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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to f**king HATE the dentist!

17 replies

MummyStruggles · 22/08/2019 12:57

Sort of lighthearted but still very really annoying!

Back from the dentist, £63 lighter with one normal filling one temporary. Back in 2 weeks for root canal and crown for a further £207!!! God there are so many other things I could do with spending that bloody money on - it's so frustrating!

So I'm sat here thinking about how much I hate the dentist but that it is actually, in all honesty, all my fault because I've never been able to say no to nice things like chocolate, wine and cake!!

Fat tw@t that I am!

OP posts:
Toothproblems · 22/08/2019 14:13

Yanbu. My pregnancies took a real tool on my teeth. Finally going to see the dentist to be told I need 2 fillings and 2 or 3 extractions! I had no pain until I left that appointment and have had never ending pain since. Then they kept cancelling my appointment the day before. They cancelled it 6 times. I have to wait until September now and go back for another checkup before they do anything as it's been so long. Then have to pay for it too!

Cryalot2 · 22/08/2019 14:16

No scared whitless about going. I tend to avoid it.
I know i need work done but can neither afford or have the guts

augustagain · 22/08/2019 14:22

I hear you!

My teeth are costing me a fortune right now. The frustrating thing is, it's not decay - it's my tooth-grinding habit! I've been wearing a guard the last couple of years but a lot of damage has been done.

My last bill in July was £353 and I am seeing dentist again next month for a crown and a filling and there is something he wants to try (re-enamelling?).

I am seriously thinking of dentures some day soon. I am over 50 now. I never thought I'd be saying this, but there it is. How much longer can I keep shoring up my knackered teeth at such expense?

I am not afraid of the dentist, so that's one thing - just afraid of the bills!

newtb · 22/08/2019 14:37

Hate the bastards!! In my defence, my best firend died at the dentist when I was 12, so I hate changing them.

I chipped a front tooth, it's been repaired 3 times, and a corner broke off yet again on a bite of a small crusty roll. A crown has also come off for the second time, and it cost 500€.

newtb · 22/08/2019 14:38

friend

augustagain · 22/08/2019 14:41

Wow, newtb how awful and traumatising for you Shock

Yeah, not sure how long I am willing to keep lashing out money on my gnashers. I have already started to look online to see how dentures have changed since my grandparents' time!

Original poster
MummyStruggles · 22/08/2019 14:42

Stupidly, I paid for a root canal and crown privately, under sedation but I was absolutely petrified of the dentist. It cost me £1200 4 years ago and i had to have it extracted 3 weeks ago!

@newtb Oh my god, that's terrible, it must have been awful. No wonder you hate them.

I feel as well that now I'll have to constantly live a deprived lifestyle in order to not have anything go wrong, you know? Like if I stay away from all sugary foods and only drink water for the rest of your life then all will be good! How boring!!!

OP posts:
Topseyt · 22/08/2019 14:42

I hate the dentist too.

I must admit that I now only go if I know I definitely have a problem. It was amazing when I used to go every six months that they found work was needed. Every, single time and often costing an arm and a leg.

Now I just think of them as a private business out to make money, so only go if I personally feel I need to.

augustagain · 22/08/2019 14:44

Like if I stay away from all sugary foods and only drink water for the rest of your life then all will be good!

Yeah and sadly even if you are completely avoiding sugar, there will still be wear and tear to contend with. It's really too depressing...

Theoscargoesto · 22/08/2019 14:50

I'm hearing you too. Chipped a bit off a tooth (on a pomegranate seed: who knew that could be dangerous!) last night. Dentist today, and when he took the filling out, there was an exposed nerve. It was, to put it mildly, painful, even with a mouth full of anaesthetic. I have terrible teeth, and my dentist, who is a lovely man, does his best, but I don't like seeing him.

Like you I have to go back for a root canal filling. £200 sounds cheap to me!! That said, given the time he has spent and will be spending with me and the expertise, plus all the stuff he has had to use, I don't mind the cost. After all, if I'd got a plumber out for an emergency and needed another hour and a half of his time, the cost would have been more. And my dentist is considerably more experienced and better qualified!!

Original poster
MummyStruggles · 22/08/2019 14:56

@Theoscargoesto Is £200 cheap? It's NHS this time round.

OP posts:
newtb · 22/08/2019 15:00

Thanks OP. It's a very long time ago, but I hate changing dentist.

It was when they had just started using valium injections for general anaesthetic rather than gas - it saved having an anaesthetist there. Sadly, she collapsed and the dentist couldn't bring her round and said at the inquest that, had he had another cylinder of oxygen it might have been possible.

It was at the end of the 60s, and there were loads more deaths until it was eventually stopped sometime in the 90s.

Probably outing, but was in the church choir, and we were asked to sing at her funeral.

Sparklfairy · 22/08/2019 15:05

I need to go Sad I cracked a molar on a piece of rice last year. A friend did the same years ago and couldn't afford the dentist, friends told him just leave it, the nerve endings will 'seal up' and the pain will stop. It got infected and cost him far more, plus months of pain, strong painkillers and travel to further dentists as locals couldn't/wouldn't deal with it.

I have a real fear of the dentist, I would need to get some diazepam or something before going! I also have a clunky jaw/lock jaw (chewing too much gum in my twenties apparently!) and it's got stuck open during routine check ups which induces panic until I can release it. It's horrible Sad

Theoscargoesto · 22/08/2019 17:11

@MummyStruggles mine will be £400 and I won't need a crown (with luck), so yes, £200 seems very reasonable to me.

@newtb how awful and how sad. Flowers for you

TheWernethWife · 22/08/2019 18:18

Saw a temporary dentist at my usual practice for my 6 monthly check-up, he was horrible. Been going there for over 30 years but my regular dentist retired. This young guy tipped me nearly upside down, told him I was uncomfortable and my neck hurt, he totally ignored me so I had to call a halt and leave. Hope there will be a nice one when I go back in February.

Trixiepixie6 · 30/12/2019 12:38

I think you are lucky, got root canal and crown this year cost me €1600 🙈 I’ve spent around €2.5k this year between fillings, extraction and root canal. I do agree though I don’t like going to the dentist. I still don’t think my problem has been fixed, I’m still really sensitive to cold on one side of my mouth where I had all the work done. 🤨

Trixiepixie6 · 30/12/2019 12:42

Btw I’m in Ireland and we only get covered for a general check up once a year and money towards a cleaning 🙄 everything else we pay full wack

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