DENTAL PROBLEMS

Ugh. I’m having dental problems. My problems aren't "necessarily" from my 14 years of bulimia, but they are definitely from a side-effect of not being great at dealing with stress, even after my recovery - I grind my teeth. And, apparently, I've been grinding like never before since I began my new stressful job in March. It’s true that my new job really stresses me out and even put me into a bit of a depression for about 2.5 months (thankfully, it's been getting much better – that will be a separate post). I was consumed with a fear of failure. The job is tough and demanding, but those things are manageable IF YOU AREN’T CONSUMED WITH SELF-DOUBT.

Let's talk about my teeth. I went to the dentist in March before I left my old job since I didn't know how the insurance would be with the new one. She didn't see anything unusual and just gave me a cleaning. By late April, my teeth started hurting. My whole left side of my mouth hurt. I tried ignoring it, but of course it just got worse. I couldn't eat or drink anything cold. I couldn't eat anything sweet & sticky - I got some candy stuck in there once and I about hit the ceiling from the pain.

I finally went back to the dentist (my new insurance covers my old dentist, thankfully) in June. She found that my grinding had "dug up" 2 old fillings that would have to be replaced. And, I have one new cavity. She also gave me some more scary news - I may have cracked a tooth, which definitely means getting a crown and probably a root canal. UGH!! For now, I got 2 fillings done and will get the 3rd done at the end of the month. She filled the potentially cracked tooth, at my insistence, hoping that that would take care of the problem and that her guess at it being cracked is wrong. But, alas, 2 weeks after getting it filled, it still hurts as much as it did before she "fixed" it. I'm going to have to get up some courage and get the root canal and the crown.

Who knows how much worse this is because of the damage I did to my teeth during 14 years of bulimia. The one thing we know for sure is that my lingering inability to deal well with stress and my propensity to let challenge and discomfort with new, unknown circumstances develop into an overwhelming fear of failure have caused me to do more harm to my body. It's frustrating . . .

I have grown enough to recover from bulimia, but I'm still not as spiritually strong, courageous, optimistic, and unattached from my circumstances as I want to be. I need to get some of my old tools and books back out. In June, just before I finally made that first dentist appt, I actually reread "Self-Esteem Tools for Recovery" by my friend, Lindsey Hall of Gurze.com, and it helped immensely. This book isn't just for bulimics, it's for anyone struggling with a bad habit (such as my bad habit to focus on the potential for failure over all else when things get challenging). It actually was the turning point between being my depressed about my job and my starting to embrace it because of all the wonderful things it brings to my life.

To look on the positive side (which I’ll get into more in another post), I’m happy that 1) I’m finally challenging myself to grow in my career and really feel proud of myself and excited about watching myself accomplish meaningful things. And, 2) my new challenging circumstances are forcing me to continue to stretch myself and grow spiritually. Every tough time in our lives is a beautiful opportunity to grow stronger and better if we choose to work on it.

have more to say about how I got out of my funk with the new job, but I want this post to focus a bit more on teeth. I have to thank the anonymous poster who wrote this comment just today over on my post, "Dental problems from bulimia:"

I need to get veneers because of the damage i have caused during 20 years of bulimia. Is there anything else i can do to protect my veneers? Of course i am trying to recover but don't hold out much hope. Can any bulimics tell me how their veneers are lasting and if they are having any problems.

This poster’s amazing timing made me finally get this post written. We would BOTH love input from anyone out there who had to go through major dental work, particularly vaneers, during or after bulimia. Please share your experiences and how your dental work is holding up. I’m going to have to get a “night guard” to stop me from grinding while I’m asleep – anyone out there have one of these?

Comments

[Kristi]

Hello. I'm 24 years old. I began bulumia at age 15. I had veneers done around that time also. I quit b/p-ing at 17 (while I was preggo). In those two years I had to get 3 chipped veneers fixed. Then I began again at age 19. Recently, a cavity has rotted one of my back teeth (which was filled once before in 2000). Now, four weeks later, eating a chip spilt a another veneer completely in half. I suggest--don't waste the money if you are still going to binge/purge. Bulimia destroys "fake" teeth as well as true teeth.

[Michelle Hope]

Hello Kristi.

I am SO sorry to hear about all your challenges with your teeth and your bulimia (and a child at age 17!). And, I am equally appreciative to you for taking the time to share it all with us here. We really needed to hear what you had to say. Thank you.

I hope you are doing ok now. Teeth problems can stress out even the most relaxed, chill people, that's for sure.

[Ariel Schwartz]

ugh, the devastating trips to the dentist. I have been bulimic for too long and i suffer such bad dental problems. I cant even remember the last time i confidently smiled. My gums are so messed up that i cant smile without my whole mouth hurting. I cant afford gum grafting right now. I have so much to say but dont have the energy to wirte it all. I truly hope your situation improves!!

[Emily]

Hey Michelle, this is Emily. Remember me? I'm one of the girls you coached a few years ago. It's been long time since I've made contact, and decided to drop by and check out your blog. I'm so happy to see that you're still plugging away; What you're doing is so important and you are helping so many people.

This dental entry is something I can help shed some light on, if still need be. I am 29 years old now. I have had bulimia for 8 years. At 26 I saw a dentist and was informed that all 6 of my top front teeth had absolutely no enamel left on them and it was only a matter of time before they began to chip and break away. I was lucky to have an experienced and knowledgeable dentist in the arena of eating disorders. However, my options we extremely expensive and extremely limited. Veneers were NOT a practical option, for they too can be eroded by stomach acid. Veneers are just a surface coat for the teeth, they do not offer lasting protection. My only option was to get porcelain crowns. I opted to get all 14 top teeth crowned, as most of them were worn down from grinding, erosion, and cavities. This cost me $12,000 which I will no doubt be paying off for a very long time. It's been 3 years now since I've gotten my teeth fixed and I have not had any problems with them whatsoever. I still have set-backs with purging and expressed my concern to my dentist about the possibility of damaging the crowns. He assured me that I cannot do damage to them. Crowns cannot erode.

I hope this helped a bit. And I hope you're doing great Michelle! We ought to catch up sometime soon.

[Sue O'Bryan]

Michelle, I just bought your ebook and am enjoying going through the blog. I have been bulimic for 22 years. 5 years ago I had 12 temporary crowns put on which were required due to erosion of enamel from vomiting. I went to jail for petty theft w/ prior (stealing food and getting caught numerous times) with temporary crowns on, and slowly some of them came off. It was living hell, the physical pain. After jail I went into an inpatient recovery program for alcoholism (sober 5 years now, but no bulimia recovery . . . yet) and there was a dentist affiliated with the "faith based" program who did pro bono work for women after they had been sober 6 months. To make a long story short, he put 12 permanent porcelain crowns on and the process was EXCRUCIATING, as I could not have any pain meds. Since that time all crowns have been fine except for one which cracked and had to be replaced. I completely sympathize with anybody who has dental challenges, but have found the crowns to be very reliable.