My teeth are rotten

Yes, you read that right. I have rotten teeth right now. Teeth that hurt like a MOTHER. Teeth that haven't been professionally examined in years. Yes, I'm terrified of the dentist.

Let me explain a little about my dental history. Bad teeth are simply genetic in my family. Almost all of us had zero cavities when we were younger, only to have tons and tons as we got older. We had braces, retainers, sealants, you name it, and my mom was really really anal about the brushing and flossing business. Every roommate I've ever had has noticed my odd fascination with floss and flossing picks, and I'm a Colgate kinda girl. I managed to get to 12 with no cavities, then one hit, then two more before college. That was the doozie. I went to have them filled, and my IDIOT dentist seemed to be in a hurry. His exact words? "We're not going to need novocaine - they're just surface cavities, it will be over in a second."

Seriously, dentists, listen up - THIS IS WHY PEOPLE HATE YOU. I'd rather go to the gynecologist, the DMV and the cell phone store EVERY DAY than have to do that again. It was one of the most painful things I've ever done, and I've got a pretty high tolerance for pain if I do say so myself. I went to the dentist two or three times in college, with about 3 cavities each time (that one promised me that he wouldn't even think about touching a drill till I couldn't feel a THING), and the worst visit came after college - 12 cavities in one visit. I broke a tooth in Boston and had even more when I went to the emergency dentist, and I haven't been back since, because I'm terrified to go. The memory of that pain is just too harsh.

Now I know I need to go, but I am...alas...uninsured. Dental crap is EXPENSIVE! I'm honestly thinking at this point that maybe I should hold out to win the lottery, then go and have them take off all of my teeth and put veneers in instead. But that will have to wait, because I've had a filling pop out, and over the past few months, the pain has gotten worse and worse. Today I popped five Advils to dull it. I'm hoping it will go away a bit, but to delay it, I've bought two things: the Sonicare toothbrush and a WaterPik. The Sonicare, well, you know. It makes you brush for two solid minutes, and it's supposedly the best thing you can buy. The WaterPik is to replace the flossing thing. I've probably overflossed and overtoothpicked myself into gum damage, and I heard that it works.

Since investigating this, however, I've noticed something - there's people on the internet who say you can "naturally" reverse cavities and stuff like that.

Anyone have any ideas? For the record - YES, I brush and floss and all that. I avoid acidic foods and drink coffee and soda through a straw as much as possible, and I avoid sodas for the most part.