My name is Anna, I'm 25 years old. I haven't been to a dentist in over 7 years. Reason being that I moved here from Sweden 7 years ago and didn't have dental insurance. I have had dental insurance for a few years now ( through my husband ) and have been meaning to go but have been putting it off because I'm worried about getting my wisdom teeth removed.

I have been taking good care om my teeth, brush and floss etc. Before christmas I noticed that I had a few cavities. ( I have not been able to see a dentist yet because we've been in Europe for the holidays and just got back a few weeks ago and now I'm sick ). I have at least 4-5 cavities ( from what I can tell ) and most if not all seem to be located in old fillings. Most of the fillings I have are white but there's 1 silver which I guess is amalgam. To fix the cavitie in the silver filling what will they need to do? I'm worried about that one after reading so much on the internet about mercury etc.

I also need to remove all my wisdom teeth ( all of them are partially erupted, 1 sideways ). I am very scared about doing this and also scared about being put to sleep. I have been put to sleep before but after having kids I worry more :). I still think I'd rather be put to sleep than not.
I have heard somewhere that it is best to only remove one tooth at the time because of how it affects your immune system...the risk of infection etc. Is this true? I wish I could have them removed all at once (as long as it's safe).

Another concern I have is that I have been sick for 2 weeks with sinusitis. It has caused me to have a tooth ache, basically all my gums are sore. It even hurts ( not terribly ) when chewing on soft foods like pasta or bread. My Dr who diagnosed me with sinusitis said that it was not uncommon to experience toothache with siusitis but I'm still worried it could be something else. I'm taking antibiotics and slowly getting better, as soon as I'm well I will make an appt. with the dentist but I'm terrified to go. I'm affraid that he's gonna tell me that my neglect has caused more damage than I think and I'm really embarrassed that I haven't been to the dentist in such a long time.

If you got this far, thanks for reading :). I guess I'm just looking for someone to ease my mind a little bit.

Anna

I haven't been to the dentist in about 6-7 years either. And you wouldn't believe all the fillings I'm going to need. The last quote I received on full mouth problems was over 3-4 thousand dollars. I really don't know what to do or where to start. Filling are so expensive lately and I was told I need porcelain on a few teeth etc. I don't know.

The biggest problem with not going to the dentist for regular checkups - next to the build-up of tarter and plaque - is letting a cavity go so long that it ends up being too deep to fill so a root canal and crown are needed. So you now go from having a $60 filling to $1000. The potential for gum disease is high also, no matter how well you brush and floss because you still need those regular cleanings. If you're looking for someone to tell you it's ok, I'm afraid I'm not that person. What I will tell you though, is - there are a whole lot of people out there who don't go to the dentist on a regular basis, so please don't feel alone. It's really not that uncommon, and it's either out of fear or lack of money. Yes, it can be expensive to have regular checkups, but it's more expensive not to, as you're both finding out. Fortunately for you Anna, you're young and your teeth won't be affected as much as someone who's older. Yes, you probably have quite a build-up of tarter and plaque on your teeth, but the biggest reason you need to get in is for the cavities. You really don't want to let them go until they're too deep to fill. And the longer you let them go, the worse they become.
Now, I don't know what you've read on the internet about mercury as I don't worry about that stuff and don't put much faith in it, but as far as your filling - your dentist will simply drill out the old one and fill it with a new one. Simple. Now, if you want the white filling instead of the silver because of all this stuff you've read, they're more expensive than silver by quite a bit, and they last about half as long. Which means you're gonna be back in that chair a whole lot sooner than you want to be. And if you're not someone who likes going in the first place, which I suspect you're not, you may want to stick to silver and spend less time - and money - in that dentist's chair.
Go and tell them you haven't been there in awhile and believe me, you won't be the first. But once you start going again and you get your teeth all fixed and cleaned, I think you're gonna like it and will want to keep going back. It's a nice feeling to have them cleaned and polished - it feels wonderful when you run your tongue over them - and to be able to look into a mirror and know there isn't a thing wrong with your teeth anymore :)

Good luck.

Thanks for your replies Kellie2 and PuppyPuke!
My sinusitis is clearing up and I will probably call the dentist today or tomorrow to make an appt. for later this week or next week.
I'm sorry you're in a similar situation to me PuppyPuke, good luck to you!
I will let you know what the dentist says.
Thanks again!

Anna

Thanks Anna. Almost every single tooth I have needs work. Nothing as severe as a root canal though. I don't understand. I brush my teeth about twice a day and this stuff still happens. I had bad problems though 6-7 years ago and told the dentist that sugar hurt my teeth pretty bad. He NEVER fixed the problems though. He did some other fillings that I don't even know needed to be filled. SO my teeth STILL hurt bad after seeing that damn dentist. How would he know what needed work when he never even took x-rays of my mouth... I don't know. I don't trust dentists. He was a cheap jerk and put these ugly metal fillings in my mouth without my consent.

Good luck to you too.

I had my first dental appointment today!
I had a full exam, x-rays etc. My situation is about as bad as I thought it was. Almost all of my old filllings ( composite ) needs to be replaced, I think that was a total of 6. My 2 upper front teeth broke off when I was a child, they were fixed but now it needs to be redone. I also have a few new cavities ( smaller ones ) that needs to be taken care of. My gums are not in as good shape as they need to be ( had some 4 mm pockets, mostly 2 and 3 mm's though ) so I also need to do a special soft tissue treatment which consists of 2 extensive cleanings. After all this is done I will be going to an oral surgeon to extract all of my wisdom teeth.
I have 6 dental appointments over the next month and half, not counting my second cleaning or surgery.
It feels great to know that my teeth will finally be taken care of. I can't wait for my next appointment :).

Anna

Whatever you do DON'T put it off any longer. The longer you wait the more costly and more painful it will be. If those cavities get deep enough you'll have to have root canals or have to have them extracted. If you're worried anbout the pain don't be they have so many things to make you comfortable it's not even funny. I had 3 teeth pulled out at once a month ago and I didn't feel a thing. I had to have those pulled out cause I hadn't gone to a dentist since God knows when so now I'm finally getting it done, my fear of dentists is gone and I'm comfortable going. I'ts gonna cost me 7 grand to get my teeth fixed because I kept putting it off like a moron. If I had put it off any longer I would have been wearing dentires by the time I was 30.I'm 23 now.