I used to be a smoker and that caused one of my front teeth to loosen and move - it kind of twisted in the socket and stuck out at the front. Looked awful. No pain, but I was so self-conscious, couldn't smile with my lips apart and so on. So I took the plunge in my early fifties and went to the dentist. I'd never been very good at looking after my teeth, always phobic about dentists.
Also, during two pregnancies with only 5 months between them, my teeth really suffered and I lost 6 of them. In those days dentists received a standard payment per tooth, regardless of the treatment, so it was obviously more cost effective for them to remove the tooth than to fill it.
So, trip to the dentist to have front tooth looked at resulted in it and one other bad tooth near the front being removed and a partial denture being fitted. The dentist suggested I have 2 additional teeth added to the denture to deal with other gaps in my smile. I am now 65 and have had this denture for around 11 years with no problems. Very few people know about it, only close family. It is an NHS denture, fits very well and looks very natural.
It really is not the worst thing in the world and we shouldn't have to feel ashamed of it. I do hope your experience has been a lot less traumatic than you feared, fg