So anxious - teeth

[rubee]

I'm feeling so anxious right now.

I'm not going to sugar coat it, I never got into a habit of brushing my teeth when I was younger. This has lead to problems now I'm an adult, and my teeth are horrendous. I haven't seen the dentist for years because of my anxiety but also my area has very limited dentists and they don't take people on unless they wait for a long time.

I'm feeling anxious today because I'm worried I have mouth cancer from not brushing my teeth.. They are in such a poor way. To be honest I've been brushing them more often the past few months, but I've been noticing my breath is so bad lately, I don't know if this is because I have been brushing them a lot lately? One of my teeth has a huge hole in it and the hole is red like it's constantly filled with blood (it isn't) that's been like that for a few months now. Two of my teeth have exposed nerves and they hurt really bad when I eat. It's so awful and I feel so stupid for getting this way and I feel so anxious today that I could have mouth cancer and be dying..

My gran had her teeth removed when she was 21 because she had very poor teeth and gum disease and two of my siblings have too.

[ejmommy]

Ok, I'm a dental hygienist so maybe I can help out a bit here. First of all, mouth cancer would not be in your teeth, and you don't get it from not brushing your teeth. You can get gum disease from that though. Genetics also contributes to gum disease, and it sounds like you have a family history.

The bad breath could easily be coming from the decay in your mouth. It sounds like you have some of that going on for sure.

I know it is hard, but you really should try to put your anxiety aside and make an appointment with a dentist, even if you have to wait a bit to get in. If nothing else, they can do a quick screening to ease your mind on the oral cancer. Nothing involved but an exam, it would be really easy and not too bad on your anxiety.

With the hurting teeth, they may be able to put you to sleep and do a lot of the work at once, if you find a dentist that does that. In the meantime, make sure you continue to brush and floss to help prevent further problems. Good luck!

[annoyingwife21]

I wouldn't worry about mouth cancer- My mother had the same problem of not taking care of her teeth, she wound up getting broken teeth a lot and gums would bleed and her breath was horrible because she had decay- decay is unfortunately not pleasant and it will cause your breath to smell awful......that why its called decay. I wouldn't jump to mouth cancer not likely but you probably do need to has some extractions. My mom wound up getting all of her teeth pulled and got dentures. If I were you I would call around see if there is a school for dentist-you can get discounts that way going to them and just get that tooth that is pulling with blood pulled!

[rubee]

Thank you so much for your replies, they really did help :) I feel a bit better now. I will try to get into a dentist soon.