Do you avoid the dentist due fear or finances?

Here, in Poland, where our dental service is near 100% privatized, there were few cases of dentist scamming patients by "fixing" healthy teeth. Even when it's all legit, prices are a scam on its won. So yeah... I only go when it hurts me. And I mean, when it hurts A LOT XD

But let's be real, what normal person would wake up and say "I should look in people's mouth for a living".

Ignoring issues because you don't trust a dentist's motives is going to end in a lot of issues you could have avoided. If you're not sure about a specific dentist, go see another one and compare notes. Most people aren't aware of their dental issues until they've gotten completely out of control. At which point, you'll be spending much more money, will likely be in significant pain, and the procedures will be far more invasive.

As far as how often you brush annd floss, you also need to look at what you're consuming. Drink soda? You need to brush more often. Eat a lot of sweets or citrus. Same. And so on.

Here's another option: go to the equivalent of a teaching hospital (clinic/center whatever), medical students are always looking for people to practice on, and you get the procedures for free ;)

It's usual to go to the dentist once a year, then you do dental hygiene (the cleaning lady) twice a year, so what she said sounds like normal practise, no matter how good someone's teeth are, especially since they can perfectly remove stuff like hardened dental plaque which just happens normally (at least based on my experience).
The main thing is to find someone that you like though, then you'll feel better about all of it, even your finances since they're going towards the right thing.

I have to go to the cheap dentist, but there is only one on this side of my state. Her wait list is a year long as well. I scheduled, drove an hour and a half to get to her clinic, and when I got there, they said she went home for health reasons. I waited another year, drove there, but a storm had knocked her roof down, so I had to wait a year for it to get fixed, then I scheduled another appointment, and waited a year, drove there, but she gave my appointment to someone because their teeth really hurt. I made another appointment, it's not 'til the end of January though.

All of my teeth hurt all of the time. Some days I want to rip them all out with pliers. I'd go to a regular dentist, but I could never afford the initial exam, much less any work. I've only been to a dentist a few times in my life. So I'd say I avoid because of cost, not fear.

Side story, but kind of related. When I was a kid, a dentist left the tip of a tool in my jaw, which rotted it out and left it hollow. I kept complaining of pain, but no one listed to me and I was just a kid. When I was an adult, a dentist found it, but no one would touch it, as it was considered a specialists job. I couldn't afford the surgery, so it just stayed in there until my body eventually ate the metal. If the abscess ever broke out of my jaw, the dentists said it would kill me. I had it for three decades. Causing nonstop pain. But they still wouldn't do anything about it. Just to say, thank god you don't live in America.

Not these days, but years ago I did which resulted in a few of my back/side teeth being lost. I didn't have the money at the time to get implants either, so now I've got bone loss around where they were, parts of my mouth ache from time to time. Thankfully my front teeth are still fine so people don't seem to notice unless I point it out, but very much wish I'd prioritized dental care more when I was younger.

Fear of finances

The pain is fine, I can deal with that; it's the cost to my finances that scares me about going to the dentist.

I only go to a dentist if my teeth actually hurt. I have a few teeth that are sensitive to cold and hot things, but I just avoid using them when I drink, then there isn't a problem (been like that for years).

In my whole life, I've never gone for the deep teeth cleaning, so I don't believe it's needed, and none of my dentists EVER recommended it to me.
It's included in a lot of medical plans, but the idea of having stuff scraped off the back of my teeth/gums sounds like it would cause more problems than solve things since it would open up that area that's been untouched my whole life, so getting something fresh to grow in there would probably be really bad since my system wouldn't know how to deal with it.

PS I've had a few cavities throughout the years, had one really bad tooth that got cut out when I was 6 or so. And some of my wisdom teeth have been pulled out. I had one cavity that was so bad that it affected the nerve of the tooth, but the tooth was still good to be used, so the dentist pulled the nerve out and filled the tooth.

The amazing thing is that I don't have a teeth-friendly diet, always eating sour sweets, drinking gas drinks, eating chocolate, and such. I brush every morning, but that's it. So I think I'm quite lucky when it comes to my teeth, when I listed to what people around me have experienced.

I usually dont do any checkups unless something hurts. I do wash them regularly though. I dont think that you need to go overboard with these regular checkups and visits - after all its a business for them.

I dont like dentists overall and I dont like the cost. But if I need to go, I go. I did go to dentist sometimes this year - had a painful tooth, had to do a filling for that tooth. Firstly my dentist thought I might need to clean root canal, but in the end filling the tooth was enough. I usually end up going once a year though - I had to pull wisdom teeth. Did one last year, one two years ago. Apart from that nothing else.

Pulling tooth costs around 160 eur IIRC or something like that. Filling was about 100. But this is a brilliant clinic and you can definitely find for cheaper, but I am ready to pay more and be sure its going to be quality work. My wife had to pull wisdom tooth as well, but she usually has problems afterwards with the bruise not healing properly. And this clinic took her in 3 times after the surgery for free, cleaned and closed the bruise for it to heal properly. Other places usually say fuck you or ask to pay more (she did pull another tooth in public hospital, where she paid 60 or so eur, but she paid 50 for each visit afterwards and with having unbearable pain for 2 weeks she still paid more then in a private clinic.. so its not always cheaper).

When I went to pull mine - I remember they gave me the anesthesia (local) and the surgeon said "Oh, this is a challenging case, its closed off and in an angle" .. I thought "perfect, going to hurt like hell and take up half an hour"... Dude had the tooth out in 5 minutes and nothing hurt. Gave me strong painkillers for afterwards and healed perfectly in a week. So its really really important to actually get a good dentist.

When I was younger I remember going to one dentist for a checkup (since my regular dentist was on maternity leave). The new dentist was supposed to be some top notch surgeon and dentist. She told me I have to pull all 4 wisdom teeth, and I have 7 tooth that need drilling and filling. She was ready to book me in for appointments for 3 years.... And thats how they do it - as if you know whether you need a filling or nrot.. she can say whatever and just destroy your teeth. I went to my regular doctor eventually and she literally said wtf... You dont need to pull wisdom teeth unless they actually start growing and deforming other tooth and you dont need to drill or do fillings unless the tooth decays on itself. Since visiting that whore of a dentist, it has been 15 or so years. In that time I have pulled 3 of my wisdom tooth and did a filling on maybe 2 or 3 tooth so I am living proof that some dentists are lying scumbags.

So if a dentist starts going on about how you have to do fixing on all of your teeth and starts making appointments, do get a second opinion. But of course do the checkups if something is not right. I have a friend who also due to financial and other reasons did not go to dentist for years (and also did not brush his teeth).... he now has even bigger problems that cost more and are more painful to deal with, which woud have been avoided with proper care initially.

Finances. My mother specificaly threatened me when i was a teenager, that i better take care of my teeth and dont damage them, cause we cant afford a dentist. It has strongly stuck with me ever since. Why did she say that? Because she herself, her own teeth, are either missing, damaged, broken, black, decayed, chipped, etc. etc. Unfortunately since then, my teeth HAVE been getting slowly damaged, because i dont brush every day, because im lazy or tired or whatever, and it greatly concerns me. My upper fangs have always been half black damaged once gum over them went away, but my corner teeth are dying, and i noticed my left bucktooth has chipped a tiny bit, greatly concerning. The few times ive tasted chipped pieces of my teeth in my mouth, has washed me with great existental dread. My own sister told me, she has tooth problems she wants to fix before its too late cause there is a time limit, but she said the whole thing would cost over TWO THOUSAND EUROS....sigh good god..... she ofcourse cant afford that...

i was at some point, supposed to pick up braces, even though my teeth are far better grown than my father's who were way more crooked, esspecialy at bottom, but we never did and they might still be sitting somewhere in a dentist office, why? Again, no money. So yeah, il probably never go to a dentist ever again like i used to when i was a teen for a few times, theres just no money, mom already is blowing all money trying to save our dying, doomed cats, hundreds upon hundreds of euro, that my brother had to bail us out to pay all the bills, its insane. I guess i just have to hope my teeth can hold toghether, long enough untill i hopefully die early or something for them to cause me great inconvienence, but more so hopefully from other, dreaded things that can come from the future. Its not like anyone taught me how to brush my teeth, i used to for a long time, brushing long & hard till my gums bled, many times, and making them retreat & recede, ive kind of avoid doing that for some time now though.

I haven't been since at least 2018... Maybe longer than that.

For finance reasons mostly. Though there is some fear of finance too, like if I go and then get told it's going to be even more expensive than I was dreading.

So my "po' boy dental plan" is 100% no soda ever and just brushing my teeth frequently. Usually after every meal and again before bed.

I didn't go for 10 years due to laziness and the fact I really dislike having my teeth scraped by the hygienist. Thankfully when I finally got on top of it in the autumn I didn't seem to have caused myself any issues except that it took 2 hygienist appointments :/

If I'm honest, when I join SG was at my lowest, deep depression, not working, was robed some money, was ghosted, mother died, and thought wasn't worth fixing health stuff at that point, now 10 yrs later, I'm paying at some banks here and there, and I'm trying to get fixed what neglected because I was suicidal, yes I need a deep fix on my mouth, thinking in quick money, but quick money here are drugs related, and not going that way

I dont fear the dentist but I prefer not going over going.
Now doing a yearly check up is great and should be done.

Best you can do is have a proper dental routine in place yourself.

Brush twice, floss, mouthwash, recently I have bought myself a simple waterflosser.
With this you will avoid the dentist and his massive bills, at least you give yourself the best chance.
Personally I have just finished a dental implant after one of my tooth who had previously done a rootcanal cracked and was unable to be fixed.
Costs a lot so yea prevention is better than the cure in this case..
Cause dental work only gets more expensive with the more special treatments you need.

From what I understand:

Flossing consistently- especially after a thorough cleaning, is very good. Admittedly, I don't Floss my teeth very often 😅.

I go 2x a year. One thorough cleaning with dental hygienist, the other is more of a checkup.

In my experience, if the cleaning isn't somewhat uncomfortable, it means the person is cutting corners.

One time (8 years ago) I went to a new dentist, and they thought I hadn't been to the dentist in years. After I told them I go 2x a year, every year, they said the person wasn't very thorough, and was likely over emphasizing your comfort (which was neglecting the teeth/mouth).

They showed me the issues, and said this is going to require 2 uncomfortable visits to fix. They were painful, but I appreciated the honesty.

I go to the dentist twice a year since I have been a kid.
Then again - I have health care as I live in good old Europe.

why not both? poll? XD
The damn thing was a different color and sometimes hurt.. for.. years, until the fear of worse consequences trumped the common fear.. plus relative's financial help, thus the dentist appointment became real, and I had 1 month and a half to both prepare and suffer :P
Turns out it was just a molar cavity and got to keep it (the molar) while the hole was filled.

Where's both?!

I am yet to find a good dentist, I complain about something they say it's all good but then later I end up needing root canal. I had been to so many of them for 1 tooth, ended up needing root canal in two of them later as they all said it was fine!
My canals are not straight enough and root canals freaking hurt!

I hope your gums are actually okay and your teeth don't fall out :(

Fear, but because of both lmao. I'm afraid of how much it will cost because it's been a while since I've been. But also I loathe the dentist and I have a TERRIBLE gag reflex.

I’m a dentist. The recommendation is to have your teeth cleaned twice a year, every 6 months. However, not everyone needs it that often. Some of my patients only require a cleaning once a year and have no problems with their teeth.
The gaps in your gums require more attention. They could be due to gum recession, which is normal with age, or to periodontitis, which can cause bone loss in the jaws. This bone loss reduces the support for your teeth and may eventually lead to mobility, pain, and even tooth loss.

And I didn’t know that dentists are so costly in Europe. Here in Brazil, the cost of dental care is relatively low for simple procedures.

It is recommended to get the basic cleaning every 6 months if you don't have any larger issues.
In the US the basic cleaning costs barely anything even without insurance, like 100-200 dollars, and usually completely covered by insurance.

They do get business from you coming in of course, but it is definitely standard practice to go every 6 months.
Even if you have very good oral health stuff does build up and the biannual cleaning makes sure it doesn't develop into something serious.

It's not the end of the world to go less, but the aren't trying to scam you by recommending two cleanings per year.

I haven't been to the dentist in 15 years. I don't ever have teeth problems of any kind, but I do miss the professional cleaning with UV light. Maybe I'll man up at some point and return to the dentist for a check.

Nah I'm just lazy.

I did go back a few months ago and everything looked good for the most part, so that's nice.

I only go to the dentist if there are real problems that he can solve. If something is implicit or difficult to diagnose, then in most cases it will not help or make it worse. At least this is the situation in our country.

Well I can't exactly evade my parents xD
Funny stories about local people asking me about reservations, or sending their oral cavity photos for me to judge if they can do something about it...

I go once per year for cleaning