• 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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so many issues!!

L

liafox

Junior member
Joined
Dec 10, 2021
Messages
2
Location
united kingdom
i am only a teenager but i am completely terrified of the dentist.

i didnt particularly neglect my teeth as a child , no more than the usual child i guess! when lockdown hit in 2020 there was some neglect and i didnt brush for a few months on and off but was that a long enough time period to cause me all the issues i have today?

i have brushed my teeth twice a day pretty much every day and with mouthwash once a day for the past year and a half with only the odd once or twice a month not doing it.However , i believe i have so many dental issues. i had chipped my tooth on the molar at the top about six months ago and the dentist who i hadnt seen it about a year because of the covid situation i think she filled it but im not entirely sure because she didnt tell me at all what she was doing and just made tutting noise about my bottom teeth which scared me furthermore.

i had another chip in my bottom molar on the right and went to a supply dentist and she said i would need RCT which was a scary thing to hear but she put a temporary filling in it. however, i think this is where i became even more scared of the dentist in general as my mum passed out in the dentist and it was a terrifying experience for me that has left me extremely scared. Despite this , i am also terrified as i have so many issues in my mouth :
very back tooth on the left top is broken , i dont really know how i just felt it was broken
top premolar has chipped on the left aswell
i have a receding gum situation on one tooth on the bottom (Canine? not sure) that seems to reattach itself sometimes?
a few weeks ago i had extreme pain from my top right tooth on the side sort of area - i think it is an abscess that had killed the nerve as i feel no pain from it now and there seems to be a very very small but dark mark on it?

^^ a list of the issues i am aware of but i am beginning to think a lot of my teeth have issues. i already have a silver filling in my bottom right molar and im so terrified of the dentist saying that they will just have to pull them all and ill have to have dentures of something ( i am aware this is unrealistic and irrational but this thought always comes to mind) my teeth look okay in general and ive never had one pulled or anything - i have no baby teeth left but i am just so scared of the dentist looking in my mouth on monday and telling me off as she has done in the past and i dont want her to list all these issues in my mouth and leave me petrified to return!!

im scared of the noises of the drills and not knowing what tools are going in my mouth but im also scared of the diagnosis? i want to know what it is but the thought of hearing something awful about them is awful. im scared of my dentist telling me off before because she has in the past. im scared of if i have to have veneers or something then not being able to afford the upkeep of them when i am not longer a student.

i have a myriad of different fears and the dentist is a terrifying place to me but i do not consider myself to have neglected my teeth that badly but they seem to be so prone to damage.

help please?
 
I am ten years older than you and stopped going to the dentist around 19. I wish I had just kept up. Teeth that now have big fillings could have had smaller fillings. The dentist could have scared me straight into changing my diet to include less sugar. I always brushed twice a day without fail so I never though I had much to worry about. If I could go back in time, I would have continued to go to the dentist. But I can't.

You are so young. You have the rest of your life ahead of you! From what you've explained, it is very unlikely you will need dentures. I get the irrational fear, I have the same. I asked my dentist 4 times if I'll lose all my teeth and he said no! I am still online for hours every day reading about dentures. Planning my exile into a remote house with dogs that I never leave once I lose all my teeth so nobody has to look at me lol. My teeth also look fine when you look at them, but they do have cavities that need filling and I need one pulled due to a root canal I never had crowned when I was 18.

If you go now, the dentist can help you figure out the best way to keep your teeth healthy for years and years to come.


Is it possible to find another dentist if you don't like yours? One that will be gentler with your concerns and has experience with anxious patients? That might be the best route for you. You don't need someone looking in your mouth and "tutting" if you're already freaked out about it.

The one thing that helped me walk into my first appointment after ten years was realizing that once I know what is wrong, I no longer had to make up scenarios in my head. I could know for real and focus on the solution. There is some relief in that! And many people on this site find it isn't as bad as they thought. I didn't have that experience but there are people who went 30 years without going and only needed some minor fillings! Likely you are better off than you think if you aren't having major pain all of the time
 
hi izzy!

thank you so much for taking the time to reply- i really really appreciate it.

i understand and hopefully i will start getting to the dentist again regularly , i have an appointment on monday that has got me worried again! also i do the same , i spend hours a day researching different dental issues and about dentures and veneers and all sorts ! it scares me even more to be honest but i do it anyway lol.
being realistic my teeth dont really look bad at all its just the issues in the back that scare me! but hopefully it wont be anything to bad and i can get it fixed easily and painlessly before it gets too bad. i cannot put it off anymore as i know it can only get worse.

unfortunately , the dentist i go to is one of the only dentist locally that is under the NHS so they payments will be cheaper when i am older ( they are free at the moment as i am a student) and there is only one dentist who works there due to covid issues!! shes done my dental work my whole life but ive never liked her and she always finds a way to lecture me about my teeth when i really dont think its all my fault. however i guess if she does the job it is okay i just dont like her not telling me about anything!

i hope you also get to have your teeth cared for! make sure you dont just become a hermit because of your teeth - dont let them control you :)

thank you so much for the reassurance

lia
 
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