So. I've had quite bad dental anxiety for about half my life. I got a cavity in a baby tooth, got it pulled, the proceeded to get a cavity in the adult tooth despite trying my hardest not to, and pretty much obsessively try to keep my teeth clean.
Now. I am aware of my spiraling mental patterns-- undiagnosed OCD-- and so I am equally careful to not let my dental anxiety take over my life.
This pretty much just leads to this seesaw of MUST TAKE CARE OF TEETH MUST BE FUNCTIONAL HUMAN BEING MUST TAKE CARE OF TEETH forever and ever.
Me and my dentist are both confused as to how it happened. My mom thinks they probably missed the early signs at my cleaning before last. I think my mental health dip this past winter may have been worse than I realized. But no matter what, my molar right behind the tooth that already has a filling got a cavity and I had to go get a filling in it on Monday.
I need everyone to stop freaking out about it.
I am not saying dental hygiene isn't important nor am I saying cavities aren't dangerous. Brush your teeth. Go to the dentist.
But there is no moral weight attached to how many fillings you have. Your worth as a person isn't tied to how nice your teeth are. Do the best you can and work through what you can't do on your own. But I haven't had a cavity in a decade and getting my filling was so easy that the hardest part was my face was numb for three hours.
Yes, you only get one set. But they're just teeth.