I had my routinely 6 month check up in April, where I met my new dentist. She thought everything seemed okay but wanted up to date xrays of my teeth, however being 8 months pregnant this was put off until an appointment in July.
Prior to this dentist I had one for a year and one for 20+ years. Neither the interim year long dentist or the older dentist had xrayed my teeth in about 5+ years.
At most prior appointments my teeth were signed off as fine and I've had a handful of fillings on my back teeth (chipped tooth after being hit by a ball, cracked tooth and a few little bits here and there). Overall I'd say my teeth were in pretty good shape. I brush them 3-4 times a day, use mouthwash and oil pull.
I had braces fairly late on in life, at 17 (despite seeing specialists for at least 8 years), and got them rempved at 19. The gap in my front teeth closed and I was happy. This lasted until I was 22 and they opened again. New dentist confirmed it was a wrong permanent retainer (plastic behind two front teeth instead of six front teeth to hold in place). She said after my xrays we'd get back on the orthodontics referral and get then fixed.
My xrays came back and showed three fillings needing done, not visible to the naked eye, as they were under the tooth. They also showed a few 'maybe areas'. One area so bad that it may need a crown in a year or two, I'm 24!
We got everything sorted in two appointments (last one being today), and suddenly I'm told no referral will be made but decisions postponed until my next check up, at the beginning of next year.
I know she is doing her job. I'm not mad at her. I am however beyond pissed off that my previous two dentists missed these issues which resulted in them becoming much worse. According to new dentist being pregnant can cause tooth issues, which should be monitored and it wasn't (2 pregnancies), as can the fizzy juice craving I get only when pregnant. If picked up years ago when they developed many of the maybe issues wouldn't be present and the bigger issue wouldn't have become as bad.
I'm annoyed that my gap issues were fixed for 2.5 years, after waiting almost a decade (including the referral process), and now I need to wait again.
I spoke to my dad and OH and both think I'm being silly. I hate my teeth. I hate the gap that so obviously draws attention, I cannot smile with my mouth open, I don't open my mouth wide enough when I speak or eat and I am deeply self-concious and insecure. Aibu to be quite upset that this has been pushed aside again, despite being told for years that my teeth were fine?
I know I'm not some one toothed hillbilly, my teeth are fairly white, clean and look in reasomably good shape, but this gap is a confidence killer and I finally thought it would be fixed, again.