S
starrico
Junior member
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2015
- Messages
- 1
- Location
- Bristol, England
Glad I found this forum. Was interesting reading other stories and suchlike and thought that I would share mine.
I'm 38 years old living in England. Ever since I can remember I've had bad teeth. I've avoided the dentist pretty much my entire adult life. I didn't brush my teeth for ages, then as I got older my teeth began to decay and eventually break off. This meant that even though I knew at this point i should be brushing my teeth and going to the dentist, the fear factor was firmly gripping me.
I couldn't brush my teeth because I was scared of doing more damage. I had an overwhelming fear that by brushing my teeth, I could break off one of the "fronties".
I recall in my mid-20s going through tremendous levels of pain. I offset it by taking ibuprofen. Often, I would pace up and down my bedroom at night, in sheer pain yet still I would not go to the dentist. This was driven by the fact that the pain usually settled after a day or so. Just gotta ride the storm I thought.
Eventually, now well into my 30's, my teeth began breaking off, the sides of my mouth became rotten "stubs", my breath was bad, which I tried to offset with lots of mouthwash and mints and the front teeth started giving way. I couldn't eat many things for fear of hearing that horrid crunch sound of a tooth breaking. Now firmly believing it to be "too late", I became quite depressed. My thoughts were that "if it ever gets to the stage where it's visible to others then I'll end it". I had crazy thoughts like that. It's crazy because my teeth issue was obvious anyway, you can't really hide it, but I thought I could.
Last week, my front tooth broke off, I now have a gap at the front in addition to all the issues on the sides. I have been unable to chew food for some time. The old me would have probably spiraled out of control at this point but, after a day of feeling sorry for myself, I was able to take stock of the situation.
The fact is that you notice things way more than other people, and it's never too late to fix a problem!
So last week I finally registered with a local dentist and this morning, rather embarrassingly, had my first consultation. He told me pretty much what I expected to hear. The majority of teeth can't be saved. In total I now need 11 tooth extractions, mainly on the sides luckily. I also have gum disease (which I need to research) and will require "bridge" dentures. Luckily in England we have the NHS, and part of my fear was cost. It seems even private dentists have a payment plan. Cost should never really be an issue. You can spread it out.
My treatment which is going to be spread out over the next 2 months is 11 tooth extractions, a full clean up, a couple of fillings, a polish. It seems the majority of my front teeth can be saved (bar the one that broke off which is rotten to the root). I'm lucky in that sense. I've also started brushing my teeth recently, using a soft childs brush. If you're not brushing then you really need to start, the childs soft brush is very gentle and will not cause you and damage. Over time I'd like to upgrade to an adult brush but I'll do that once the extractions are done.
There was a lot of information given to me. I'm worried about the quality of NHS dentures vs. private dentures but I guess I can always "upgrade" at a later date if needed.
Right now, I'm very scared, but I know I have to do this. I also know that the thought of finally being able to smile (something I have never done before) drives me through. Whilst I was embarrassed to begin this long process, I'm soo happy that I have. I would absolutely encourage others to take the leap of faith. It's never too late!!!
I'll post up my on-going journey here.
I'm 38 years old living in England. Ever since I can remember I've had bad teeth. I've avoided the dentist pretty much my entire adult life. I didn't brush my teeth for ages, then as I got older my teeth began to decay and eventually break off. This meant that even though I knew at this point i should be brushing my teeth and going to the dentist, the fear factor was firmly gripping me.
I couldn't brush my teeth because I was scared of doing more damage. I had an overwhelming fear that by brushing my teeth, I could break off one of the "fronties".
I recall in my mid-20s going through tremendous levels of pain. I offset it by taking ibuprofen. Often, I would pace up and down my bedroom at night, in sheer pain yet still I would not go to the dentist. This was driven by the fact that the pain usually settled after a day or so. Just gotta ride the storm I thought.
Eventually, now well into my 30's, my teeth began breaking off, the sides of my mouth became rotten "stubs", my breath was bad, which I tried to offset with lots of mouthwash and mints and the front teeth started giving way. I couldn't eat many things for fear of hearing that horrid crunch sound of a tooth breaking. Now firmly believing it to be "too late", I became quite depressed. My thoughts were that "if it ever gets to the stage where it's visible to others then I'll end it". I had crazy thoughts like that. It's crazy because my teeth issue was obvious anyway, you can't really hide it, but I thought I could.
Last week, my front tooth broke off, I now have a gap at the front in addition to all the issues on the sides. I have been unable to chew food for some time. The old me would have probably spiraled out of control at this point but, after a day of feeling sorry for myself, I was able to take stock of the situation.
The fact is that you notice things way more than other people, and it's never too late to fix a problem!
So last week I finally registered with a local dentist and this morning, rather embarrassingly, had my first consultation. He told me pretty much what I expected to hear. The majority of teeth can't be saved. In total I now need 11 tooth extractions, mainly on the sides luckily. I also have gum disease (which I need to research) and will require "bridge" dentures. Luckily in England we have the NHS, and part of my fear was cost. It seems even private dentists have a payment plan. Cost should never really be an issue. You can spread it out.
My treatment which is going to be spread out over the next 2 months is 11 tooth extractions, a full clean up, a couple of fillings, a polish. It seems the majority of my front teeth can be saved (bar the one that broke off which is rotten to the root). I'm lucky in that sense. I've also started brushing my teeth recently, using a soft childs brush. If you're not brushing then you really need to start, the childs soft brush is very gentle and will not cause you and damage. Over time I'd like to upgrade to an adult brush but I'll do that once the extractions are done.
There was a lot of information given to me. I'm worried about the quality of NHS dentures vs. private dentures but I guess I can always "upgrade" at a later date if needed.
Right now, I'm very scared, but I know I have to do this. I also know that the thought of finally being able to smile (something I have never done before) drives me through. Whilst I was embarrassed to begin this long process, I'm soo happy that I have. I would absolutely encourage others to take the leap of faith. It's never too late!!!
I'll post up my on-going journey here.
x
