Bit of background. I have a bad gag reflex and as a result I have very rarely been to the dentist for a teeth cleaning. The last time was probably 15 years ago. This hasn’t been an issue because I have been fortunate never to have had a cavity or any dental problem, likely due to good oral hygiene, childhood fluoride treatment, and genetics.
But my two kids are both getting braces this year and in honor of their ‘bravery’ I figured I should man up and get my teeth cleaned. The cleaning went OK and I only gagged a few times.
However the dentist found a freaking cavity! The cynic in me suspected this might happen, but sure enough she found something. I think what bothers me the most is that my 54-year undefeated streak has been broken. I was always so proud to tell people that I have never had a cavity. It was one of my superpowers. I kind of want to pretend it never happened and wait another 15 years…
Can I? It is a very minor cavity and I have no symptoms at all. The dentist was aware of the 15-year gap and was looking very closely for anything out of the ordinary. She didn’t see anything with her naked eye. So then she got out this black light pen and looked again. This time she saw two small spots that she wasn’t sure of. So then she sent me into the next room for an x-ray in an MRI sort of machine. She looked at the results and concluded that one of the spots was in fact a cavity. I guess I believe her that there is a cavity there, but do I actually need to get it treated? For all I know, it has been there for 15 years and has not gotten any bigger. And if she didn’t have the black light and the x-ray machine the dentist wouldn’t have even known it was there. How serious can it be?
I am mostly playing devil’s advocate here, but I am curious what will likely happen if I just ignore this. What do you think?
An untreated cavity can lead to a tooth abscess (a severe infection with pus), gum disease, and tooth loss. A severe infection can even spread to the jaw or other parts of the body and could even be life-threatening.
Somewhere along the line before it gets to that, you would likely be back in the dentist’s office to deal with the excruciating pain. But you could then be looking at much more invasive (and expensive) treatment, like a root canal.
On the other hand, a cavity is really easy to treat, especially a small one like you’ve described. But it can get bigger and harder to treat the longer you let it go.
If it’s small they may want to watch it, however that required regular checkups which I would guess you are not going to get done. And a cavity untreated can lead to major problems over time, not just tooth loss but jaw bone loss which really limits your options and/or up’s you expense and can cause other teeth to be lost. Your sterling record is shattered, but you still seem to have a very heathy mouth which you would want to keep. It’s small, count your blessings, get it fixed and move on with life. Also talk to the dentist about any anxiety and consider any medication to help.
I never had any problem with going to the dentist. But like the OP I was very proud of my zero cavities. Until about age 40-45 they found a small one.
Depending on where it is and how it’s shaped, a “filling” may amount to squirting a teeny bit of glue into the hole and stopping right there. No digging, no drilling, no metal, no nothing. Just a teeny squirt of glue.
So if part of the OP’s reluctance is expected difficulty of the treatment, that may not be an issue. OTOH, if you do need a bigger treatment, that’s also a very strong indication that ignoring it will lead to the various nasty consequences other have mentioned. Either way, sooner is better and results in the least damage and total lifetime treatment.
If you do want to wait and watch, you can get regular checkups and simply refuse the teeth-cleaning, since it bothers you. The latter is not necessary for the former, and it would be much better to get checkups without cleaning than to skip both.
In fact, dental problems are kind of like the Terminator: they can’t be bargained with, they can’t be reasoned with, they don’t feel pity or remorse or fear, and they absolutely will not stop. Bite the bullet - hopefully not literally - and fix your teeth, because otherwise it will only get worse.
If it’s as minor as you and they say it is I would bite the bullet and get it fixed. You’d be surprised how incredibly fast they can fix a minor cavity.
What you don’t want is it to develop into a major cavity, abscessed tooth, or god forbid a root canal. Things requiring extended chair time which you seem determined to avoid.
Get it fixed. This is something you don’t want to wait around on. It can turn serious and you really don’t want that experience. I had an abscessed tooth that was far and away the worst pain of my life. It was absolutely indescribable. I was hurting so badly the root canal that finally fixed it felt like a day at the spa just because of the relief from the pain.
With your gag reflex issue and, I’m assuming, related anxiety I would seriously consider looking into sedation dentistry. They can put you out as you would be for surgery and you’ll never even know it happened.
I have an active gag reflex but still see a dentist regularly. One thing they do is to have me put a small amount of salt on my tongue. That seems to help.
If you went to the dentist every few months, and you could ask her to monitor it, it might make sense to do nothing yet. But given your dislike of dentistry, i think it would be best to just get it over with.
It’s not going away, and it won’t get better. Go take care of it properly, like you know you should. It’s not a reflection on your oral hygiene, your genetics, or you as a person. This stuff starts to happen to all of us eventually.
thanks for all the responses everyone. It is clear that I need to get the cavity taken care of.
Still mostly out of curiosity, is there any possibility that it isn’t actually a cavity? As I described, it was rather difficult for the dentist to identify. Could she have been wrong? Should I get a second opinion?
Also, is it possible that it is a cavity and that it will never get any worse? I asked my dentist how long it could have been there and she couldn’t say. So it may have been there 15 years already…
During the cleaning, it was the ultrasonic water pik thing that caused me to gag, as a small amount of the water still made it to my gag zone. I wonder if I can ask her next time to skip the water pik and only do the manual scraping. That part was mostly OK
Are cavities associated with aging? I hadn’t heard that
Like @Orville_mogul, I hadn’t been to the dentist in over a decade, and hadn’t had any problem in all of that time.
Then, I got a tooth abcess and let me tell you that I booked an appointment as quickly as I could. Every single bite was an ordeal. Even with proper treatment, it took 4 months to get back to normal. The pain was mostly gone, but a weird, unpleasant feeling lingered every time I ate.
Once there’s a hole in the enamel, the bacteria can get through to that yummy dentin and from there it’s only a matter of time.
IANAD, but i think a dentist who specializes in patients with dental phobia would be a better fit for you. Not because you’re phobic, but because they have all the tips and tricks for keeping your comfortable.
AIUI, they should be able to give a quick novacaine spray to the uvula and that gag reflex will be calmed for an hour or so. You don’t have to go through that. Find a better dentist!
