What should I do?

So I'm 18 M I've been to the dentist once when I was 13 to get a milk tooth which didn't properly fall off and now years later I have the same issue..

But when I went to the dentist they said I have 7-8 cavities and i have bad dental hygiene ( which i regret alot since when I was young I didn't take proper care of my teeth and as i became a teenager I started to really take care of them but it still wasn't that much )

I still haven't gotten an x-ray and I'm going to get my milk tooth removed...

I am really anxious and nervous but i finally want to make sure i never experience this thing again

I didn't know I had so many cavities since i didn't see any or felt any pain from them but after a deep clean they were so many...

I don't want to repeat this mistake and in my country we don't have a routine dental visit but I want to start it

So how often do you think I should visit the dentist after today

Please help..