Stressed and Worried About the Future

[anxious345]

I'm quite stressed and worried as I'm 24 and have had a lot of fillings over the course of the past 5 years (my dad has always had the same situation as me) whilst my mum and brother have never had anything!

Every time I go to the dentist I'm told I have the cleanest teeth out of all their patients, however I can't stop freaking out about what the rest of my future holds...will I end up needing RCT, dentures and extractions for the rest of my life?

I constantly have anxiety that if I go on a holiday something terrible will happen and I won't have access to my regular dentist. I really want to get on with life and stop worrying and just enjoy it, my dentist promised he would keep my teeth for as long as possible but I'm stressed about the unknown and pain down the line (financial and physical).

Will my teeth all fall out? The dentist said I would need to replace my filling with a crown in about 5 years I just am constantly anxious to eat anything if I break a tooth and it has to get pulled out?? I've had about 15 fillings, attached a photo of my teeth

 

[Gordon]

Most adults lose their teeth through gum disease. As long as you're maintaining them well (as it seems you are doing from your dentist's comments) then you're not at any risk of your teeth falling out.
As far as decay goes, look hard at your diet. Maybe compile a diet diary and take it with you to your next check up (be scrupulously honest about EVERYTHING you eat and drink) and see if there's any changes you can make to reduce your decay experience.

 

[Stewart]

i cant quite understand how you have perfectly white teeth and yet 15 fillings

 

[letsconnect]

Not sure if you've seen the date on this thread, but the original poster may not be around to answer your question ... a few possibilities: firstly, fillings can be colour-matched to your existing teeth. Secondly, the fillings may be tooth surfaces that are not visible in the photo. Or a combination of the two.

If you mean "how can you have perfectly white teeth and still get decay" - as Gordon has pointed out above, diet is by far the biggest factor for tooth decay. You can have stellar dental hygiene habits, but if your teeth get into contact with carbohydrate-containing food and drinks too frequently, you can still get decay. Also, things like dry mouth and quality of saliva can have a big impact.

We have some more information here which explains it all in some detail:

How to prevent and stop tooth decay

Find out how to prevent tooth decay and how to stop existing decay from getting worse.

www.dentalfearcentral.org