Anyone else have endless dental problems?

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I'm really struggling. I am very phobic of the dentist but since being an adult have always forced myself to go regularly, get problems dealt with, have cleans etc. I've had a few fillings over the years.

I'm in a post covid dental nightmare. All check ups were cancelled or had to be cancelled due to covid, covid in the house, self isolation etc. The waiting list for routine appointment was 6 months so I'm still waiting for that 4th time rearranged appointment.

In the mealtime I keep having to go in for emergency work with all different dentists. Broken tooth, extraction, abscess, I've got toothache in 2 different fillings and now a third tooth has started aching. All in the space of 2-3 months. They keep saying I need a full check up and x rays with my dentist to sort a proper plan but they can't offer a quicker appointment as they're full up and just to come back if it's an emergency for a patch up job. My check up isn't for 3.5 months.....

I'm exhausted with it all. Can't eat properly (not because I'm in agony but just because it worsened the dull aches) and I'm terrified I'll break another tooth.

It's a highly sought after NHS place so I can't just 'find somewhere else'. They're a good dentist surgery just plagued by covid backlog I guess.

All while my husband who cleans his teeth twice a day and barely thinks about teeth has never had a single thing wrong with his teeth in 45 years.

Im feeling very sad and hard done by at the moment.

Oh OP, you have my sympathy. Similar story here, plagued by dental issues over the past 6 months: failed crown, infection, failed root canal, extraction, extraction complications, jaw pain and now slight pain in another tooth which is worrying. 6 months of pain, I've lost a significant amount of weight and it's been pretty miserable. It is so hard to get appointments and every appointment has been obviously dealing with the problematic tooth to patch up the issues there which meant my general checkup kept getting put back as the appointments are so short there's not enough time to do anything except the most immediate issue.

I was getting so anxious about it all (and like you struggling to want to eat) that I ended up booking myself in with a fancy private dentist locally recently just for a general checkup, x-rays and treatment plan so that I could have a bit of reassurance or at least know how bad things were. I hoped I was being paranoid and it would give me peace of mind, but on the otherhand given all the issues I wanted to address anything that might be urgent or at least gauge if it could wait until I could get an appointment with my regular dentist. It was expensive but worth it for the reassurance, as they said my other teeth are, to my surprise, in a good state.

I have another appointment booked in with my regular dentist in a couple of months which is supposed to be a general checkup but will probably be dealing with the ongoing issues with the extraction (although I'm hoping they disappear!). In the meantime I feel reassured that the rest of my mouth isn't about to fall apart which has helped my anxiety. I guess I'm just very sensitive about any niggle at the moment, it's really hard not to be with dental pain, it's a total riddle.

I also have a DH who has never had an issue with his teeth and am very jealous of him!

Also judging by the number of posts I see asking for dentists on my local facebook page, and the number of posts about dental issues on mumsnet I suspect we're not the only ones. The system is really creaking at the moment unfortunately.

@gargantu so sorry you're going through similar. It's exhausting isn't it. And really bad timing. I had a similar spell about 10 years ago but access was pretty much immediate and everything got sorted in a bearable timeframe.

I'm going on holiday in the summer for the first time in years and it feels like any treatment I need won't even have started by then. Will be eating porridge and soup on holiday ☹️

Well done for going to a private dentist for reassurance. All the private dentists round here have long waiting lists too. My surgery is both private and NHS and they don't offer any more rapid appointments. Not that I can afford it. My friend is going through a bad dental spell and is quoted £4K for the work and is on a waiting list just like me ☹️

Me! I feel like I’m plagued by terrible weak teeth and that it’s really unfair because I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve gone to bed without cleaning me teeth at night over the last 20 years - it’s absolutely not something I neglect to do!!! I once flossed half a tooth out so now I’m terrified to floss and I can’t contemplate a waterpik thingy because I’m scared it will be too forceful and I’ll flush more teeth out (irrational perhaps!)…
dh brushes twice and day and sails through his appointments whereas I ALWAYS WITHOUT FAIL have to go back inbetween for further treatments. I’m also petrified of the bloody dentist and every time I’ve been recently there’s been a new dentist 😩
no advice, sorry, just empathy.

@TheChosenTwo you poor thing too. It's even worse when it's new dentists all the time. I feel like I can't bother them with my 'I'm ok being here but I'm really anxious' as they're doing me a favour by fitting me in for a patch up.

Sorry to hear what you are going through. It's a nightmare isn't it. I had a traumatic experience today at the dentists to the point where I was crying and shaking. Had to have a tooth extracted and it has since been bleeding all day. Dentist stabbed my tongue 3 times whilst trying to administer local and I also have other aching teeth and suspect more to come yet just can't face going back.