Neglected my teeth for years...it's gross..

[nastyteeth]

I have never really taken proper care of my teeth, and they are still very much attached. I don't feel any pain, except my furthest molars have basically disintegrated into nothing.

I don't know what I need to do. Crowns? Veneers? Bonding? It's mostly just chipped enamel near the gums. It seems like they're getting more stained as time goes on... What's the deal with that anyways? The stains don't appear to be on the surface either. Can the staining be reversed?

I'm very sensitive about my teeth, but the problem has escalated to what you see here. I obviously need to do something about it, but I need to know how much money I need to save up to fix this. I realize I probably have a lot of other work that needs to be done outside of the cosmetic issues with the crumbled enamel, and I'm expecting to spend quite a bit.

My excuse: an untreated mental condition. Any advice, as harsh as it may be, would be appreciated.


[broken image removed]


UPDATE: So I've gone to the dentist over the past week and had some work done. The bottom teeth were just really dirty as you've all said. The top teeth had deep cavities all along the top 6. The angle above doesn't show very well, but the tooth to the right of the main top two, was so decayed, that it was mostly hollowed out. For those who are wondering, I had 11 cavities, and it cost about $2500 to fix. (in Canada) I'm still looking at the idea of veneers, because the bonding colour is kinda dark, but I still think it's a day and night difference. It also took about 5-6 hours under the drill. There was no pain I couldn't handle. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner!

[broken image removed]

 

[Poppy1234]

Can't give any advice or anything, but good luck!
I think those look like nice straight teeth that could look fab!
I'm sure they could look great with a good clean.
Not nasty teeth at all. I can see great potential there for a gleaming smile!

 

[nastyteeth]

Thank you very much for the kind replies. I really thought I was a lost cause...but (as those yellow spots near my gums are chipped enamel) you've built up my confidence enough to take a stab at getting it taken care of

 

[karen445]

your teeth are decaying. not good if you want to keep them you'll have to get them taken care of asap they will eventually turn into root canals or extractions.

 

[nastyteeth]

Update

I don't even think the new picture does my teeth justice...they look SOO much better, they just look a bit discoloured.

I'm going to be talking about veneers with my dentist again soon. He did an exceptional job!

I didn't feel much, if any pain. The dentist was very nice about my teeth too. I was probably more worried about his judgment then I was about getting them fixed.

 

[Gordon]

It's funny, people often seem to be worried that they'll get a telling off for having bad teeth. I don't think I've ever done that (at least knowingly).

Has anyone here had that happen to them?

 

[snapper]

Yes Gordon, My dentist didn't want to treat me any more. I believe it was because there was alot of work to do. Strangely enough i had been with the practice for 14 years and this dentist took the practice over 5 years ago. unfortuantly I didn't go in very often and when I did the old dentist would take a tooth out. I don't think the old one believed in filling teeth.

So there must have been alot of work to do. The state of my teeth and problems with the local aneasthetic was too much under the NHS. He really was quite rude about my teeth, hoping that I'd go away and find another dentist I presume, but I didn't so he came up with the 'breakdown in trust and confidence' reason, well if that is a reason as they don't have to give a reason for anything.

If he'd said "go away your breath smells or your teeth are horrible, I may have had a clearer understanding.

 

[Gordon]

Oh crap, I forgot about the stupid NHS contract in England and Wales, naturally a dentist doesn't want to treat a patient with multiple cavities, because of the ridiculous way they get paid, then the dentist would make a huge loss taking on somebody with multiple cavities.

I don't know what's worse, that the Gov't came up with it or that dentists agreed to sign up for it!

 

[brit]

Oh crap, I forgot about the stupid NHS contract in England and Wales, naturally a dentist doesn't want to treat a patient with multiple cavities, because of the ridiculous way they get paid, then the dentist would make a huge loss taking on somebody with multiple cavities.

I don't know what's worse, that the Gov't came up with it or that dentists agreed to sign up for it!

Being rude to patients to get them to go away (they certainly didn't design the dumb contract) is simply unprofessional and that particular dentist deserves all the bad mouthing he gets. Alas it's true that phobics were much more welcome under 'piece rate' because the more work they did, the more remuneration they got. You'd think they could find a happy medium somewhere wouldn't you?

Gordon - Any sign of positive change as a result of that Review a while back? Should the Scottish system be implemented everywhere then or does that have issues as well?

 

[K-Bird]

Your kidding right Gordon??? The last dentist told me how bad a tooth brusher I am and got the mirror out to show me specifically how bad I am at it.....He also had this fancy video thing of my teeth like a TV right in front of me to show me exactly how bad my teeth were...On top of that he left the video running of the person's teeth who was before me and that persons teeth were magnificent...

Arent experiences like that why we are all here....?

 

[K-Bird]

He said he left the video of the person before me running by mistake...what a lying asshole....

 

[K-Bird]

Anyway, nasty teeth--I think your after picture looks pretty good....wish my teeth looked like those...

 

[Gordon]

You mean the Steele Review?
They're trying out a new Pilot project just now to implement some parts of it, but I haven't read much of the details in it. There is zero chance of the Scottish system being re-implemented in England, at least for a long time. It basically gives the government an open commitment to fund dental treatment, no way they will go down that route again.