have a large amount of work done at the beginning and then are good for years, but I've had to start thinking about my tooth decay as a 'chronic illness' type situation.

I don't have much advice to offer except to make sure you find a dentist you like and trust because you may spend quite a bit of time together over the years. You're also going to want a dentist who can provide support and talk you through what your options might be if you have to lose a tooth.

So sorry you're in this same boat with me.
 
Hi there,

I just started tackling my dental issues after 20+ years of neglect and avoidance. I've started to get back on the road to dental health over the last few months, but most of my anxiety nowadays is that it's too late, the damage is done, and no matter what I do, I am just going to need more and more work in the future. I try to tell myself that I'm taking care of things now, that I'm much better about caring for my teeth, but I can't help but worry.

I just keep keep trying to tell myself that I should just focus on the things that I can control...as for the rest, it is what it is, and I should just worry about that as it comes.

My teeth are severely crowded and I am starting orthodontic treatment soon...in my case, it was partly because of aesthetic reasons, but I also have several teeth that need to be extracted, and both my dentist and I agreed that it made more sense to try to shift other teeth into those spaces than to try to cram replacement teeth into too-small spaces. They do say that the risk of tooth decay is reduced after you get it done because straight teeth are easier to keep clean, so I don't know, maybe it's worth a shot? I've been told I have a small, challenging mouth that is hard to keep clean because of the crowding, so it should help...

Best of luck to you.
 
Hi, many thanks for taking the time to read along.




FearfulInMA , in my case it also seems that the damage has been done and my teeth will continue deteriorating. Now I have to work on accepting this as part of who I am, and who I will be… accepting that this is a condition that I'll have to face from here on.

littlething , yeah, I have the same anxiety, and think it's too late already… Sometimes my mind wanders and I imagine the worst scenario in the very short term, I regreat about the past… I think about my age, compare my situation with that of others to whom their teeth are not an issue, etc…


You are completely right , I will try to focus on what I can control, and try not to think about the future nor the past… and will also try not to let the condition of my teeth to ruin other aspects of my life, easier said than done though.


I will continue taking care of my teeth and going to dentist even though I kind of feel it's a lost battle, but eventually in the future, if everything goes pretty bad, I'll be able to say myself that at least I tried what was in my hands to control, and I did not just give up, because if so, I know I could not stand looking in the mirror… I am waaaay scared but have to face the situation now.


We'll see how it goes the orthodontic part :S




Many thanks to both of you for your words and advice, you are of great help to all of us who strugle with our dental issues…


I will be wandering the forum more often…

Take care,
 
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