The thing about downsizing from a Large 4 bed house with nearly an acre of land and a big workshop and double garage to a smaller 3 bed bungalow with a small garden is that the bungalow cost much less than what I got for the house. Which means I have some spare cash and after my dentist visit I will certainly need it!
I used to visit the dentist in a small converted house in the village of Debenham only a few miles from home which he staffed 2 days a week but his main Much Bigger practice is in Ipswich and due to Covid he's shut Debenham and doing everything in Town. Back in March 2020 I was all set to have a crown on a dodgy tooth - then everything came to a pandemic halt and not long later another bit broke off the tooth.
When another tooth fractured last week I thought I'd better actually make an appointment in Ipswich. Regular readers will know I dread going to the dentists - childhood trauma I reckon!!....it's true - my Mum took me screaming out of the dentist when I was about 8 when they tried to make me keep my mouth open with a big smelly rubber block! After that Mum sent me to the school dentist instead - they used to bring a little caravan round to school twice a year and she Never went to a dentist again!
Anyway, after X-rays he found not only that I need the tooth crowned and the broken tooth rebuilt, I also need 2 other fillings replaced, Eeek - can you imagine how much that lot will cost! (No NHS Dentists around anywhere to get it cheaper- sadly) and then he came through to tell the receptionist that it would need 3 appointments with the first one for 75 minutes ......... 75 MINUTES - oh my!
I have until the 14th June to prepare myself but at least I don't have to worry about paying the bill although when I downsized this wasn't quite what I had in mind for my windfall!
I feel for you! I haven't been to the dentist since before the pandemic and when I do go I know I'll need them all out and dentures instead. I live just down the road from your dentist (although I didn't even know there was one there,) but I go to the Two Rivers surgery which shows on your map. Fingers crossed, it's never as bad as you think it's going to be,
ReplyDeleteOh goodness - dentures- don't think I'd like that - I think lots of dentists do expensive implants instead. I don't want to be like my Mum and Grandma who both gradually lost all their teeth.
DeleteYou have all my sympathies, Sue - I feel exactly the same, also due to childhood trauma, and a later couple of horrendous experiences as an adult. I didn't go back to the dentist for years, and now have gum disease as a result. Which means even more horrendous (and expensive) treatment. I'm due to go back on Tuesday, for a tooth out and some gum treatment, and I'm scared stiff already. And I'm having to get used to a new dentist, as my previous one left last year.
ReplyDeleteI've had some weird dentists over the years - both NHS and private. One was grumpy and another talked to the nurse all the time and another didn't talk at all
DeleteI have a 40 minute appointment in a weeks time and a 3 hour one in 3 months time. I don't dread the dentist like I used to, I have found a lovely one. It costs but it's worth it. The last NHS one I was with was a horrible one, just bad luck I suppose but there is a big gap between NHS dentistry and private I think.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful about being able to afford private now - NHS almost doesn't exist - people have to be put on long waiting lists for a space - like waiting for someone to die!!
DeleteI don’t like long winded procedures as it kills my back and neck.
ReplyDeleteI said 75 minutes - Oh No and he said it's OK we'll give you a couple of breaks - hope he meant time wise and not broken teeth!!
DeleteNot exactly the most pleasurable experience but needs must and you're spending it on your health and well being, so well worth it.
ReplyDeleteI've been quite lucky up until the last few years so I suppose an age thing has caught up.
DeleteI am not bothered with the dentist I can remember when I was 10/11years and had gas and air to have teeth trouble. My daughter had all her teeth out when she was in her 40s and had false ones in and never took back.
ReplyDeleteHave a good weekend everyone and hope our weather is better we have had terrible winds and rain.
Hazel 🌈🌈
I had 8 baby teeth out all at once before the 'trauma' above with gas - horrible!
DeleteOuch, double ouch - in the mouth and the wallet! I'm the daughter of a dentist, so it holds no fears for me, but the bills are horrendous. I had very poor enamel and therefore heaps of fillings, and my son inherited the condition. There really is no choice but regular visits to keep it under control . I joke that I paid off his student loan, and then put his kids through private schools! Good luck for your appointments, I hope they don't find any more complications.
ReplyDeleteI was very bad and had 4 years between age 16 and 20 without going at all and then had endless fillings.
DeleteI've had some brilliant dentists in the past, but the exception was the local one to the area of Wales we moved to. A few times I went to him with problems and each time he said that if I wasn't in pain to leave it and being the coward that I am I did. Now I have a partial denture which I can't get on with and only wear when I go out, until that is the virus and mask wearing. I haven't worn my denture since before the pandemic and I'm not looking forward to being mask free.
ReplyDeleteI guess that's a reason for wearing a mask that I'd not thought of!
DeleteWell, and this is 'touch wood' for me, I pay a monthly fee to my dentist but have never used them except for check ups and cleaning. As a child I also had gas and was sick for days after, so dentistry has matured with less pain Sue.
ReplyDeleteWow you are lucky. I had a few years in my 40s when everything went well but all downhill from then
DeleteI have several front crowns, so you have my sympathies. I had a root canal done a couple of years back too. Fortunately, we are still with the NHS surgery in Carms and their dentists are SO good. Tam is scared of the dentist because normal painkilling injection does NOT work with her (she's had a tooth out with no painkiller before now, as a child. Couldn't let the dentist know half way through). She is happy to go to the dentist now though, as he is so careful.
ReplyDeleteSorry you can't get NHS care - we were private for a while and certainly contributed towards his foreign holidays and Italian shoes!
I'm glad you have managed to hang onto your good dentist despite moving. The only one I didn't mind suddenly retired.
DeleteOh, how I sympathise! I had a broken filling last October (luckily not painful but very uncomfortable). The earliest appointment I could get was for February but I had to cancel that one because it clashed with my first Covid jab. I have at last had the treatment this month. An hour's appointment, because of all the extra PPE precautions *and* you have to pay extra for this. That's with a private practice. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteA very long wait between October and February. I thought about trying a different closer place but found they wanted a £60 new patient fee and a £20 Covid protection fee!
DeleteI'm in the same position- temporary filling, waiting for a crown - but now also having to find a new dentist [and NHS dentists are like hen's teeth in East Anglia, as you know] Perhaps we should just eat gruel to [a] spare our teeth and [b] save for the crown!
ReplyDeleteHope you can find a dentist in deepest Norfolk without having to travel too far
DeleteOh, my gosh. I truly feel for you, Sue. I know several people (including me - and you) whose dental health has taken a down turn because of no work done during the pandemic. I guess also, we're of an age where our faithful old gnashers start giving up.
ReplyDeleteWishing you loads of luck and good, strong vibes for it all.
xx
He said often when there's an untreated problem with one tooth then another beside it will often have problems too - but I reckon it's just an age thing.....my teeth are nearly as old as me!
DeleteI'm not as fearful of dentists as I was. About 5 years ago I needed root canal treatment on a molar - I'm told I have narrow and curved root canals which need special microscopes and things so I had to go to a specialist dentist. Two appointments, one for two hours, went well and the tooth still seems sound. All well except for the £800 that is.
ReplyDeleteIve had two root canal things done - that's supposed to be worse than a crown so hope he's right about that
DeleteI'm totally with you -- I hate going to the dentist, stemming from the time I got a tooth pulled without anaesthetic. I do have a nice dentist now, but still dread going. I hope it all goes well. I've been enjoying reading about your new life, and how you are getting settled in. Good wishes.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Yes I'm getting settled - just wishing for better weather as it's been nasty wet and damp since I moved in
DeleteI think those of us who are "of an age" grew up in the era of "drill and fill" whenever we went to the dentist. I know my teeth aren't as strong as they once were as they're mostly filling. I hope the experience isn't as bad as anticipated - either on your teeth or wallet! xx
ReplyDeleteI think you are right about drill and fill - I have loads more fillings than any of my children - too much sugar as a child maybe - and had years when every visit needed one or two fillings. then a lucky few years when nothing needed doing now it's all work needed again
DeleteI thought I was the only one with such fear of the dentist... I remember as I child how my mom was ashamed of me sometimes. I went for a dental check a few days ago and my dentist told me for once that everything was right. Hope it lasts ! And hope all goes well for you, if it can't go quickly.
ReplyDeleteMaguy
My Mum passed on her fear of dentist to me - she just didn't go at all and by the time she died in her 70's she had very few teeth left
DeleteDentists cost an arm and a leg these days, I think I'll follow Suky's lead and have all but three of my teeth out ... now, which three should I keep ;-)
ReplyDeleteYou were right about Anon getting short shrift here - a click and they were gone!
DeleteOh dear don't tempt fate about having them all out!
I've been with the same dental practice since the age of 4 - almost 53 years ago. I remember having the "gas" once for an extraction. I can't say I enjoy going even after all this time. There's no shortage of dentists where we live in the Midlands, in fact they're always accepting new patients, so we must be lucky or there are a lot of people around who don't want to register with one.
ReplyDeleteYou are certainly lucky with with having plenty of dentists - they keep closing down round here or changing to Denplan or going private
DeleteOh Sue, I agree with you - I hate going to the dentist! I have a mouthful of crowns and one bridge plus lots of other work done and I'm a nervous wreck every time I go now. It bothers me that we should have to pay so much for something we hate having done! But yes, we do need our teeth. Good luck for your appointments!
ReplyDeleteI think most people born in Britain in the 1950s, or before, have bad experiences with dentists. Fortunately some young and new dentists are helping us to get over it. Dentistry is always unpleasant but it doesn't hurt. I used to be given gas to have teeth extracted and no other treatment was given. The dentist worked alone and there was nobody else on the premises. I lost teeth that could have been saved in the 1960s.
ReplyDeleteSadly I have dentures. I always looked after my teeth and I am sure these days they could have been saved bt it was not to be.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you! I had my one and only crown at the back taken out as I got a mild blood poisoning from repeated abscesses which made me quite poorly and I decided a gap was far better! Had no problems since. My daughter cannot get a dentist at the moment to look at her children's teeth - there could be a lot of future problems coming up because of this lack of treatment available.
ReplyDeleteI also dreaded the dentist and almost felt like I lived there sometimes. My teeth were good on the outside but the insides just crumbled away which made for all sorts of issues. I love my false teeth! :)
ReplyDeleteDental health is very important to overall health. The cost is high in the US too. I found a dentist and that recommends preventative dental care. He recommends the purchase of a WaterPik and an electric tooth brush. Since purchasing both, I have had no need for dental work except a cleaning and the dentist confirmation that everything is okay.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you are talking about with the childhood trauma at the dentist. It took me a very long time to go back to a dentist, and still need to force myself to go.
ReplyDeleteDentists seem to cost so much lately.
God bless.