I've been going to my dentist for decades and trusted him with my whole heart and soul. The end of March, I went to him with a sore area. He fooled around with the area for a couple of appointments, seeming like he didn't really know what to do. He finally sent me to a root canal specialist . . . then to an oral surgeon. Well, it turned out I suddenly needed 3 teeth pulled. I was horrified.

Yesterday, I got scared at the oral surgeon's office. He pulled a tooth last week, and he was about to pull two more. I thought the guy was unusually rough in the way he grabbed my cheek and injected the local anesthetic. He'ld seemed a bit weird last week. (Made an off-color joke.) I got scared and left without letting him pull my teeth.

I've been looking up all kinds of stuff about dentistry on line, saw a negative review . . . and decided to look at the state board of dentistry website. Well, both my regular dentist and the oral surgeon he sent me to have been disciplined. My dentist was fined for gross negligence/incompetence in what sounded like a case similar to mine.

I'll be afraid to go back to either of these guys. Now I have to find someone trustworthy to go to. I am in shock to discover that I've spent years trusting someone who has probably allowed my teeth to unnecessarily deteriorate.

I thought it was odd that I could suddenly need three extractions, when I go faithfully for check ups and cleanings every six months. I don't trust easily, but I thought I had a wonderful dentist. Now I feel like a stupid idiot for not wondering before this about some signs that he was not up to snuff.

Maybe this is the wrong forum for this. I don't know where else to post.

My parents would never spend money on dentists when I was a kid. When I was 16 and got a job, I spent most of what I earned for a good while paying for dental care to address years of neglect. All my life I was near obsessive about my teeth. Now I have major problems, and it looks like - once again - someone with a responsibility towards my dental health has been irresponsible.

I feel betrayed. I feel naiive. I should have realized. Restorative dental work is awfully expensive. And it's not like the original equipment.

Two teeth have to be pulled fairly soon. I have crippling anxiety about the pain, due to the pain I felt yesterday. Another unrelated health problem has come up that's moderately serious. It's becoming too much.