In (somewhat) brief: I'm (31) suffering from an assortment of dental ailments but I'm not sure if there's anything left I can do at this point. I haven't had dental insurance since I was about 24. I last went to the dentist about 4 years ago for an evaluation, where they found gingivitis/mild perio and 1 cavity (which surprisingly was my first filling), but also that my wisdom teeth were severely impacted. With the added cost of pulling my wisdom teeth, I only went to the first of the 3 cleaning appointments, and haven't been back since. To make that worse, the extraction went poorly. Two of the teeth weren't fully removed, the surgeon just sawed part of them off and left the remainder embedded in my face, I guess. My jaw has been causing me issues since then, too, which might be my biggest problem at the moment, since it's painful and affects function, so is more than just a cosmetic thing.

The gum/crowding/crookedness issues are also getting worse though: https://imgur.com/sjAZhCy

It's all fairly distressing to the point where I've basically given up smiling. I brush, rinse with mouthwash, and have been trying my best to floss, regularly. My dental hygiene habits have never been better but it doesn't seem to make any difference. It feels kind of hopeless—almost like the harder I try, the worse the results. I don't really know the best potential course of action…that I could actually afford and am at a bit of a loss.