I don't want to defend dentists too much as I also have mostly negative experiences with them, but I heard recently that when you either haven't been in for a long time or it's your first time at that dentist, they're more likely to want to fix stuff they'd otherwise just mark "watch" or give you a warning about, in case you don't come back. I went in for the first time in over 5 years a few months ago, I had no tooth pain or anything (which is notable because I've had sensitivity the dentists couldn't fix for years, thanks n-Ha toothpaste), they told me I had 6 cavities, I think. They also wanted to push their extra fluoride toothpaste on me, but I'd used it before with no luck so I said no to that. I got the fillings because honestly I might not be back for another 5 years, my health insurance is spotty. Short term I felt a bit worse, but the newly filled teeth normalized after a week or two. The most noticeable were my canines, they're more smooth and blunted at the tips now. In hindsight I think I did have small holes on both that I could feel with my tongue, but it'd been that way for years and didn't hurt.

It just so happened it didn't cost me a dime, or else I was ready to walk. In fact the reason I didn't get their toothpaste just to be polite is because it was gonna be $12 or something and I was worried I might have to pay out of pocket, for something I knew I wouldn't use.

Oh yeah, but the worst part of going in after all that time was actually the x-rays. The thing they stick in your mouth caused me significant eye-watering pain. I think they had to take over 25 pictures and some were messed up and had to be redone on top of that. Some tool they used, I forget if it was a brush or a drill or what, also made a horrible high pitched whine that was really rough on my ears.