Too embarrassed and scared to go to the dentist

My husband was in a similar position. I.e. he neglected the dentist for years and then was in agony. He had no choice to go.

The dentist was lovely and sorted his tooth (it needed to be exactracted) and set him up with regular cleaning appointments to sort out his gum disease. His teeth are now sorted and he goes regularly.

Don't feel embarrassed OP. Dentists have seen it all, it's very common to be afraid of going so they know how to put a nervous patient at ease.

Dentists get paid through two routes. One being very vain people. The other being people who aren’t angelic at doing everything right for their teeth.

So no need to be embarrassed, you are their standard client. You’ve also got good ‘cover story’ because it sounds like time frame could easily overlap with Covid and it was nigh on impossible to see a dentist at all then so that’s why you didn’t go when it first happened.

Next, most dentists themselves aren’t scary. They’re normal people. Dentistry is scary to some people, but that’s a further step down the line to going in to chat to a dentist and them having a look and discussing options. They’re also very used to people being nervous of dentistry.

Pricing wise - give one a call and ask. They won’t do any work without discussing options and costs. The initial check up and assessment price are often on a price list on websites.

One step at a time, give a practise a call or an email.

Agree with PPs, and also came on to say i had to have a tooth at the back of my mouth extracted 2 years ago because it was crowding another tooth. The gap doesn’t show at all.

Please go. It will only get worse if you don't.

The dentist isn't going to judge you, they've seen everything, they're like doctors and all they will care about is getting it sorted. They aren't thinking about what a dreadful person you are; in the nicest way, they don't give a shit, they just want to fix your teeth before it gets even worse.

They can offer sedation and similar if you're scared (that's very common too) and payment plans so it's affordable. Just get it sorted.

Don’t worry what the dentist will think, they see all sorts! They’ll understand you’ve been afraid, it’s very common.

You must go though, if left untreated you might end up with an abscess which is an agony. Don’t assume extraction, it’s possible it can be patched up.