Enforced dentistry

I have a toothache. A tooth which was filled years ago has started to fall apart, and a big piece of filling came out of it a few days ago, and now I'm sitting here hoping that the pain doesn't start to get really bad. Chewing gum seems to help, but I can't do that all night! I'm going to have to visit the dentist - something that fills me with terror. Ever since being frequently mauled by drill-wielders as a child, I've been scared of getting into that chair, and even laughing gas only makes me lie straight as opposed to curling into a foetal ball, rather than properly relaxing me. So you can guess that I'm not looking forward to making an appointment tomorrow. Of course it'll probably be another two or three weeks of popping paracetamol before I can actually get an "emergency" appointment - that's what happened last time - but there's nothing much I can do about that.

I take pretty good care of my teeth and haven't had a new cavity in years, but all the childhood/teenage fillings are reaching the end of their life span now, as are the teeth that were given root canal treatment, and things are just starting to crumble. Lovely! I wish there was some way that I could have all of the back ones replaced with implants at once, so I don't have to worry about them or end up in pain again in future, but I've asked the dentist already and been told that they won't just replace healthy teeth like that. I'm not sure healthy is the word that I'd use, but that was his opinion! I could probably force the issue if I went private, but that means spending money that I just don't have. I'll have to suck up yet another filling and accept the fact that the same thing will happen again before too long.

I suppose it's not a bad thing that I'm getting my teeth seen to now anyway. We should be on holiday before too long (whenever we get the For Sale sign up outside the house), and I can only imagine how awful it would be to be in a foreign country with a toothache and no idea of where to go to get it fixed. If I'm going to do this, I'd rather it be on my home turf - and with NHS prices!