Copyright birminghammail
Amanda Long’s teeth are so paper thin they’re literally breaking apart - but she is holding firm she won't visit a dentist. The Brummie mum lives in agony with her gnashers - which struggle to even make it through a sausage. However, she is adamant she’d rather live in excruciating pain than face the dreaded dentist’s chair. Read more: Asylum seeker guilty of murdering hotel worker pictured Her fear has left her feeling so self-conscious about her smile she finds herself covering her mouth whenever she laughs. And she admits her crumbling smile has left her too embarrassed to date. Despite her fillings falling out constantly – including one that gave way when she bit into a sausage at a carvery – the teaching assistant hasn’t stepped into a dental practice for more than seven years. The 56-year-old only goes when the pain becomes unbearable, describing the experience as so stressful it makes her heart race. Even the sound of the drill is enough to send her into a panic. “My fillings are dropping out left, right and centre and my teeth are decaying, but even this doesn't motivate me to go,” Amanda, from Birmingham , told What's The Jam. “I have to be in excruciating pain before I step foot in a dentist's office. “When I used to have check-ups and treatments I used to squirm and virtually hyperventilate. “It doesn't help that I have high blood pressure, which I'm on medication for, so I automatically think now that I'm going to have some sort of heart attack in the chair. “I know it’s silly, but I can literally feel my heart beating out of my chest and I hate the sound of that drill.” Amanda, who works with special needs children, says her fear runs so deep she’d rather face major surgery than sit through a check-up. She had a mastectomy after breast cancer, but says that didn’t scare her as much as walking into a dentist’s waiting room. Years of tooth grinding have worn her teeth down to stumps and she lives with a constant dull pain every single day. She said: “My teeth are awful. The dentist told me they were paper thin and I can feel it. “When I did go to the dentist seven years ago, she said there may be something in my saliva that’s quite strong that’s rotting my teeth. “They told me not eat sugary foods and that I’m going to lose my teeth sooner rather than later. “When I was recovering from cancer, I used that as an excuse not to go in. “I would tell them I feeling well – I can’t get away with that now because I beat it. “I’ve done this to my teeth with my diet. I take ibuprofen and paracetamol. “Tooth pain is up there with childbirth pain. I have to be in severe pain to go to the dentist. “I’ve given birth to 9.2lb babies – toothache is worse than that. It just takes over your life.” Despite constant pain, Amanda avoids making appointments, relying on painkillers – and occasionally vodka – to take the edge off. And the gran-of-one says the state of her teeth has had a huge impact on her confidence. She avoids smiling, often covers her mouth when laughing and feels self-conscious at work, especially around children who make comments about her teeth. After losing five stone, the mum-of-three feels more comfortable in her clothes but says fixing her smile would be “the icing on the cake”. She admits her dental problems have affected her mental health and even her dating life, as she worries about what people will think of her smile. She now dreams of feeling confident enough to show her teeth again. She said: “You don’t want to smile. I’m a chatterbox and I do chat a lot, but it makes you very self-conscious. “I work in a school – you know what kids are like, they have no filter. “They do mention my teeth – they say, ‘Holes, Miss!’ and I change the subject. “Even children are aware that my teeth are not as they should be. “It has an effect on your mental health and how you see yourself. I’ve lost five stone so I’m able to wear nice clothes now. “That would be the icing on the cake – to get my teeth done. “I’m not dating right now. I wouldn’t be able to smile if I was dating. "Maybe I am shallow, but I wouldn’t want to go out with someone with a mouth like mine – it would really put me off."
