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Sad dental situation caused by my bad mental health - I'm desperate

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psagluc

Junior member
Joined
Sep 22, 2022
Messages
1
Location
Italy
Hi. I'm a 26 years old guy.
I'm in a bit sad situation and I'm quite worried, sad and discouraged. I start by stating that since I was a child I have always dealth with mental health issues (OCD, anxiety, depression), even though I regularly started psychotherapy only when I was 22.

Since I was a child, I have always had very little self-discipline and this also applies for oral hygiene. In addition to this, I was reluctant to communicate my issues to my parents, and when I was a child I waited for year before going to a dentist for dental decays, and when I was 13 I had to cure several cavities. After this bad experience, I started to keep care of my oral hygiene to avoid future problems, but over time, I re-let my guard down (not brushing my teeth and so on) and I re-went for a visit only after experiencing severe pain (I was 18). I had other teeth to cure, I newly tried to be careful, but I redid the same mistake (i newly re-let my guard down). And when I was 23 I had new teeth to cure (i cured all the decayed teeth but because of pandemic I didn't do professional teeth cleaning). In addition to all these things, I have always had bruxism symptoms.
Overall, during my adolescence, I did some fillings and some root canal therapy.

When I was 23 I thought I could change. I was adult and more aware of my issues. I will brush my teeth and do professional cleaning each six months, I said. But when pandemic started, my OCD symptoms significantly worsened. I spent months terrified by the possibility of being infected and infecting other people, with compulsive temperature measurements, skipping meals, with sleep disorders etc. In those months I was never brushing my teeth. I became aware of the issue when I saw my father losing two teeth because of pyorrhea: I gradually restarted to brush my teeth (even though only before going to sleep) after months without doing it, but I was reluctant to book a denist visit (I didn't think too much about this; I felt too much shame and guilt for my poor oral hygiene and I had fear of being judged, which made me procrastinating, in addition to the fact that in the first year of pandemic I was avoiding to exit also due to fear of contagion). However, it happened to have new periods of relapse (for example, recently, a bit more than month in which I only took chewing gum without brushing tees; I know it's not ok, I am shamed about these things)

Now (I'm 26) the situation is worsened. A molar tooth cured 3 years ago crashed while eating and I re-went to the dentist. He said there's an infective infiltration (the tooth was already risking devitalization the filled and the decay was deep) and the tooth is very unlikley to be savable, and so I have to remove it to put a dental implant. The thing that is saddening and worrying me is that he only looked at that teeth. When I will return, I cannot even imagine the situation of the rest of the mouth. I hope I don't have other teeth to remove (as for new possible fillings, the fact that I developed other cavities is certain and unavoidable given my poor dental care).

In general, I feel sad and ashamed I caused an irreversible situation for my oral health. At the age of 26, I'll already have a dental implant (hoping it's only one), which is unusual and will cause new expenses and issues in the coming years. And moreover, I'm not managing to have discipline for my teeth. Every time I experienced issues, I tried to become for self-disciplined and careful, but I have always failed, like it happens for other things in my life. I tend to procrastinate; every time I have an issue -like even a university exam-, it's like the rest of the things are not important or less important, even oral hygiene.
Every time I have an issue I drammatize it and this bring me to neglect myself and my health.

1) From the photos, how much does the situation of my mouth seems to be irreparable? Is it likely that I'll have to remove other teeth? I know that these picture are not radiographic ones but simple photos, but it's the best I could show you.
As for the future? Do you think I can save my oral health and live a serene life in this sense?

2) I'm seeking for advice and moral support...I'm starting to think psychotherapy is not sufficient for my life and I need to take antidepressant drugs (to help me improving self-discipline and to not sink when life issues occur),
It's not ok to reduce myself in this condition. I feel guilty and ashamed.
 

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The rest of your teeth don't look too bad at all. Might be an idea to ask the dentist about orthodontic treatment instead of an implant, the rest of your lower teeth are quite crowded, so gaining a bit of space from losing this molar would give room to straighten out the rest of them perhaps.
 

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