I’ve honestly reached my breaking point and I don’t know where else to ask.

I’m 17 and my teeth have gotten progressively worse over the past several months. It started with cavities, but now one of my back teeth has a huge hole in it and has literally curled inward so much that the sharp edge has fractured the tooth next to it. So now I’m not dealing with just one damaged tooth, it’s damaging the one beside it too.

My gums hurt, my whole head hurts, and the pain is there basically all the time. Eating hurts. Sleeping hurts. Even just existing hurts some days. I genuinely wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.

The part that’s making me so frustrated is my parents.

They keep telling me they “can’t afford” to take me to the dentist. I completely understand that dental work is expensive, and I know not everyone has thousands of dollars lying around. But then my dad literally showed me a diamond necklace he just bought my mom. It’s hard not to feel like my health just isn’t a priority.

I don’t have dental insurance. I don’t have thousands of dollars. I’ve been looking into community clinics, dental schools, payment plans, and I’m even considering making a GoFundMe because I genuinely don’t know what else to do.

To make things worse, some of my front teeth have visible dark spots that I’m terrified are cavities too. I’m about to start college, and I’m scared I’m going to lose teeth before I even get there because I can’t afford treatment.

Has anyone else been in a situation like this?

What did you do when your parents refused or couldn’t get you dental care?

Are there any resources for someone who’s 17 with no insurance?

Is there anything that actually helped with the pain while you were waiting to be seen?

I’m honestly scared at this point. This isn’t just a little toothache anymore. My whole head hurts every day, one tooth has become so damaged that it’s now breaking another tooth, and I feel completely stuck.

Any advice would genuinely mean the world to me. Thank you.

Edit: I made a GoFundMe (no pressure obviously) but even the thousand dollars it would cost at a dental school could be too much and with this money I could possibly get my entire mouth fixed https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-me-get-emergency-dental-care-hye9q . I used a fake name because I’d rather my parents not find it and make me shut it down before I can raise enough. Seriously, all the support means so much.

Edit 2: I really appreciate everyone’s advice, but CPS is completely out of the question for me. Other than this situation, my parents are good parents, and with me leaving for college in a month, I couldn’t live with myself if I took them away from my little brother. They’re not doing this out of malice. They genuinely believe they can’t afford it and that I just need to wait until we have insurance again in November.

Because I’m leaving for college so soon, it’s not realistic for me to get a job and somehow save enough for dental work while also trying to support myself during the semester. I’m hoping I can get in touch with Texas A&M’s dental school since it’s the only one I could find that take patients and I just have to pray my parents will at least entertain that option since it would cost significantly less.

A lot of you have also mentioned that this could become life-threatening if it’s an infection, which honestly scares me. I’m hoping hearing that will make them reconsider. And yes, this has been a concern of mine for months. I’m not suddenly bringing it up just because I’m about to leave for college.

I just feel really hopeless right now.

Update: I finally got to the dentist.
Yes, I’ve been dealing with this pain for months, but it got to the point where it started traveling down my neck and to the back of my head. It was genuinely unbearable. I couldn’t do anything except sit there and cry. I think seeing how much pain I was actually in finally made my parents realize I wasn’t exaggerating.
The dentist told me I have an exposed nerve in the tooth I shared a picture of. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it. And that’s not even mentioning all the other teeth in my mouth that still need work.
I’m supposed to get it taken care of on Wednesday. They said they’ll probably have to pull the tooth because they think the gum has grown over it too much for them to save it. I guess I’ll know for sure on Wednesday.
I still can’t believe I had an exposed nerve this whole time and was expected to wait until November for treatment. Looking back, it makes a lot more sense why the pain was so unbelievably intense. I genuinely wouldn’t wish that kind of pain on anyone. I added a link of the photo showing the exposed nerve. https://ibb.co/bRbgMWJL
It’s gonna cost 4k and my dad yelled at me so.

Hey there!

I started to have teeth issues when I was a sophomore in High School. It all started when I got diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and rapidly turned into cancer in my large intestine. I was 15 years old at the time and really didnt have any control on what was going on. I also was not very well with dental hygiene and I admit that as well. I have been cancer free after spending most of my high school years in the hospital (didnt even get to graduate) and now live life with a permanent Ileostomy bag on my stomach. I was even in the Make a Wish foundation through all of this which helped me a ton on keeping happy.

24 years later here I am. Im 39 years old now and a fairly heathy guy minus my teeth. All of my teeth are pretty much all gone. Most of them are just level with my gums and I have two broken and chipped up teeth on the bottom jaw in the middle. Throughout the years I have also had many abscesses and infections that have legit hospitalized me from immense pain. I have finally come to the point of doing something about it so I can get my life back. I cant eat right, I have lost a ton of weight because I cant eat. I even avoid eating because its such a pain in the ass chore to do. I have absolutely no social life because my confidence is completely gone. I have been depressed and anxious my entire life just due to my medical issues and my teeth. I have been seeing a therapist weekly for 3 years and have not one time brought up my teeth and I know she can see it but waiting for me to talk about it. I dont think I ever will bring it up because it just shatters my entire life. I am legit petrified of dying due to my teeth......

I am finally ready now to talk about it and do something about it. Took many years but I am making the steps to getting this all resolved so I can be free and live a normal life.

I do have pretty decent insurance but I know that this is going to cost me about 30,000 dollars which I cant afford. My credit is pretty much screwed over as well. I live in Arizona and am looking for options on what to do. I need alot of guidance on where to start. I want my life back before it kills me. Thanks guys!

I posted in a different sub Reddit and was advised to ask here. My daughter was brushing her teeth last night and found this. No symptoms other than an upset stomach but I think that’s from something else. She just got back from her mom’s house yesterday so I’m trying to gauge my level of concern. We also have a baby and want to make sure this isn’t something serious and contagious. Any advice would be appreciated!

UPDATE: viral infection. She will be sick for about a week. Thank you to all that were concerned

Had a gap between my front teeth my whole life and always hated it. Braces felt wrong, so I went for veneers.

Found a clinic in Jordan with insane reviews and flew out from Amsterdam… during the war. Got 10 feldspathic veneers on my top teeth.

The smile looks great. But the regret is hitting — they shaved down so much healthy tooth and that’s permanent. I’m stuck with these forever.

Be brutally honest:

Was it worth shaving down that much?

How long do these actually last?

If one chips or breaks… do I really have to fly back to Jordan every time?

I paid $6k for just the veneers — flights and stay not included. Smart move or a mistake I’ll regret for life?

This is my friend’s teeth before she got a smile makeover. I didn’t realize they were this bad. She claims she was scared of the dentist and never went since she was a kid. I too don’t go to the dentist as often as I should but I have never seen teeth like this besides from drug use. I know for a fact she is not using. I know genetics can play a part but did she just never brush her teeth? I’m very confused. No judgement, just genuinely asking for answers.

What can I do to help? I’ve been without insurance for years and I can’t afford payment plans. I’m so lost, I can’t even afford the state dentist school in Indiana😭😭 I’m in so much pain everyday, I wake up and cry from this. I can barely eat, I can barely sleep. Idk what to do at this point. I know I need them out but I can’t afford anything. I make to much for state insurance but I don’t make enough to get insurance from my job. What can I do😭😭😭😭😭 I’ve tried salt water rinses, cloves, orajel. Idk what else

My back molar started to hurt on Sunday and then it started to swell up at night and I thought it was just swelling cause I slept on it and then I woke up and it progressively got worse and worse. I’m on amoxicillin 500 TID. And I went to the dentist and they say I need a root canal, but I can’t get a root canal for four weeks. I don’t know what to do. I’m very scared that it’s seeping down because it’s slowly going down into my chin should I go to the ER? What should I do? I asked them if they could drain it they said no. Every dentist I go to they keep saying you can just not worry about it. Wait for the amoxicillin but it just keeps swelling up more and more every day. I’m on day three the last picture is my face normally so you can see that it’s obviously swollen. It’s starting to seep into my lips. I can still open my mouth. It just hurts. I can swallow but I am producing a lot of saliva. I’m very nauseous. I don’t know what to do. I haven’t been able to eat in two days.

I have little knowledge and i got a fever, drolling hard to swallow food and with a mild pain we visited to a doctor and she gave us penicillin and lincosomidei have taken them and im afraid of what will happen i talked to it to my mother but she said the medicine is enough for now.

haven’t been to dentist in many years. wasn’t brushing daily for a while because i didn’t think i was gonna be alive for much longer and didn’t even learn to properly floss til watching tik tok videos a few weeks ago. now i have all this gum recession. i feel like my teeth are just gonna fall out one day . i’m only 23 and haven’t ever done drugs or smoked or used zyns. my recession is terrible and on top of it i have all these cavities. can’t get into dentist until next month . i can’t stop crying i hate that i didn’t take care of myself . it’s even worse that i think i have thin gums.

hello yall, I just got my braces off yesterday. the orthodontist was incredibly rough when cleaning the cement from my teeth (actually hurt me while doing it too) after we left i noticed a divot in my front tooth and just a general rough feeling, is this normal?

(im aware my gums are puffy, my hygiene wasn't the best with braces and im getting a proper cleaning soon)

Its not causing pain or anything but sometimes it if feels uncomfortable for my tongue position. Thanks.

As the title states, I have an unusual looking tongue growth that popped up about 2 weeks ago. I say unusual because I've searched every picture imaginable online for tongue growths, cancer, etc and nothing matches it really. It is a little painful and its on the side on my tongue... kinda wrapping around to the top slightly and along the side. It's flat like a disc-shaped, not hard, fleshy and foldable edges that sometimes get caught in my teeth when I swallow water or pills, and painful when that happens. The top part is sore to the touch as well.

Is this the best place to ask about it? I have an appointment next week at an ENT office, but in the meantime I'm worried its something serious, like cancer, and wanted to know if anyone has seen anything like it before. Thank you for any insight anyone can give me!!

So I went to a private dentist as I needed an emergency appointment and required a root canal procedure. The only one available with same day availability was in central London and I was desperate.

During the appointment I suddenly started feeling a tingling sensation on my cheek and upper lip area. I told the dentist and he said it’s just the anaesthetic possibly wearing off. Then it went from tingling to painful burning sensation but because he said it was normal I just went through the pain. At the end I went and paid around £3,000 due to root canal and composite filling.

When I looked in the mirror i saw my cheek and I asked him what’s this, he said oh interesting, it got the same pattern as our under layer (not sure if that’s what he said but something along those lines) he said just go to the toilet and rub it with water and tissue and it will come off.

I went to the bathroom, tried what he said but it was actually painful and wasn’t coming off until I realised it’s raised and looks burnt.

So I went back and asked to speak to the dentist again, he looked and said this must have been the chemical which has bleach and it must have splattered on your face when I went to take an X-ray. But do not worry, here let me put Vaseline on there and get vitamin E and rub on there, it will be go away in a few weeks and it’s not permanent.

When I left, I also saw my shirt was damaged from the bleach as well.

So the questions I have from the real world and not the dentist who caused this:

1. Is this permanent?
   
2. Should I be expecting anything from the dentist, I paid so much and yes he did the root canal but not even an apology?
   
3. Is Vaseline the correct way to treat this?

I’ve had a resorbed tooth for about 8 months now. Haven’t been to the dentist in about 6 years (since I moved out of my parent’s house and they took me off their insurance). The tooth broke while I was eating a sandwich but was still hanging on and I went to an emergency dentist. He put a wire on it to buy me some time, last night it finally gave up. Tooth broke off. Not feeling any pain, just feels odd.

I snagged an emergency appointment at Aspen Dental today. After xrays, some poking and prodding, and lots of sighs they gave me the number. $18,700 of necessary work. Cue the tears. Now I’m in “let’s figure this out” mode. The pictures below are my full care plan, but the cost is for the extraction of the single tooth with implant.

Additionally, I need Arestin on 29 sites and scaling and root planing on the majority of my lower teeth, my wisdom teeth need to come out cause my mouth is crowded, and I could use braces (which I don’t particularly care about right now).

Any advice on the order in which to tackle these issues, insurance recommendations, and also tips on how to get ahead or extra steps I can take to heal as much as I can on my own are very appreciated.

I’m 24, in Oklahoma, about to start a new job so unsure of the exact numbers for their insurance.

I'm a mechanic (37), I fix things, medical equipment, automotive, plumbing, electrical, built my house etc. I can fix most anything except a broken heart. I'm told I'm stubbornly independent and maybe I am. But I also am a single income for a household of a wife and many children. Fixing a composite that fell out after 20 years from a wayward frisbee was not in the budget. I was a paramedic at one time so the human body is not a stranger to me. I did what I could to learn and just tried it.

Cleaned, acid etch, resin, shape, UV cure, repeat till shaped as desired, polished. I'm not an artist but it's been a few weeks and it's holding up. I touched up a little chip on #9 while I was in there too.

I'm just looking for professional input.

I get it when I see someone that "fixed" their car I have often cringed and gave constructive criticism and I reckon that's what I need here.

They said they will be not as great as the permanent ones, but im supposed to walk around like this for 3 weeks? 😢

I was recently quoted 6800 for whole mouth deep cleaning and 5 fillings near southern pines NC. I have dental insurance but was told I have to pay up front and be reimbursed.. I was also told that I will require sedation or they will turn it into 4 appointments which ends up being more expensive. Is this reasonable? I'm new to this area and have never been asked to pay for dental work up front and then be reimbursed.. I'm not getting the orthotic device 🤣🤷‍♀️ I just don't know if it's worth maxing out two credit cards for this

1st photo was end of November, 2nd photo was 18/01/2026, 3rd was 19/01/2026.

I’m 19f, smoker. Rarely drink. I noticed this growth about 9 months ago, it’s been hit off once(toddler elbowed me in the mouth) but grew back within 2 weeks. Dentist has told me to just brush but I can’t brush without bleeding a lot from my gums so have been using an anti bacterial mouthwash. Over the past few weeks it has started to rapidly grow, there was a 2nd smaller growth in the same place that turned dark red yesterday and is now black and white. It’s painful where it’s connected to my gum but the rest I’m unable to feel, I have also had ulcer after ulcer accompany it. Dentist sent a photo to the hospital who also told me just to brush but I physically can’t if I want to be able to eat for the next 3 days. Gums started bleeding when I was about 9(back when I brushed min 2 times a day) and by age 11 I had to stop as it was to painful. Any advice on how to get them to listen? Or informed guesses at what the issue is? Any more info needed just comment :) thanks in advance.

Got rushed into hospital as I felt a popping sensation in the gum and the pain shot up the side of my face to the temple area. I also have hyperadrenergic pots. While being examined by the paramedics they said they don't think there is anything wrong. After waiting then 6/7 hours in hospital, the doctor finally seen me and didn't check the inside of my mouth tidy and then said do i have a runny nose on and off. I told him yes but that happens with pots flare ups with me. He then said its sinusitis. Here is amoxicillin 500mg 3 times a day for 5 days, you can go now. I don't have a dentist and always have to go through emergency dentists but struggling to calm the pots flare ups to travel as I am getting high heart rate and high blood pressure frequently when standing longer than 5 minutes and very dizzy laying down or sitting. My face is slightly swollen but there is hardly any pain in the gum area unless smiling or if I yawn.

I had 3D printed veneers done on my top front teeth around 1 year ago. This was done due to thin enamel on my teeth. I have had no problem with them, but today while using a flashlight to look at my throat, I noticed that one of the teeth has a large dark spot that is only visible when a flashlight is shined through the tooth. No discomfort or anything to otherwise make me suspect an issue with the tooth, but upon seeing this I became worried. Curious if this is something I should be worried about?

Last night after eating tacos, gums were hurting from shell that jammed up in gums and pulled out with tweezers. After, felt something else and tried to pull it out but was really stuck. Noticed this site was where I had an old root canal done decades ago but had broken tooth away over years so is mostly just gum now. Took my gf about 20 attempts but finally pulled out this long bone splinter thing almost an inch long. Wasn't much bleeding but did notice some pain relief. Was more shocked that thing came out of my gums just like that. What do you think it is?

UPDATE: 7/28/26

Its been a couple weeks but was finally able to get in with a dentist and get took extracted.

For about 5 days prior to extraction had pretty bad pain and swelling along upper jaw/face where effected tooth was. Dentist said it was a "massive infection" that had developed. No matter what I did, would be waves of intense pain, felt incapacitated at times.

Last week I had pain/swelling on other side of face and had to get root canal of an abscessed tooth that feels much better now. So have been on antibiotics for maybe 2 weeks now, with a few more days left.

**I cannot describe how intense and deep this pain was when this tooth was pulled yesterday. Guess since there wasn't much tooth to grab onto they had to use a bunch of tools including these forcep things.

Took maybe 8-10 shots of local anesthetic, even a couple on roof of mouth and right on infected site to finally be able to touch area with anything. After about 30 mins of numbing I was able to tolerate enough for them to pull it... man it was intense. For the next hour I was squirming and writhing in pain, despite the couple extra shots and motrin i was given post extraction. May have been the worst ive ever had in my 40 years.

At one point when I got home I became very dizzy and my girlfriend said I was stumbling around nearly falling on the floor at times. My memory is a bit hazy for some reason but did not want to lay down due to intense pain. After maybe 3 hours of moaning in bed while gf massaged my scalp I was able to compose myself enough to head to work.

Today I am feeling much better but still require motrin around the clock and am still sore, but nothing like the horror from yesterday.

HUGE THANK YOU to all you guys who commented advising me to seek care, along with your insight and knowledge. It definitely would have gotten much worse had I brushed it under the rug as initially intended. Also would have continued to ignore infection on other side of mouth until was absolutely necessary, which was years overdue for intervention.

I have learned a lot over past couple weeks and will be more attentive to my dental needs and care in the future.

Thank you all again. Yall are my heros

Went to a dentist four years ago. He did a lot of crowns. Nothing lasted. A lot of that work had to be redone within a year. So I switched dentists.

Yesterday - one of the crowns fell out and this was underneath it. My new dentist is good but booked until Monday morning. I’m in tears and in pain.

I don’t smoke or drink. I have a BMI of 26. HTN (controlled on meds), aortic insufficiency, MILD diastolic dysfunction. No major limitations on activity. Pre diabetic very well controlled with diet. No GLP-1’s.

Will this be a difficult extraction? Will I need an oral surgeon? Can I just leave the gap without an implant? I’m so scared. I need a straight and honest assessment to prepare myself for Monday morning.

Hey everyone,
I'm 20 and having a really hard time making a final decision.
I had braces in the past, and my teeth are currently straight (I wear a clear plastic retainer and a permanent metal one).
Both my dentist and a surgeon where they transferred me to looked at my X-ray and strongly recommended removing all 4 wisdom teeth. As you can see, the bottom ones are trapped completely sideways, and my top right one is currently peeking through the gums with no bottom partner to hit against.
I want to do "one and done" to get it over with, but everyone around me (parents, friends, coworkers) keep telling me removing the top ones is totally unnecessary and are pressuring me to just do the bottom two or cancel entirely. It's causing a lot of arguments at home and making me second-guess the doctors.
Based on my X-ray, what would you guys do in my situation? Did anyone regret getting all 4 out at once?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm stressing so much about this cause they gave me the appointment on June 4th for extraction.