Do you avoid the dentist due fear or finances?

They want to do the teeth cleaning as often as possible. Not because it is necessary, because they earn a lot with it and only a helper do the work.

This infos count for germany.
But i don't expect that it is somewhere else, in the western countries, different.

I don't avoid the dentist visits because fear or my finances but i can't give her the ok for one of the needed repairs because i can't pay 4 digit € bills for it.
So not perfect/good, but much cheaper, alternatives are done but will not hold longer as 6-12 months and then i am back to the basic problem.

I go two times a year and pay for insurance - but they have found some issue with me every time. I wouldn't take it seriously unless it's making your mouth feel painful/sore/discolored etc.

no, I always get painkillers before drilling

I spent six years without going to the dentist due to finances as well, and I just went last month. It wasn’t bad at all! No infection, no tooth decay. They did a clean-up, and that was it. I think that if you maintain basic dental hygiene and see a dentist once every year or two, you’re fine.

My dentist also said I should go back in six months, but I think it’s because she wants to make more money haha. I think they like to sell the fear of teeth falling out so that you go more often, but I don’t think it’s necessary to go twice a year.

I find it funny that they ask you about having any pain from your teeth in your daily life, and then find cavities that weren't even bothering you. If it's bad enough to hurt, shouldn't they be able to find it without your guidance? It's like they want to know which tooth/teeth you are pre-conditioned to accept bad news about.

And then there's that article from The Atlantic.

Haven't gone since 2019 but only by lazyness.
Anyway I take great care of my teeth so no problem on that side.

Hey Lugum!

I avoided the dentist for about six years. I also did not take great care of my teeth.

When I finally went back, the dentist recommended a root canal but I couldn't afford it. I did get quite a few fillings and those were mostly covered by my dental insurance.

Several years later I had to get an emergency root canal and a crown. But I had money by then, so I guess it sort of worked out.

Since I've been going to the dentist regularly I haven't had any major expenses.

I think if you take good care of your teeth at home, you could probably go to the dentist less often. But I wouldn't recommend avoiding the dentist entirely.

If you avoid going to the dentist because of finances, you will eventually need an emergency treatment which will be way more expensive and will affect you much more because it will be a huge unexpected cost. Also teeth is something super important that we often don't value that much, only when we start losing them and it's not possible to revert (unless you do implants which are also very expensive).
I'd say take care of yourself, your health is the most important thing!

HA HA go to the dentist in the UK - good one

I don't like going to the dentist, but I go because it's healthy for me. Finance wise, I budget it in and avoid other things I can't afford.

i live in europa (so health care is .. easier and dentist is most free)
they told me i should come twice a year for check

i only went there if i have some pain, and no problems with my teeth at all.

just clean them yourself with brush and toothpaste 1-2 times per day and some mouthwash and dental floss 1-3 times a week.

Yes and no. In France, social security provides very good coverage for basic healthcare, but if you need crowns or things like that and you don't have private health insurance... unlucky !

When I was a little kid, I was the weird one who liked going to the dentist. Like, not just tolerated, I actually liked it. Having my teeth cleaned felt weird in a fun way, I liked the smell, and I was allowed to take home a little toy out of a box if I was good.

Well, one time I got a cavity, and the dentist decided she was going to drill 5-year-old me a filling. Without anesthetic. She drilled too deep, I bit down on the drill out of instinct, it was a whole mess...which I actually don't remember at all. Wasn't traumatic enough.

What I do remember, even 30ish years later, is that the next time I went in, I was afraid of opening my mouth. So I refused. The dentist got pissed off, grabbed my cheeks between her thumb and her fingers, and squeezed in an attempt to pry my mouth open.

Fortunately, my mother was in the room and put a stop to it, but I still had spectacular bruises, as well as moon-shaped cuts on my cheeks because the dentist squeezed hard enough to cut me with her fingernails through her gloves.

So...yeah, unlike Jerry Seinfeld, I am an anti-dentite. Made a vow that I'd let my teeth rot out of my mouth before I ever trusted a dentist again, and the horror stories I've heard in the years since have done nothing to change my mind. I've been back to one once since then, and only because my mother dragged me to it.

I don't like going to the dentist because they tend to insist on removing the wisdom teeth and I honestly don't feel like going through that hell just because they didn't grow to full size, fuck that. Usually I avoid going for years at a time but I had to go early this year because one of my molars was pretty screwed up and it had started hurting, a lot, but since it was just one teeth in bad condition I got that one fixed and ignored the recommendation to do the other stuff related to the wisdom teeth.

There's a pretty good chance that I'm gonna end up regretting my avoidance, but for now I guess I'll keep doing it if I can get away with it, I'm already in my mid thirties and so far only one tooth got screwed up so it's not that bad of a run up to this point.

I havent gone in quite a while, due to laziness, not fear or finances (my aunt is the dentist, so I dont have to pay).

I'm going to dentist this Saturday cos one of my tooths think's that i like pain.
I gonna change it pretty soon.

I don't like to go to dentists only because i don't like other (random) ppl to go see inside my mouth.
I aint horse.

Luckilly i dont need to go there to often.

on our plan we are covered for two visits a year, which we do.

They can't really judge your teeth's condition if you haven't been for 10 years; potentially you'll get good marks the next time you come in. Potentially. So extra visits may not really be needed, you could take a wait and see on that.

I once held off on getting a crown since dental work is too expensive in the States. After waiting to visit my in-laws in Taiwan, we got my crown and root canals done by a dentist who was a professor at TaiDa (their #1 university) and the cost of the dental work plus my flight was still about $200-300 cheaper than being stuck back in the States and payiing exhorbanare fees for work of only average quality. Also, being back in Taiwan and getting to enjoy a month there made it all the better.

I abhor the dentist. Always blood, always pain. But mom instilled in me to go twice a year, and lots of bad shit can start in the mouth that leads elsewhere, so twice a year I go.

USA, covered under insurance.

I have a bit of a horror story. Few months ago, I got an impacted wisdom tooth surgically removed. It got cracked and had to come out. I was referred to a specialist clinic in Northern Ireland for that. That went really well actually and it recovered nicely.

Then my own dentist told me I needed a filling in another tooth. I had no pain, but I was like "okay." You know, if you need a filling, you need a filling. After the filling, I couldn't bite on that side or I'd have intense pain. He adjusted the filling, still painful. He eventually replaced the composite filling a few weeks back. I am still having some pain and have been taking ibubrofen in the hope that it settles. He said the next step would be a root canal and it will cost at least 850 euro. This is all because I had a small cavity. =(

If you are in the US check out dental colleges in your area. Hygienist training centers offer discount or free cleanings. Some community hospitals offer a rating program so you pay based on what you earn.

Most of the things at the dentist are covered for me under my insurance. I do a fairly good job at taking care of my teeth by brushing and flossing, so I haven't really ran into any major issues.

The first dentist you had the other day may have not have realized how bad things were because your teeth needed to be cleaned. Once they were cleaned by the second dentist it seemed to have revealed some things likely by plaque removal.

It's my dentists who runs from me everytime he see me.

It really depends on clinic you got in. Since I stopped going to clinics that are covered by my insurance and found a good paid one not only I started saving more money on dental stuff I also have less issues with my teeth. In ten years I only do cleaning twice a year and only once I had a more complex stuff with two of my teeth.