Dental terror

[annwfyn]

I'm going to the dentists today.

For the first time in my life, I'm terrified.

I've never had problems with my teeth before. I've never had a filling. I've never had anything wrong with my teeth.

I'm not feeling quite so sure at the moment. I think I've got periodontitis, mostly based on my gums being really sore and bleeding, and actually feeling miserable and sore all day, for hours after I've brushed my teeth. I'm scared I'm going to go there and the dentist will say "well, that's your teeth coming out. Dentures?"

I'm also petrified by the cost. The main reason I go to the dentist once every five years or so has been the money thing. The nearest dentist to me said they weren't taking any NHS patients, and I could come along privately, but it would cost me £56 for a check up, and more for any treatment. Right now I've got an appointment with an NHS dentist, but I'm scared I'll get there and they'll say "no - you're out of our catchment area. You've got to go to the closer dentist and pay for that" and I really don't have £56 floating around. Finally, I'm scared that even the NHS dentist will say "that's £800 for treatment, or your teeth come out."

*sighs*

My appointment is at 12.15 pm. Wish me luck.

EDIT: It appears one of the downsides to having had mostly healthy teeth is that I have become a massive massive hypochondriac when anything does go wrong. The dentist told me that my teeth are perfect, I do have early stage gum disease, but I won't lose my teeth for about 10 years at this rate. The pain and the bleeding came from me scrubbing too hard at my teeth and gums in a desperate attempt to cleanse myself. I need to brush more gently, apparently. I do need to get a load of plaque removed, and he thinks if I have gum disease in my family I could do with regular check ups, but it's not a disaster.

I had an x-ray too. It was strange.

The most painful moment of the entire thing was coming out and discovering that I needed to put down a deposit for seeing the dental hygienist who will be cleaning my teeth. The appointment + hygienist cost me £35, which is slightly painful at the end of the month, but I can at least cover.

Thank you for the helpful comments. I'm a big girl!

Comments

[taimatsu]

It *coild* be gingivitis, which I used to get a lot when I had braces and which was dealt with by a simple salt-water mouth rinse.

Good luck. It will be better to know what is wrong than to have to keep worrying about it, at least.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I was about to say that - I've been brushing with salt rather than toothpaste for about a year now, and my gums have never been healthier.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

*nods*

It feels a bit worse than that, but as I've never had anything wrong with my teeth before I could be overreacting. I really really hope it is something that's that simple to fix.

[adze.livejournal.com]

I'm a little nervous about my next trip to the dentist, myself. I tend to go every year, around Christmas, to the same dentist I've been with my whole life. Historically, I've had perfect teeth until the last couple of trips, when I've had my first couple of fillings - and he did a fairly bad job on them first time around, so I'm worried I'll need more work doing. Mainly for the same reason as you - I can't afford it.

So, good luck!

Less seriously, bleeding gums could just be scurvy, you know.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

The dentist will probably refer you to a hygienist for the bleeding gums. They'll clean your teeth properly and tell you to floss. Incidentally, don't use floss tape; if you can, get hold of Crest Glide Floss Picks, which are great.

You may have to go private for the hygienist; I did.

A quick look at the list of NHS dental charges suggests that the maximum you should need paying for anything being done to your teeth is £194, and that's if you need crowns or dentures, which you won't. Fillings and suchlike cost £43.60.

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

And to clarify on that: if they do charge you the highest band for the serious work, that's an 'up to and including' - so they should sort everything else out at once as part of the service - my dentist did several teeny fillings at the same time as he did my crown, and didn't charge me anything extra for it.

Also, some practical stuff to think about (in my usual flippant way):

1/ While yes, you are a patient: you're a customer, not an inmate. Nobody is going to strap you down and force any treatment on you. Just a checkup only costs about £15 - and I'm sure if they propose a future course of treatment and you want to go away and think about it, you'll be able to ask to just pay the checkup equivalent then, and if you go ahead with the recommended treatment, for them to treat it as a down-payment for the larger sum (as lanfykins says, 40-odd for fillings, or 190-odd for big chunks o' gold ;)

2/ You'll almost certainly have to go away and think about it anyway - most dentist appointments are only long enough to see what the problem *is* anyway, unless you've specifically asked for something longer - so they're unlikely to even want to hoik all your teeth out on the day anyway, because it would play merry hell with your scheduling ;)

On a practical basis - want someone to come along and hand-hold/do lunch afterwards?

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Um. That was a lot of "anyway"s. Hohum ;)

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Oh - I didn't get this until I got back from the dentist and now I need to go into college :(

Thank you for offering! Would have been lovely to see you - I haven't in ages. I'm wondering if you'd like to do lunch on Monday if you're still off sick? I'm working in Greenwich, and I have a lunch hour.

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

I'm *hoping* to be back on Monday - shall have to see how things go though, as I was hoping to be back already...

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Well, let me know. Good luck with getting back to work, but if the doctor chains you to the bed for a bit longer (erm...that sounds SO much dodgier than it did in my head), then let me know (and this sentence is getting worse and worse...)

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

Everyone's speaking sense. Good luck.

[evilwillow.livejournal.com]

The NHS have 3 pricing bands these days, the most common being £43.60 and that includes fillings, x-rays, checkups and scale/polish. White fillings in your back teeth will probably need to be costed as private filings though and will start at around £40 each (ones in the front can be done under the NHS and are including in the £43.60)

So don't worry hun, I'm sure you'll be fine.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Though I actually have a white filling in one of my premolars that was included under the NHS price. This was for clinical rather than aesthetic reasons, though; taking into account the sensitivity of my teeth and the size of the hole, the dentist concluded that if he put amalgam in there I'd be back for a root canal within the week.

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

From his point of view that was probably also economic as well then, since both amalgam & root canal would have come under the NHS banding (and if you're anything like me, if you had to go back a week after work has been done, you'd be foot-stomping and demanding they do it PROPERLY this time, included as part of the existing treatment! ;)

[melsner.livejournal.com]

The UK has dentists???