Please take care of your teeth

Only recently have I noticed that my jaw has been hurting. When I checked my teeth I was afraid to see more teeth damaged than when I last went for a dental visit.

One of my back molars is starting to blacken and the other side they’ve got holes.

To me it’s extremely distressing and even depressing. In my family, they don’t regard their health as wealth. It’s not to blame anyone, but really aren’t we meant to follow people in life who are supposed to be good role models? Doesn’t seem like many around me in my environment.

I don’t have any income right now or insurance of any kind so this is especially depressing and unsettling.

It’s not enough to get a check up. Make sure you don’t indulge excessively in sweets and sugary foods since these help contribute to the harmful bacteria that help cavities thrive.

There’s a lot more going in our bodies though with bacteria that people should be aware of for oral health/gut health.

If you’ve ever taken antibiotics then you should know that although these are effective at killing infections they unfortunately achieve that by killing the beneficial bacteria as well.

That’s just a layman understanding though.

That balance of bacteria between harmful and beneficial can be restored (lack of a better word) by consuming certain foods (fermented foods namely) or taking a probiotic supplement specifically designed for some area like the gut or mouth or intestines.

Also, there are apparently toothpastes that remineralize teeth and certain nutrients in your diet that affect the strength of your teeth.

I don’t know if having kidney tumors/cysts has affected my teeth health but it seems like it’s causing it to advance more rapidly. I’m not sure, but it just adds to my depression right now.

Anyway, there’s a lot of information out there that can help understand oral health, but your dentist should know. If they don’t? I would get a new one.

I am just seriously distressed right now. To me it’s part embarrassing and partly depressing that I’ve been so careless.

So if you care not to lose your teeth before your 40 (I’m 33) then please don’t overlook your self-care routine just because you might feel fine. I’ve just been numb so long so I never notice any pain some times.

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And this is another problem.

When I found spirituality it became a drug to help ‘ignore reality’.

If only that worked to get you to a better place…

https://www.carefreedental.com/resources/17-nutrition/155-9-superfoods-that-are-great-for-your-dental-health

A small list of stuff that can help improve oral health.

But doesn’t mean you don’t have to brush or can drink tons of coffee and soda still…

Dental schools will charge you a fraction of what it normally costs for dental work. Do you know if there’s one near you that you call and talk to?

I had all four wisdom teeth pulled at once at the dental college up in San Francisco. Afterwards my cheeks swelled up like a chipmunk with two walnuts in his mouth, lol, but that’s normal for that procedure.

There were no complications or problems afterwards. I also had a whole tooth extracted there years later. They might take Medicare or Medicaid.

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I’ll figure it out later.

For me there is a problem with anxiety more so than cost.

Last I went I felt my chest was going to explode.

They numbed the tooth good too but my awareness and distress was so high that I could still feel the pain from the pull.

But yeah it’s not so much getting the work done as it is having an intense fear of going.

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I just got all my teeth pulled a few weeks ago. The dr gave me lorazepam to take before I went in. It helped so much. I felt less stressed.

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But you have to go sometime. Your teeth will just keep getting worse and worse and logically, more and more expensive as time goes by if left untreated.

Have you discussed your fears with a dentist? There are ways around your fears. Easy for me to say, right? Dentists have new technology that makes dental work safer, less painful, and faster.

Believe me, I don’t like going to the dentist either but I also don’t like feeling pain every time I chew or looking at yellow or black teeth. So I go and it is almost never as bad as I build it up to be in my mind.

Honestly, I felt almost no pain at my last two root canals and it went fairly quickly. In my twenties a root canal was a dreaded procedure that was painful and uncomfortable. Now it doesn’t scare me.

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What I’m trying to get across as that cavities are avoidable.

There are people who never have to get their teeth drilled; this is NOT normal or healthy.

It means we are doing something/consuming something that is detrimental to our health.

This kind of acceptance is beyond my understanding that people don’t feel this way.

We shouldn’t be concerned about cost and if we are prevention is and always will be the best medicine.

And if you go the only thing you should hear is what you should do to take care of your teeth so as to avoid extractions.

Yes, hearing that would be great but a regular cleaning in addition to hearing preventive measures is as intragal to your teeths health as brushing or flossing every day. Info is great if you put it into action but it almost sounds like you are saying that no dental work should be done which would not make sense.

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I understand most of what you’re saying about prevention and cost. I think you see my points too.

It’s not that no dental work should ever be done, but if it’s a possibility because of diet/oral routines then ideally, yes.

Obviously a dentist isn’t obsolete because they’re still needed to look at what is going on. But they’re not trained in nutrition nor in depth oral health (beneficial and harmful bacterias/saliva production, etc) beyond what they’re trained to do.

Preventive measures are essential to your teeth but so are dentists to do dental work.
They are necessities and going to them to get regular check-ups is a necessity too. Sure, you’ll always get the guy who’s never been to a dentist and his teeth are perfect but for most average, ordinary people regular check-ups will keep your teeths health from getting out of hand.

And there is scientific reason as to why that is happening.

And then it could be argued there is also both scientific reason and a potential psychological/emotional issue that is not addressed that would cause someone to become so careless.

In my family and in general I notice most people who resort to eating excessive sweets are doing so to cover some emotional void. Then the dentist basically becomes an enabler and not a benefactor by helping that person to continue that path.

It’s not normal. It’s not healthy and it, to me (as far as I have gathered and seen it) shows there is a serious underlying issue that needs to be addressed.

Well sure, emotional eating is common. And there is a psychological component to it. And maybe dentists should be trained more in psychology as it relates to dental health. But as for now, dentists are not our psychiatrists and sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and taking care of your teeth is mostly your own responsibility and regular brushing is essential as is regular preventive check ups. Because that’s what check ups function as, catching problems early, and getting them taken care of, preventing them from getting worse.

Good advice,but too late for me personally. My teeth are totally messed up due to a combination of poor dental hygiene,dental phobia(thus not going to the dentist enough) and teeth grinding .

I guess you could call it a cognitive issue. I have the same kind of problem when it comes to oral meds .

Ideally I need dentures , but that has never been mentioned by a dentist.

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As soon as I read your post, I went and brushed my teeth.

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Oil pulling has been heavily debunked. It is not good for your teeth.

When I was much younger I started to make a habit out of brushing my teeth 3 times a day after a meal.

Then my mom told me I was being ‘too anal’.

Isn’t that nice? I guess some people want other people to be in pain too?

I don’t understand that.

I should’ve been encouraged, not discouraged and treated like I’m being ‘obsessive’.

I have poor teeth due to dentist phobias over the years and poor hygiene. I did recently go to dentist though and she had to extract one of my molars. Another needs to be extracted as well and I’m dreading it as it’s at the back and I hate opening my mouth so wide. And I have very sensitive gag reflex too.

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