Please take care of your teeth and gums

[Cassie00]

I wish I did.... Last June my dental appointment was pretty well. No cavities, only ever having one before in like 2013.
Barely and plaque or weirdness.
Feb of this year, finally decided on wisdom teeth extracting that I wanted to do for some time. Had six small fillings, two of which weren't cavities but erosion on back of two front teeth. During 2018, I stopped drinking Flouride water and was drinking a lot of Perrier drinks and towards the end of the year I had back to back colds over three months so I was negliegent on brushing at night and went to sleep after drinking teas and was also sneezing a lot which caused my front teeth to come together a lot too.
Then due to my own issues, in the spring of this same year around late april and May I was negligent again at night and my gums took some of that hit, and I have some recession. Also I was using a toothbrush for about three weeks or so that was abrasive. I swapped it out by June but the damage had already been done. By june I tried to fix my damage but then I had dry mouth from not eating much and my depression and anxiety made things worse. I thought I cracked a back molar so I went to a dental school in the end of July and a dental student took a few xrays of my right side and filed down a tooth a bit but honestly I think that made things worse because my anxiety worsened from that and it took me until last month to go back and get a cleaning from them... but its just wear on all of my molars from clenching and decay most likely. my front teeth like the front 6 and bottom 6 are yellowish due to enamel loss, especially the two on the sides of the two front teeth. My teeth and gums have went from being pretty okay to total crap in a little over a year give or take. I also have a wisdom tooth that still needs extracting that I had a panoramic xray done just in Feb for.... and wasn't able to get it removed due to insurance issues and stupidity. This year has been the worst year ever for me and I really think I might have to get dentures … my enamel is too thin and I have bone loss. I wanna cry so much... the past six months have been especially bad. Im waiting until next month when I finally have insurance again to remove it bc the school is asking 700 to remove that I don't have atm. I have pockets of recession and of 4mm in a few teeth and like my back molars def have recession... my mouth isn't even the same mouth I had 6-8 months ago

 

[Enarete]

Dear Cassie00,

so sorry to read about your situation and about how you feel right now.

Parts of your post sound like if what happened was your fault, but I do not think it was. Reading your story it sounds to me like you have had a very difficult time dealing with your mental health and haven't had enough energy to take care of things like nutrition or home care. It also sounds like you have made several attempts to get back on track. Putting it shortly, I am absolutely sure you have done the best you could at any stage of those terrible few months and you still are. I also wish there have been mental health help availbale for you right at the beginning of this period.

I can see the sense of regret and wishing to be able to turn back time and it is ok to need some time to get past this. It is ok to cry and be sad and it's a part of processing things, so allow yourself to feel whatever is there. While we cannot change the past, we still can do the best for the future. I am glad you will have insurance again and will be able to get dental treatment soon.

If you can, try not to expect the worst. It must be frustrating to see your teeth had changed visibly in short time and things might look really bad to you, but dentistry had come a really long way in terms of treatment options for teeth and gums. 4mm doesn't sound too bad, we had posters here who had 8-10mm and were able to get the right treatment. Once you are able to see a dentist again (hopefully a kind and caring one), you can have a good chat about your options and how to move things forward.

All the best wishes and keep us posted

 

[Cassie00]

thank you. I'm hoping things go okay.