Lost my dental bridge- will my dentist think I'm an idiot?

[opalescent]

I've had an absolute nightmare with my teeth this year. I cracked a very visible premolar last Christmas through clenching at night 😭.

My nhs dentist tried a sort of composite bridge at first, to fill the gap. It was painful throughout the first lockdown (probably because I was still clenching on it), and eventually had to be removed.
He then made me a Maryland bridge, which lasted approximately one month before it fell out (just before Christmas). Again, he suspects that I ground it off with night time clenching. He booked me in to re-attach it on January 5th, but I've just realised I've lost it 😭😭😭

I put it in a little pot with a lid on a windowsill. It's not there, but the (empty) pot was kicking around on the floor. I have searched high and low. Gone through the vacuum bag and the bin.

I have small children and suspect their involvement.

Obviously I will just have to pay for a new one (😭). This is a nightmare- I will eventually be around £900 down and may still have a gap!!!

No they won’t judge. It’s possible that it was damaged anyway so you’d have need a new one regardless

How annoying tho.

get an appointment as soon as you can tho to discuss your options

Ask the dentist about a mouth guard for the grinding whilst you’re there too. It will save you further damage and / or ending up in pain.

Thanks both.
I do wear a mouth guard, but find that it only helps up to a point! I really need to discuss options, because another bridge feels like it might be money down the drain at this point!!

Are you stressed about anything in particular? have you always clenched and grinded your teeth at night, or is this something new? Do you drink or smoke?

I, apparently, used to grind my teeth and also wore a night guard. I had an extremely stressful job at that time though and since leaving, havent needed to wear the guard, nor do I clench at night now.

Why on earth would the dentist judge you??? Tiny things like that get misplaced all the time. If you are stressed and clenching is new, have you had any CBT, relaxation techniques or exercises? Some meds can help too, but there might be a root cause to the cleching you can treat. Best of luck x

Thank you Eloura. I have been clenching badly for around a year. I think the loss of this tooth has made things exponentially worse, as my bite has changed, I have an incredibly stressful job, and am desperately trying to change that x