Not embarassed, so much as ashamed...

Stan Marsh

(This is a 2nd account I have - Don't know if it's against the rules but I couldn't find out how to go unreg in PI)

Anyways recently my jaw on the left side was sore, went feeling the inside of my mouth and quickly realised it was probably my wisdom teeth coming through on the top row on both sides. I'm 18 and to be brutally honest I haven't taken the best care of my teeth and I'm ashamed of the way they look. When I was 12 I went to a consultant but wasn't deemed eligible to get braces because they weren't needed as badly as others on the list. We couldn't afford to pay privately and now with me in college with no grant to help my by, I doubt it's guna happen anytime soon. Both of my parents at 47 have some false teeth and I'm guessing that this passiveness about oral hygeine might have brushed off onto me as a child.I'm mainly to blame ..

I presume that if the pain continues that I'll have to go to the dentist, and I know for a fact that I need around 5 fillings and maybe 1/2 teeth taken out. It truly depresses me to think how bad they are and how it may have been avoided. I try as much as I can to put off going to the dentist, haven't been in around 2 years, and hoping that I don't have to go soon, the thoughts of opening my mouth knowing what they're going to see in a lad of 18 depresses me.

By nature I'm a quiet (not shy) person who opens up to people eventually, this became even more apparent when I started college this year. My self-confidence has been severly damaged so much so that I've developed a nervous habit of putting the sleeve of my hoodie over my mouth as much as I can when I can. I hardly ever smile because of my poor self confidence. Girls, don't even go there ; I try not to be, but know that I'm really quiet around girls, even around some female friends I've made in college. It's not through ignorance, just by nature I'm quiet, and this is somewhat compounded by my poor self-image.

I don't know what I'm hoping to get out of this, I suppose I just needed to get it all of my chest so I don't bottle it up to myself. Knowing that I let this problem develop is probably the most disheartening thing about it...
Thank you for reading this.

LegacyUser

Op seriously its never as bad as you think its going to be....not knowing is the worst

I can totally relate to your post im a 26yr old woman and like you when i was younger i was told i'd need braces but never got them. I went to the dentist 6 months ago for the first time in ELEVEN YEARS!! i hadn't been to the dentist since i was in 1st or 2nd year of secondary school! i was terrified! convinced myself i'd need loads of fillings/extractions, i had loads of tartar/plaque build up, i had black spots on most of my back teeth, convinced myself they were rotting...so i decided i had to go to the dentist before it got any worse...

Went to the dentist and i was literally shaking... he told me my teeth were in fantastic shape ...gave them a clean, no fillings nothing! i couldn't believe it!!

Just go OP, you'll feel so much better about it, i know how scary it is, but you're only 18, you couldn't have done that much damage to them yet, and even if you do need some fillings so what, its not the end of the world, dentists don't extract teeth these days unless they really really have to. The feeling of relief after its over is worth gold.

Actually just reading back over your post...you haven't been in 2 years, you're supposed to go every 6 months ...so technically you've only missed 4 appointments...thats nothing op, book an appointment soon, and just get it over with, it'll be a weight off your shoulders!

Genghiz Cohen

Are your teeth coloured or crooked?
Coloured is pretty easily solved and anyone who looks down on you for crooked teeth needs a good kick in theirs.

Also, listen to dentistfeartoo.

Greyfox

Stan Marsh wrote: »

(This is a 2nd account I have - Don't know if it's against the rules but I couldn't find out how to go unreg in PI)

Anyways recently my jaw on the left side was sore, went feeling the inside of my mouth and quickly realised it was probably my wisdom teeth coming through on the top row on both sides. I'm 18 and to be brutally honest I haven't taken the best care of my teeth and I'm ashamed of the way they look. When I was 12 I went to a consultant but wasn't deemed eligible to get braces because they weren't needed as badly as others on the list. We couldn't afford to pay privately and now with me in college with no grant to help my by, I doubt it's guna happen anytime soon. Both of my parents at 47 have some false teeth and I'm guessing that this passiveness about oral hygeine might have brushed off onto me as a child.I'm mainly to blame ..

I presume that if the pain continues that I'll have to go to the dentist, and I know for a fact that I need around 5 fillings and maybe 1/2 teeth taken out. It truly depresses me to think how bad they are and how it may have been avoided. I try as much as I can to put off going to the dentist, haven't been in around 2 years, and hoping that I don't have to go soon, the thoughts of opening my mouth knowing what they're going to see in a lad of 18 depresses me.

By nature I'm a quiet (not shy) person who opens up to people eventually, this became even more apparent when I started college this year. My self-confidence has been severly damaged so much so that I've developed a nervous habit of putting the sleeve of my hoodie over my mouth as much as I can when I can. I hardly ever smile because of my poor self confidence. Girls, don't even go there ; I try not to be, but know that I'm really quiet around girls, even around some female friends I've made in college. It's not through ignorance, just by nature I'm quiet, and this is somewhat compounded by my poor self-image.

I don't know what I'm hoping to get out of this, I suppose I just needed to get it all of my chest so I don't bottle it up to myself. Knowing that I let this problem develop is probably the most disheartening thing about it...
Thank you for reading this.

I went to the dentist 3 weeks ago for the first time in about 15 years, I knew my teeth were really, really bad and because of the likely cost i've been putting it off for a long time but because of one tooth in particuler I finally went to one. I've to go back again on tuesday as I'm not doing everything in one go as the overall damage for me is 6 fillings, 4 extractions and one clean. (you couldn't do all that in one go anyway). My advise to you is to go ASAP, heres why:

Your wisdom teeth are almost worth their weight in gold to you, you really really don't want to lose these.
You need to remind yourself that it's only a matter of time befor the ones that need fillings become ones that need extractions, it's very important to keep as many teeth as possible as the less teeth you have the more difficult eating becomes for the rest of your life! (for me if I went last year that's two more teeth I would of been able to save)
Thankfully the dentist I went to didn't make me feel stupid for going so long without a visit as I was already feeling this and he was definitely not surprised by how bad my teeth were!

You don't have to get everything you need done all at once. chances are you will need to get a few things done but what the dentist will do is list everything, and tell you what's the most urgent, you can then get this done, then if you don't have the money you can leave the other stuff for now. For me my next visit is finishing off my fillings, I've also got one extraction done and a clean...I'll probably leave my other 3 extractions for a while, depending on having the money.

The main thing to remember is if you make an appointment your esentially just asking for a quote as to what the damage is, after you have got this quote you can then decide what you want done (they'll definitely recommend you at least get a clean) but after you get this quote you can decide you want to get nothing done as you can't afford it and you bill will be €0, the most important thing is that you find out what the damage is and if theirs anything that needs to be done urgently and they weigh up what you can afford!

LegacyUser

I know what your going through, after a childhood of sweets and sugary foods my teeth were in a bad state by the time i was an adult they were missing, crooked, etc, so one day i made the decision to get them pulled out and i got dentures.

i met a great dentist who explained everything and agreed to do it.

forget the image of granny's dentures, that day is gone dentures are more sophisticated now, they look great and nobody knows that i'm wearing them.

before this i could not smile and was very self concious i'm just sorry i did not do it years ago

tbh

Stan Marsh wrote: »

(This is a 2nd account I have - Don't know if it's against the rules but I couldn't find out how to go unreg in PI)

Anyways recently my jaw on the left side was sore, went feeling the inside of my mouth and quickly realised it was probably my wisdom teeth coming through on the top row on both sides. I'm 18 and to be brutally honest I haven't taken the best care of my teeth and I'm ashamed of the way they look. .

my advice? start a thread in the Dental Issues forum. A lot of dentists post in there, and I bet you anything they'll tell you that you're not as bad as you think, and certainly not the worst case they've ever seen. I was in the same boat as you man, for a couple of different things, my teeth was one of them. The longer you leave it, the worse it gets. I promise you, if you were to go to the dentist tomorrow morning, tomorrow evening you'd be wondering what it is you were worried about.

but yeah - pop a thread into DI and ask the guys what you should do. You'll find out for yourself that they are not as scary in real life as they are in your head.