To want dentures at 30 to stop this constant worrying??

[Coffeeebean]

Bit of an odd one

I have HORRIBLE anxiety about my teeth. Horrible.

I am constantly worried about decay and check them pretty much hourly with a torch and a mirror in my mouth. If I notice a new dark spot that I havent seen before its day and days of anxiety and tears and checking checking checking.

Eating anything sugary stresses me out and I have to rinse my mouth out immediately after.

I brush 3-4 times a day which I know is bad in itself. I also go to see my poor dentist every 3-4 months because ive found another thing that i need to get checked because i cant eat from the anxiety of it being decay.

The strangest thing is...nothing has ever been wrong with them. Ive never had any work done. My teeth have lots of staining and some enamel erosion due to an ED in my 20s....but my dentist reassures me they are fine.

Despite being told this from multiple dentist, I am still always thinking about my teeth. Worrying about the future. How long will they last, what work will i need done, will i be able to afford it.

I am already on medication for anxiety and have had CBT. I told my GP about my behaviour with my teeth (as was concerned it was OCD) and was told there was nothing else that could be done.

So, AIBU to want to have them all removed now so i can stop this constant worrying???

I feel like they are ruining my life

@Coffeeebean i worry your anxiety etc would just transfer with the dentures, the healing, the long term damage and wear on your gums, the fit of the dentures, losing the dentures, breaking them, cleaning and caring for them, eating with them, possibly developing lisps etc, them coming out in public or whilst eating, choking on them… you are swapping one problem for another. I would spend the money this would cost on private intense therapy and support. Whether that’s reiki, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, EMDR, or whatever’s appropriate?

Just to add my nan had dentures in her 20s as well, same disease as me she had them all the way till she died in her early 70s. You could never tell, she was a right chatterbox never had a lisp and neither do I.
However it takes ALOT of patience and practice.

You’re anxious about your teeth rotting out of your head so you think the solution is to remove them and not have any? What are you worried about exactly? Why is decay so awful? Because that would mean a filling / removal.

you need more therapy.

It's not your teeth ruining your life it's anxiety, and I expect these feelings are related to your ED, and the fact that your teeth are damaged as a result.

The cost justification is bs. Its what £150 for an extraction, times 28, plus 1k per complete dentures so 2k, a good 4k in total. Dentures need replacing every 5-10 yrs. You still need yearly check ups. Not to mention the pain and healing involved in a full clearance, the fact you will never eat properly again. The fact that your bone reduces with time so it will become harder and harder to get a good fitting denture. Your appearance will change.

If you remove all your teeth your anxiety will transfer, because the problem is not your teeth. You will worry about your dentures breaking, you will worry the next set won't fit. You will worry about oral thrush. You will once again be worrying you have caused your body damage.

Absolutely no dentist, NHS or private, reputable or not, will remove 32 odd healthy teeth for you unless they want to lose their license to practice. You might have better luck somewhere abroad. Please get your mental health in order rather than fixating on getting all your teeth out.

If you can afford a private dentist and dentures etc you can afford private therapy.

OP. if one of your concerns is that you are worried about the cost of future fillings , there are plenty of dental insurance plans, which usually offer two dental exams a year, often two hygienists trips and will pay towards fillings and crowns etc depending on the policy.
Or you could put the same amount in a savings account earmarked for treatment.
If you've been visiting your dentist every 3-4 months that's double the usual amount of recommended check ups so presumably your Dentist has had a good chance to see all the problems and recommend a long treatment plan and has fixed any fillings that need doing, so you are up to date with the current issues.
Ask their advice about the effect of over brushing on gums.

Agree you would simply transfer your anxiety from teeth to some other health related anxiety like worrying over hair falling out or random blemishes being a malignant growth or whatever.

Please don't get dentures! Most people who ultimately need them really would rather have your healthy teeth.

Your GP has not been helpful here. You definitely need some kind of therapy to deal with this kind of irrational fear. I hope you can get help to manage this, from what you say it's really blighting your life.

I’m in my 50’s OP and your teeth changing is just a fact of life.
I had to have several removed after an accident (not a dental accident) and it has awful effects on your health. The pain of them being removed and the removal sites becoming infected, the change to the structure of my face. Honestly, dentists do everything to save healthy teeth now because removing them for no good reason is really bad for your overall health.
I had a denture for a few years and they are awful. Constantly worrying about them falling out, moving when eating and it’s no joke seeing them in a glass soaking overnight!
You have an issue here which is having a terrible effect on your life. You are over brushing as well.
You need professional help. A really good therapist will look at why you are having these feelings. They are usually based in trauma from a past event which you may not even be aware of it.
It does happen. But I’m sorry even if you remove every single tooth your anxiety will transfer to something else.
Please get some help with this as it’s having a detrimental effect on your life.

It's 2024. Dental treatment has improved since your nan was in her 20s.

It is not credible that pp are serious in recommending such a drastic and irreversible medical proceedure on the grounds that someone's Gran, great aunt or parent had a good experience of this in previous decades.

Very unsafe advice and not helpful to the OP's predicament.

This.

this 100”%%%%

you need to work on the therapy. Not the teeth. Your anxiety will just go onto something else

”Do what works for you” is terrible advice?
What if I said “my body, my choice”?

I had a dry socket. One of the most painful things in my entire life

i I couldn’t imagine a dry socket x28 (or however many teeth we have 😂)

Does OP have OCD?
does anyone know?

Did you have a full mouth of perfectly healthy teeth though? Because if not, it’s not really the same is it?

Somebody with an infected, rotting diabetic foot ulcer might be happy to have a leg amputation. That doesn’t mean it’s a great idea for fit healthy twenty year olds.

Advising someone to have their entire set of teeth removed and replaced with dentures because one of your relatives had it done in their 20s is terrible advice.

I have the same damage on mine, especially my front top teeth, my dentist has filled the back of them so they’re less likely to succumb to decay in the future, a bit like composite bonding but on the rear side. I then go to the hygienist every six months and I’m careful to avoid fruit juice, fizzy drinks etc. There are less extreme options available.

But I haven’t advised anyone to do that.
I’ve just said to do what works for her,
You’re being disingenuous.

Do you feel the same about this guy’s victims? They requested it.

How about this one?

One day when your mental health is better you will be so thankful you haven’t removed any of your teeth! If anything does go wrong with any of them you will cope with that then and will have options! Removing teeth for no reason don’t come without risk and can change the shape of you’re face, I think you would really regret it in the future as well for chewing ect

“But I’m sorry even if you remove every single tooth your anxiety will transfer to something else.”

It might.
It might not.

A lot of armchair psychiatrists here making very black and white pronouncements about OP’s mental health with very little background information.

Im not comfortable with that, at all.

First of all you would struggle to find an authentic dentist that would removed healthy teeth.

I had an ED and I am 31 with a mouthful of fillings, one tooth missing and periodontal disease. I worry but not as much as you, you need to manage the anxiety have you tried going to GP or therapy. It sounds anxiety / OCD or maybe you've heard something traumatic somewhere about teeth.

Could be something you're trying to control, try find the reasons and go from there xx

It is a pain like no other. Makes an infected root like a fun day out!

You presented the following as a common practice if people could afford "decent dentures"

"My father had all his teeth out for his 21st birthday. Was quite common back in his day, among people with the wherewithal to fund decent dentures."

Don't have dentures.

You'll regret it for the rest of your life.