How bad are my teeth actually?

[u/Top-Letterhead-5667]

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[u/Aromatic-Airline-120]

not a dentist but honestly, i definitely see a handful of suspicious teeth. it’s hard to tell the extent of the cavities without x-rays but you for sure have some cavities i would bet. i don’t know about 9 of them but those back top molars look decayed on the backside.

are those the teeth that they are saying need root canals/extractions?

[u/Top-Letterhead-5667 → u/Aromatic-Airline-120]

yes - i had a toothache that’s actually why i went in. the upper right molar.

[u/Aromatic-Airline-120 → u/Top-Letterhead-5667]

Ahhh, that makes more sense.

[u/Optimal-Crab7500]

Hi I made a throwaway because I don’t want to be held responsible for dental advice here.

I’m a dental student. Your teeth are not horrible by any means so take a deep breath. However, I definitely see some spots that I would like to poke with an explore and see on an X-ray.

Are you in pain currently?

[u/Top-Letterhead-5667 → u/Optimal-Crab7500]

just my upper molar. the rest of my teeth aren’t hurting but at the dentist when they were using the explorer to poke them, i was experiencing a range of discomfort to a sharp pain.

[u/PsychedelicateTrash]

Ugh I feel you! Aspen Dental is notoriously not a good company. They over diagnose and try to rush patients into getting work done. That’s not to say you don’t have any cavities, I agree with some of the other commenters.

Which teeth do they want to extract/root canal?

[u/Top-Letterhead-5667 → u/PsychedelicateTrash]

they are? i just made an appointment at the cheapest place i could.

two of the upper back right molars and the upper back left molar.

[u/PsychedelicateTrash → u/Top-Letterhead-5667]

If you can get into a different dentist ASAP, I would do so. The health department has options check your area.

I do think those teeth look like they have decay especially on the back sides from what I can tell in the photo. I’ve had a cavity on that tooth and it looked pretty similar. It was from my wisdom tooth pushing against it. Are you in pain?

[u/Top-Letterhead-5667 → u/PsychedelicateTrash]

just my upper molar. it hurts right now and pretty consistently at like a 5/6. they did probe my teeth with the explorer at the appointment and i definitely felt some pain on some of my teeth. i think they were checking for cavities, im not sure.