Dental Disaster!
They aren't. At age 19, I was told I had to have my wisdom teeth removed because there was not enough room in my mouth for 32 teeth. I had no insurance and the bill promised to be way out of my league. I forwent the surgery and was forced to take my chances.
Everything was fine until I was 26 and my most recently grown in wisdom tooth broke off at the gum line. I still had no insurance, and, being mechanically inclined, I pried the rest of the tooth out with a butter knife that I sterilized. Believe it or not, that bout of home-self dental surgery saved my bottom row of teeth.
The top row went a whole different direction. From age 27 to age 33, I lost all but 6 of the top row because they cracked from the pressure my wisdom teeth inflicted on them. (They were all professionally removed.) A few months ago, I had a denture made and the dentist knocked out the remaining teeth. I thought I was on easy street.
Not even the same zipcode as easy street. My denture is basically useless to me. It takes up too much room in my mouth, covers my palate, and frequently gags me midsentence. They said I could train myself to eat with it, but, I have failed again and again at this task. If it was smaller and didn't cover my palate, it would help, but they say it is necessary.
Self Esteem Issues
Even when I only had 6 teeth on top, my smile was natural and easy. I didn't hold back from being social and never thought twice about going out in public. Today is 360° from that. I only smile with a closed mouth and, because of the gagging issue, I have to choose wether to go out with no teeth or with the denture in and the risk of gagging. It is easier not to go out at all. I have not been to a restaurant since getting the denture and have no plans to do so in the near future. I drive people around for a living and I have noticed them staring because my speech patterns are almost that of a deaf person with the denture in and I sound like an old man with them out. I am not the kind of person who usually cares what people think, but this is like having an obscenity carved into my forehead. I have withdrawn from many social occasions, including church and dinner out on Christmas Eve.
What about implants?
This is what I am working towards. Implants would open up my palate, letting me taste my food, and would eliminate the gagging. They would also allow me to eat some of my favorite foods that I have been missing like apples and carrots to name a couple.
Luckily, because of cryptocurrency, I wont have to live this way forever, maybe just two more years or so and I can get some implants and feel normal again. If I had to save up from just working, I would be stuck this way. Until then, I guess I will be alone a lot more and will save money by not visiting people or restaurants.