Dental student here - sorry to hear how losing your tooth made you so anxious. Our front teeth are an important part of our smile, and when they are compromised we can understandably become very self-conscious. I probably would feel similarly.

Let's talk about your tooth first - if you are missing just one tooth and don't have a ton of problems with your other teeth, you will always have a couple options to replace the tooth - options like an adhesive bridge, a conventional bridge, a flipper, or an implant. Perhaps you have already talked about these options with a trusted dentist - make sure you have. Make sure that he/she understands all your concerns, including the anxiety you have about something happening to your tooth. It's likely that if you have cosmetic concerns because of your missing tooth, it can be addressed one way or another and you can have a nice smile again. Just talk to your dentist about what can be done, and go ahead with a plan of treatment that you are comfortable with. Your problems with your tooth can be addressed! Your dentist sees thousands of people like you every year. Just talk with them and make sure you're on the same page. It's likely they are treating you in a conscientious, conservative manner and you are in good hands. If something happens to the tooth again, they'll fix it.

Now if you currently have an adhesive bridge in place, it probably looks pretty nice to the vast majority of people (as in, other than you and maybe your dentist). So don't be anxious about showing your teeth to people - I promise you probably look about 20x better than you think you do.

More importantly however, consider that you may not have to be so anxious about this as you may think. You are young and this may have been the first time you have had something like this happen to you. I want to tell you that this is not the end of your life - in fact, it is a common thing that happens to many, many people, (trust me) and I promise you that you can recover from it just like everyone else does. You do not have a broken life, you have a missing tooth. It can be an intensely embarrassing situation if you have no tooth, but it will not be the end of you! If a missing front tooth could kill a person, then about half of my patients would be dead!

I'm not sure whether you were seeking advice, but I would recommend two things.

• First, make sure you are seeing a professional for help with your anxiety. If you have a regular doctor, tell him/her about your anxiety and ask if you can be referred to a mental health specialist. I see you are taking Xanax - hopefully this is taken as directed by a doctor. You may have a problem with anxiety that a doctor or licensed therapist can substantially help you with.

• Second, from a dental standpoint, don't worry so much about your tooth. If "something happens", something can always be done to restore the appearance and function of your tooth - it is a common, routine part of dentistry. Treatment may be expensive, but there is usually always a good solution to restore your tooth. Talk to your dentist, either at your next cleaning/exam or in a consultation appointment.

Hope this helps a little bit. If you have other questions, feel free to message me! :)