To think that adults are supposed to go to the dentist too?

[YourTealBalonz]

It feels like so many people act like the dentist is optional once you hit adulthood, only going when something hurts or skipping years altogether. But surely we’re supposed to still be going regularly?

Isn’t part of being a functioning adult keeping up with this stuff - like check-ups, cleaning, prevention, etc?

Or AIBU and it’s fine to just… not?

I go once a year for a check up. It’s a NHS dentist. I’ve been with them since being a child and continued to go, my children are with the same dentist and go every 6 months

Is your diet low in sugar?maybe you eat once or twice a day only? Very impressive.

I was more reacting to the attitude I hear sometimes that dentistry just stops mattering in adulthood rather than the very real structural barriers that make access difficult

Who on earth is saying that? I don't know anyone whose reasoning for not going to the dentist is because they think it doesn't matter in adulthood.

I am a recovering dental phobic. I've posted about my struggles under this username in case it helps anyone. I didn't go for 30 years. I knew it mattered but I was absolutely terrified. Most people don't understand dental phobia. It's not the nervousness or anxiety that I suspect most people experience to some extent when going to the dentist. It's completely debilitating. Anyway, I overcame it with the help of a fantastic dentist.
I think there are a lot of people who don't go to the dentist because of fear.
I knew perfectly well that it was important to go, I just couldn't. And now I can go and I go once a year because my dentist said with my good oral hygiene I don't need 6 monthly check ups.

The second reason people don't go is because of finances. Again, they know they are supposed to go, but what are they supposed to do if they can't afford it and can't find an NHS dentist who is taking people on. If you move areas you're fucked basically. This happened to a relative of mine who couldn't find an NHS dentist in the area she moved to and it took her 5 or 6 years to be earning enough to afford private treatment.

That's why people don't go.

1. Fear
2. Lack of money

Yes the hygenist at my NHS dentist is 90 quid

about a 15 min appointment as well

For the vast,vast majority of people long as you eat or drink something sugary or starchy no more than three times a day then you shouldn’t need a filling (except if you have dry mouth or other mitigating factor ). Keep sugar/starchy food and drinks to meal times and you won’t have a problem.

Unfortunately in the U.K. children eat more than 7 times a day , on average and both adults and children, on average , eat many times the recommended daily amount of sugar . https://www.drwf.org.uk/news-and-events/news/report-on-diet-finds-most-people-in-the-uk-are-consuming-almost-3-times-the-recommended-daily-sugar-intake/

Good teeth are largely genetic, Im mid 50s and have 3 fillings and they were in my 20s.

Mine insists on every 6 months and although I’ve had issues in the past I’ve not had work done in years.
I always push the date though, so I’m always busy so it’s more like 7/8 months.

No they are not. Apart from some very rare syndromes like amelogenesis imperfecta all teeth are the same.

What can be passed down families are poor diet , lifestyle and cleaning choices. Over 90% of dental decay is preventable www.rcseng.ac.uk/news-and-events/media-centre/press-releases/children-almost-twice-as-likely-to-go-to-hospital-with-preventable-dental-problems-than-for-asthma/

I’m amazed by that price as an NHS appointment. Mine is private and normal check up is about £60, last week she did a through cleaning as well and it was £90. I go every 9m- 1y (her recommendation) and about every 3rd appointment she does X-rays which adds to the cost (I think then it’s about £90 for check up and X-rays but it has been 2 years so might have gone up) but I could refuse them if needed.

I agree, but it's shocking how few NHS dentists there are. I don't know why the government thinks it is acceptable.

Interestingly my private dentist has never recommended I see the hygienist at the surgery, she did recommend it for my sister so it’s obviously not always needed.

When I did keto my teeth felt clean, breath stank but my teeth felt clean from the morning to bedtime. when I ate carbs but a lot less and just 2 meals a day including starch, my teeth still felt 90% clean and my breath wasn't smelly. I'm now trying to stop my snacking habit 😔 as i need fillings and i think it must be my high sugar intake since my lovely hygienist always says im cleaning them well.

My dentist for over 40 years went private.

No local NHS fee dentist.

Can't afford £120 the dentist quoted for monthly membership for the family.

I find it disgusting that teeth and eyes seem to be the things not actually nhs. Leg hurts doctors, bad cough doctors, bleeding out a&e. All free

Poor eye sight, hurting teeth pay up £££. Yet both the dentist and opticians can spot bigger problems.

I haven’t been to the dentist in over 20 years. I’m not ‘poor’ but I simply can’t afford it.

Your enamel strength and reactions to bacteria/immunity are genetic and that influences the risk of decay and gum disease

It doesnt mean and I didnt say that there arent conditions which can be prevented and mitigated.

Most people I know do go for regular eye tests even without issues- every 2years is the recommendation I believe, I assumed that was the norm

It is madness. Bad teeth can cause cardiac problems. Not to mention pain so you don't eat properly, maybe avoid people out of embarrassment etc. I remember a thread on here where OP was interviewing people for a job and she asked if she WBU for rejecting someone who had a tooth missing.

Eye sight is vital too. They can spot things like high blood pressure and signs of diabetes.

Yes my private dentist has recommended every year for me up to now as I generally have problem free teeth, a few things creeping in now so going to every 9m.

Cleaning stops gum disease and the fluoride in the toothpaste protects the teeth a bit but the number one factor in tooth decay is the number of times a day you have something sugary or starchy to eat or drink. It’s not how much you have , it’s how often as each sip or bite attacks your teeth for an hour afterwards.

You're right about that, what I will say is that I booked in the summer and last winter to see the optician after some time of eye pain and he gave me a full test and I wasnt charged each time, Im not sure if that is standard, it was specsavers, I thought I would have to pay and would have no problem doing so, did all the internal eye photos and examination, diagnosed me with blepharitis or whatever its called and gave advice about my sinuses to go back to the GP with

I have an NHS dentist (I’m in Scotland and things don’t seem quite as grim up here..) I am currently on a yearly recall for checkups as I’ve never needed any treatment over and above a basic scale and polish (other than orthodontics as a teenager).

Although maybe I’m a hypocrite as I went to the opticians for an eye test recently for the first time (I’m 32 🫣)

I’m or rather the world is lucky I don’t actually drive because eye tests despite my parents having glasses wasn’t really a thing we did apart from the one in primary school.

Since it deteriorates slowly it was only when dh asked me a sign post ahead and I said I couldn’t read it, it was like wow ok yeah I need to get my eyes checked. Suddenly bushes and trees had leafs again rather than being just bushy fluffy things. I just hadn’t noticed and a yearly check up had never been a thing on my radar.

Dh is supposed to get tested due to glcoma? But he doesn’t as he just sees it as an expense though he also has asthma and finds it bonkers he has to pay to breath yet a diabetic gets prescriptions for free another thing I think is bad.

I wonder what happened to the trips to the opticians and dentists we used to do as a “fun” day out at primary school apart from nhs dentistry being like hens teeth.

I was exactly the same till 35years old (wisdom teeth out though), my partner is 38 and still hasn’t ever had a cavity. Both diets definitely not low sugar! We just seem to be lucky

I think you got a nice optician. I use spec savers and certainly get charged for basic and the extras like blowing air in my eyes 😅