Within the Suffer in Hell pit thread there were a few comments from posters that commented about suffering from dental care as a child and as such do not undertake any dental care as an adult, as such medical professionals are the spawn of demons.
As a child, I didn’t like going to the dentist either. But had to go for semiannual check ups all through my childhood and even had to have braces as a teenager. When I became an adult, with dental insurance I would go but not as often as every 6 months until I was in my late 20’s. I probably would go every 2 to 3 years, but I discovered that the cleanings were a lot less onerous if I just went regularly.
I now go every six months and find myself much more loyal to my dental hygenist that cleans my teeth than to any of the dentist I see. My spouse and all of my children have their teeth cleaned every six months as well.
Are you dental phobic? Do you avoid the dental visit for whatever reason?
I was taken to the dentist regularly as a child, had braces, got my wisdom teeth out, but once I was an adult I started to go less and less, and have never needed anything more than a basic cleaning. I’m down to about twice a decade, and it’s fine.
I apparently won the dental DNA lottery as I’ve still never had a cavity and there is minimal anything required when I do go in. I still severely dislike going. Kind of think it’s all a scam, but OTOH I realize I’m the freak here.
Our family dentist when I was a kid was great - I never had any fears. Then I joined the Navy and went alot of years without checkups. When I went back again as a civilian, I think I had a couple of small cavities. Since then, I’ve been pretty diligent about twice yearly cleanings. And my dentist doesn’t push unnecessary, expensive stuff at me. She’s never said “deep cleaning” so I trust her to not pad her bills.
When I had drilling done for my cavities as a teenager, I wasn’t given any anesthetic. Straight-up pain. So I distracted myself by doing arithmetic in my head. To this day, I can still multiply numbers pretty quickly.
I usually don’t like people that close to my face.
But, as needs must, I have lots of medical care so I’ve sorta gotten used to it.
My dentists as a child were not memorable as to discomfort.
I have had so much dental and maxillofacial work as an adult. Could have been very painful but I insisted on pain free work and sought out pain free practices.
I ain’t fixin’ to deal with that pain. After all my surgeries on my face and mouth and aftercare pain, the event must be without pain even if it means anesthesia.
Yes, denta-phobic here, even though the technology has improved immensely. When I was a kid, high-speed air-powered drills were just in the early adoption stage. My dentist had one, but felt that it was only good for finishing touches. He always started the drilling process with the old mechanical drill that vibrated like a jackhammer. It wasn’t actually painful, just very annoying.
Today my teeth seem not to develop problems the way they used to, maybe because of slower metabolism or some other factors. So I only go to the dentist for corrective procedures, not preventive ones, and the need for corrective procedures is very rare. I intend to maintain that habit even though, thanks to our socialist government, I now have free dental care!
When I was a kid I never had a cavity. Then my mother insisted I start orthodontia (I have a rather mild overbite that has never bothered me). The orthodontist put some very heavy braces on me (my dentist BIL told me she was notorious for this) and we ran out of money to pay so I went for several years with these heavy braces on and no adjustments. But there was heavy decay under the braces. Three of the four are now replaced by bridges and, with just one exception, no other tooth has ever had any problem. And that exception wasn’t a cavity but an abcess and the tooth died.
Have had regular dental care since childhood. I don’t find dental any more onerous than any other medical office visit. Mildly annoying poking & prodding then off to lunch. Ho hum.
Zero cavities, all original teeth. Get 4 cleanings a year because I’m extra good at growing calculus on my lowers.
My teeth were mot all that straight and as a ~12yo kid they tried to do orthodontia. I was, as the song has it, a fractious child and withdrew my cooperation early. The ortho duly gave up, parents were willing to teach me the lesson of living w the consequences of my decisions, so that project was aborted.
Cue 40+ years of living w European style teeth. I’ve since had the bottoms invisaligned (can reccommend) and the tops partly invisaligned then veneered. Can also recommend.
I can certainly understand folks being genuinely phobic after truly awful childhood experiences. I cannot understand an adult being unable / unwilling to obtain useful regular preventative maintenance.
Most people oeople age 60+ losing most of their teeth used to be normal. Not now. Preventative maintenance works.
‘Preventative’ is the noun. ‘Preventive’ is the adjective that describes a noun. So what I suspect you really mean is, Preventive maintenance is the preventative to excessive dental care.
I’m another who gets regular cleanings. I don’t have a lot of other dental issues, a few cavities when I was younger and under more stress. A couple of crowns. No root canals. I’m not a huge fan of dental work, but I don’t ignore or avoid it. All my teeth are my own.
Not to quibble with one of our finest posters, but it really shouldn’t be hard to understand when much of the latter part of my life has been dentist-free and also free of dental problems. Not that I would in any way make a recommendation for others, I’m just describing my particular – and perhaps unique – experience in the dental world.
I’m 70+ and have most of my teeth. I suppose I could sarcastically say, “avoiding dentists works”, but I’m not gonna, because (a) it’s wrong, and (b) anecdotes are not data. I’m just rather whimsically (but truly) describing my own situation.
I also find “cleanings” rather uncomfortable. I use an electric toothbrush, whose third or fourth generation has continued to serve me well, and I may even go so far as to acquire a Water-Pik. But regular visits to dentists when there’s nothing wrong – naah, not for me!
I had a fair amount of dental work done as a kid (8 teeth pulled in prep for braces), but surprisingly, I don’t really mind dentists. I have a bad needle phobia, though, so I used to get minor procedures done without novocaine. None of my recent dentists will do that anymore. But, the pre-numbing is pretty effective, so it’s not a horror.
My current dentist uses an ultrasonic scaler, which I call The Hot Needle of Inquiry, but nobody ever gets the reference. It’s actually no big deal, although a bit loud.
I’ve maybe had two small cavities/caries as an adult, but periodontitis is a concern…as much for me as for many aging people.
I enjoy the discipline of flossing and brushing correctly twice or thrice a day, but there can be weeks during which I forgot due to working longer hours or lack of wanna. The Waterpik model is a necessary tool for me to forestall any periodontal surgery, and yet the noise it makes, and the need to refill the basin at least twice to go thoroughly with the Plaque-seeker tip, plus the mess it makes, is not very encouraging.
Fortunately, my dental insurance is at three cleanings and examinations per annum, no copay.
I dislike going to the dentist, but I love having gone to the dentist.
I go every six months without fail (I wish I had done that my entire life). Any anxiety I have is related to whether they will find something that will require further treatment. Once I know I’m good to go for another six months I’m happy as a clam.
As a kid (60s-70s), I hated the dentist. I was always scared. Back then I don’t think we had fluoride in our water and there were no fluoride treatments. I always had cavities. The first dentist that I can remember was an A-Hole. But the next dentist was a great guy. Since then I’m ok with going to the dentist. I go every 6 months for cleaning and a checkup and get x-rays once a year. I’m 63 and have all of my teeth. I brush twice a day and floss once a day. I’m afraid of not keeping up with dental hygiene. I can’t imagine leaving all of the crap that gets scraped off of my teeth twice a year build up for years and years. It can’t do much for your breath!
I grew up getting regular dental checkups. Had braces in junior high and part of high school.
Got busy in my twenties and thirties. I only went three or four times. The cleanings were more unpleasant because of the tarter build-up. I had cavities filled.
I got back on regular cleanings in my late thirties. Thankful to have most of my teeth. I lost both back molars. My 2nd lower molar is an implant. So I have a good chewing surface on my 2nd molars.
I thought about back molar implants. I’d need two. Doesn’t make sense to have a tooth hanging in the air without one below it to chew. Dentist recommended against. It’s a lot of money and unnecessary.
The pain is that now that I work from home, the office is an hour away. I have to take at least a half day off of work. When I was in the brick and mortar office, it was basically across the parking lot.
My childhood dentist (Dr. Smithson, may you rot in hell) was an asshole who didn’t like having children as patients. He didn’t care if he hurt you, and he often did. When you yowled in pain, he’d tell you to “shut up, it’s not that bad”. When I went into the military, seeing a dentist in boot camp was mandatory, and I think it was also part of the reenlistment physical, but I generally avoided them for a long time. Now, after a number of successful crowns and other work, I go every six months, as the cleaning is far more gentle if you go more often. Got a cavity now that is awaiting its date with destiny next month.
Just got back. The hygienist used the
Ultrasonic descaler this time. I don’t like it. But the younger hygienists seem to prefer it. It’s quicker than scraping. Makes high pitched noises and my skull vibrates.
One cavity. Dammit
It’s an area they’ve been watching for a couple years.
I had my kids teeth sealed when they got braces and appliances and we went in religiously for the monthly visits.
Not one cavity.
Son-of-a-wrek and The Lil’wrekker both have had wisdom teeth issues. They compare war stories about it.
You’d think they cut their tongues out they way they go on. Both were completely asleep and medicated afterwards.
But yeah I realize it’s uncomfortable and hard to eat. They’re lucky they had good insurance and a dentist who believed them about the pain when they went in.
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