At least, I haven’t a check up for years - I’ve had 4 teeth pulled in the last ten years, one a year ago (two molars plus the wisdom teeth beside them) - but not been for a check up since 2016/17 ish .
Life got very, very difficult which prevented me from going . I also have medical trauma and can’t cope well with the lying flat element of it .
I’ve made an appointment for the 19th September with a lovely sounding dentist - receptionist assured me they were used to nervous patients and that I’d be fine, but I’m panicking a bit .
My teeth aren’t brilliant, have two wonky wisdom teeth (one with a weird hole beside it that fills up with crap every so often), my front teeth are worn down from constant grinding/click every so often and I’ve got a couple of teeth that are chipped .
I went through a depression in my early twenties or so and hardly ever brushed my teeth . I do now, twice a day every day .
My mum was terrified of the dentist, has only got 6 or 7 teeth left and never really instilled the importance of seeing the dentist .
I’m terrified I’m going to walk into that appointment and be told I need all my teeth out at 32 - or that I’m going to need a shedload of expensive treatment (I’m on a very tight budget) . I’ve no pain, no rotten teeth that I can see but they do have tiny little holes on the surface - and top front teeth are visibly worn down .
Would the dentist have told me a year ago if they thought I had cavities? At the time they were still operating under covid restrictions and told me they weren’t doing proper check ups, just emergencies only .