TIFU by neglecting my dental health

Not today but for almost 20 years i neglected my dental health. When i was a kid my parents used to take me to the dentist. However as a kid i was scared of dentist. All these machines and the sounds they make. Also it used to hurt. I was a calm kid however i used to hit dentists(i feel so bad now😭). I remember when i was 6 years old the dentist injected anesthesia. I was still scared and pushing her hands away. She got mad and kicked me out of the room(i don’t blame her if i were her and if it was legal i would have hit me because the audacity i had when the woman wanted to help me). In 4th grade i had emergency. I had no choice. I became calmer with dentists then. I was still scared.

After that tooth was fixed the dentist told me i have many cavities. My mom wanted me to fix them but i said later. Later another tooth started hurting. Another filling done. The first dentist retired. That man said i had some cavities too.

I neglected them. In 2022 the first filling fell. My mom started hearing how bad the dentist who did my second filling got. So she took me to another dentist. Many people say she is good. But her prices are so high. When she looked at the tooth she said that the first dentist didn’t heal it correctly. She had to do that too. A month later after a few appointments she filled the tooth. 180€. That’s how much it costed my mom. I told her that i will pay because i had a job that summer. I made 400€ a month so i had money. My mom insisted that I should save these for university. I did. I feel so guilty because my mom made 380€ back then. My grandma’s pension was 340€. I told myself i will fix my teeth before the inflation makes it more unaffordable.

Less than a month after i told myself this my grandma suffered a stroke. I had to neglect my dental health. I started university. A semester is 700€. Fuck my dental health. I don’t want to burden my family more. I will get my teeth fixed once i graduate and get a job.

December 2023. My second filling fell. My teeth started hurting. I realised I fucked up. I ignored the toothache until last month when mom mentioned i haven’t been to a dentist. I told her i need to get my tooth refilled. “Why are you telling me this now?” She was mad that i hid this.

Anyways i had an appointment today. My dentist told me that if i keep going like that i will be toothless by twenty something. I turn 20 in 10 days. She also called me out on not knowing how to brush my teeth😭 I am embarrassed. She put a temporary filling and i scheduled 2 appointments in 2 weeks. Hopefully i won’t need more appointments on that tooth. I have other teeth to fix. Without that tooth that is currently getting fixed 5-7 other tooth need to be urgently fixed.

Please take care of your teeth. Brush them correctly and get checked at least once a year.

TL;DR: I neglected my dental health for almost 20 years. When i was a kid i physically abused dentists. I used to go to a dentist only when i felt tooth pain. I have too many cavities and my precious dentists fucked up my teeth and fixing my neglect and their mistake will be expensive. Probably 7 tooth(plus the one that is getting fixed). Don’t be like me. Brush your teeth correctly and get checked once a year.