Oh, and my boyfriend told me he neglected his teeth for year, until a dentist he happened to be playing hockey with acceidentally shattered his tooth. He fixed the tooth but was horrified at the condition of his teeth, so he let himmake payments. My boyfriend said the more work he had done, the better he felt. All over.
If there is a dental school nearby (or dental hygeine school) they would treat you at a reduced rate. Or maybe you can qualify for Medicaid or something like that.
The only way to get sorted is to see a dentist and hopefully your teeth will be able to be repaired.
Do some research to find if there is a free dentist in your area, or one that does not charge a lot of money.
In the meantime, brush your teeth before going to bed and in the morning.
Also get some floss and floss every day in between your teeth and into the gum line. Your gums are likely to bleed and it is very likely that you have got Gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) as you have not looked after your teeth and gums for such a long time. The bleeding will eventually stop when your gums improve.
Although you can lose teeth through tooth decay, more teeth are lost (and just drop out) by having gum disease.
In the UK we can buy an emergency dental repair kit, so you may be able to find one where you live. But this is only a temporary solution.
If you do have tooth pain, you can crunch a paracetamol tablet on the tooth.
You can also buy some clove oil to apply to the painful tooth. Be careful with this and do not get it on the gum because it could burn your gum.