A
adendum4567
Member
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2021
- Messages
- 43
- Location
- usa
Hi everyone.
I'm going to try to keep this short, but I need help.
Ever since I can remember, I was afraid of the dentists. Afraid to get lectured, afraid of the pain that I was sure to experience.
When I was a kid, my mom would force me to go, so I had to. I pretty much just got cleanings but I remember getting lectured about brushing by the dentists when I was very young.
That wasn't so bad, I guess. But when it was time and they told me I needed braces, I was very resistive. Right about that time, my parents divorced and my braces were forgotten. I was happy at the time and wasn't going to press the issue.
Well, after the divorce there was no more dental insurance. Fine, I was young and didn't care. But my wisdom teeth came in, and ever since have been crowding my lower teeth. I've always felt very embarrassed by them and by the time I realized it was a problem I felt they were already very bad. There were also periods of time where dental insurance wasn't available to me (I'm now referring to after I went out on my own, late teens-early twenties.)
So through my twenties and thirties I just dealt with bad teeth. But I really want my teeth to not be an issue anymore. They're crowded, very crowded on the bottom. The top teeth are thankfully not to bad at all. But they look awful and where the crowding is worse they're discoloring. Occasionally I get some pain. I know that this isn't going to improve without some dental care.
I want to take the first step but I don't know how. How do you do it? How do you contact a dentist and say "I'm 40+ years old, and I'm scared of the dentist. I haven't been in 30 years."
Quick edit: I actually tried to Google "<my city> no shame dentist" and had tears in my eyes because I didn't know where to start, and couldn't really find anything that seemed to help.
I'm going to try to keep this short, but I need help.
Ever since I can remember, I was afraid of the dentists. Afraid to get lectured, afraid of the pain that I was sure to experience.
When I was a kid, my mom would force me to go, so I had to. I pretty much just got cleanings but I remember getting lectured about brushing by the dentists when I was very young.
That wasn't so bad, I guess. But when it was time and they told me I needed braces, I was very resistive. Right about that time, my parents divorced and my braces were forgotten. I was happy at the time and wasn't going to press the issue.
Well, after the divorce there was no more dental insurance. Fine, I was young and didn't care. But my wisdom teeth came in, and ever since have been crowding my lower teeth. I've always felt very embarrassed by them and by the time I realized it was a problem I felt they were already very bad. There were also periods of time where dental insurance wasn't available to me (I'm now referring to after I went out on my own, late teens-early twenties.)
So through my twenties and thirties I just dealt with bad teeth. But I really want my teeth to not be an issue anymore. They're crowded, very crowded on the bottom. The top teeth are thankfully not to bad at all. But they look awful and where the crowding is worse they're discoloring. Occasionally I get some pain. I know that this isn't going to improve without some dental care.
I want to take the first step but I don't know how. How do you do it? How do you contact a dentist and say "I'm 40+ years old, and I'm scared of the dentist. I haven't been in 30 years."
Quick edit: I actually tried to Google "<my city> no shame dentist" and had tears in my eyes because I didn't know where to start, and couldn't really find anything that seemed to help.