I'll try to keep it brief.
Brushing teeth and dental check ups were used as punishment in my childhood (it was horribly abusive).
As a result I rarely willingly brushed my teeth. My last visit to the dentist (with one exception) was 17 years ago. The exception was 7 years ago when I was in a lot of pain and visited a dental hospital. I had an abcess and needed a tooth pulled. I had this done after a course of antibiotics. It was not a nice experience, however the pulling itself was not painful and the problem was effectively solved.
Over the last 3 nights I have been experiencing the same pain as I did then. Cocodamol, Paracetamol, ibuprofen, nothing will touch it. Bonjela is taking the edge off for long enough to fall asleep.
I do brush my teeth now, and use mouthwash and floss, but it took a very long time to re-educate myself that dental care was good, not bad.
As a result of years of failing to care for my teeth, and two pregnancies taking their toll on them, I have basically been left with hollow shells in place of my teeth.
They have crumbled, broken, snapped, decayed and yellowed. It's far too late for me to fix them with good treatment. I need to go to the dentist.
I'm going to call them tomorrow but I'm terrified and embarrassed. I already have severe anxiety issues and am very worried about them "having a go" at me.
It would help a little to know the possibilities of what may be wrong and what could be done, so I'm not overwhelmed by everything being told to me at once.
On the top I can feel that I have 15 teeth, and a gap where one was pulled. Starting from the top left I have:
1 a black lump on gum (rotted tooth) surrounded by a small amount of white tooth, all broken down to about 5mm from gum
2 completely hollow tooth, half broken completely at the side
3 gap where tooth was pulled
4 seems fine
5 broken down the side that joins to tooth 4, no obvious decay
6 seems fine
7 seems fine
8 seems fine
9 seems fine
10 seems fine
11 chipped at Base
12 back of tooth completely broken, heavily decayed
13 seems fine
14 completely shattered, black, almost level with the gum
15 as tooth 14
16 as teeth 14 and 15
The pain at the moment seems to be somewhere between teeth 1 and 5 and is very very intense.
I think a lot are going to need pulled and a lot more filled. The bottom set are better, but not by much. I think some are going to be impossible to pull, what happens then?
I'm not even registered with a dentist yet, realistically how much longer will I have to put up with this pain, I assume I will have to register and have a check up appointment made, (probably for days later), go to checkup then have appointment for actual work done (more days later?)
I need to grow up and get this dealt with but I'm worried that if it drags out for too long and I find a way to manage the pain, I'll just not go.
Not as brief as I'd hoped, but hopefully someone can help, I haven't eaten since Thursday lunch (apart from a little mashed potato today) because it hurts too much!