Jody’s story

I haven’t seen a dentist in donkey’s years, probably several decades. I basically now have no teeth left on the front of my mouth at the top and right now there’s a hole in one of my lower left side teeth too.

Having the problems I have with my teeth makes me have basically no incentive whatsoever to eat meals, I really want to but having nothing to bite with at the front makes it difficult to chew. I really miss being able to eat things like steaks and roast dinners, French green apples, those are the things I want to eat most again.

Growing up my dad always had really bad teeth and lost all of his at a pretty young age so I always kind of accepted that I would end up having no teeth at some point too. I wouldn’t say my appearances causes me much anxiety but I don’t really smile much.

The main problem with me not seeing a dentist is just the access, being able to find a place locally. I would be happy to travel to say, Worthing, for treatment but there’s just nobody around here taking on new patients at the moment.

I’m a lot happier now I’ve been on the unit, the tooth with the hole had been causing me real pain for about three weeks so it’s great to finally be free from that. I don’t often smile but I definitely feel like doing that now!

It’s difficult for patients in groups like mine to be seen so just to have the chance to speak to the dentist and dental nurse was a real boost, they were very reassuring and treated me well while on board.

I hope that I can register with a dentist around here in future so that I can keep making progress with my teeth.