Root canal and losing my mind....

root canal

I am getting a root canal and crown done in the morning...im soooo scared but it cant be put off any longer.

I am scared i wont be able to sit there for the looong procedure, and im nervous that the tooth and new crown will feel super weird and wont feel like my tooth at all..

any words of comfort?

Re: root canal

I'm trying to get in to see my dentist tomorrow and pretty sure I will be having root canal too so you won't be alone!

Please right back and let us know how you went. I wish you the best of luck but I'm sure you will be fine. Sitting for long periods of time gets to me too but I have never heard of anyone dying from it...that's one way to look at it

Left the dentist without following through

I need two root canals done soo bad..i went in this morning after 3 yrs of avoidance (i already am prone to panic attacks)

Once the dentist froze me the panic set in..i couldnt sit there for 2 hrs! Hes gonna shave my tooth down but some weird cap over it and i will never have my whole tooth back...these are the feelings that stopped me in my tracks

The dentist was so nice about it, i felt terrible for wasting his time and left. Now here i am at home..still with a sore tooth that i cant eat on, at risk for infection because im too scared i will go crazy or hate how the new tooth feels. i am beyond frustrated with myself and am worried its going to take a serious health problem to get me in there.

please help.

Re: Left the dentist without following through

First of all, well done for going in the 1st place, I know only too well how difficult it is.
My 1st dental treatment after 12 years starts on Thursday and I've opted for IV sedation. Having read and heard so much about it, I think it is the only way that I could physically sit in the chair, so I really do understand why you felt you had to leave.

Perhaps this is an option for you?

Re: Left the dentist without following through

I think you did very well just going there, I'm sure you aren't the first person who has got that far and then decided they couldn't follow through.

To be honest I think a 2hr appointment for an anxious person is too long. Maybe they could break the appointments down into slots that you could manage? I know the first time I had a root canal done it was done in 3 20min sessions as I just couldn't handle a whole hour.

Re: Left the dentist without following through

Thank you both. They suggested sedation but that makes me just as anxious its all a control thing with me. I am booked back next week to try again and see how i do. just hope my tooth is okay until then

I was so sad when i came home, i felt really defeated and cried a lot..how could i let this fear stand in the way of my health!? Its not fair! I am mad at the fear..and so far this is the most helpful tool i have had so far...just pray to god i get through this because i dont want to damage my health and i want to get past the fear!

Re: Left the dentist without following through

You know I really believe the feeling in control is very much part of dental phobia. No matter how scared I am I will not consider sedation as an option at this point and only once in the past when I was about 15 did I try it and I hated it.

Perhaps when you go next week you can arrange a 'stop' signal with your dentist so that if you need a break or it all gets too much for you they can stop and either wait till you feel better or put in a temporary filling and carry on next time. This is how my dentist works, she is happy to let me set the pace and I think any good dentist should be like that as most people are not happy going to the dentist.

I'm sorry that you felt so sad and defeated, although I'm sure I would have felt the same as I get very down when my appointments don't go to plan too.

I'm sure though that you aren't putting your health at risk by leaving it a week. I had a botched root canal for the best part of 8yrs before I found out only 1 of 3 nerves was removed, so I'm sure you will be fine

Re: Left the dentist without following through

Excellent advice from Mercedes.
I do agree that 2 hours is a very long appointment when someone is anxious. It is far better to start with short appointments and build confidence with a serious of small successes.
It sounds to me like you have found a caring dentist though. I would not worry too much about the shape of the cap. The initial temporary cap is made from a mold of your original tooth so should feel pretty similar. It is necessary to prevent the root filled tooth breaking. Root filled teeth are more vunerable to bits cracking off them and a cap will prevent this. I cannot recall any of my patients not getting on the new cap. It take a few days to get used to the new shape but you will soon forget it is there.

Best of luck

Lincoln

Re: Left the dentist without following through

Thank you all...its so nice to hear your words of comfort and wisdom. what a great feeling to reach out to total strangers and to have that kind of support. it makes me so happy. I will try again next week...he said he can do it fast in under an hour. I think i can, i think i can.....

Re: Left the dentist without following through

Take a security blanket with you. something physical that you can hold on to. I take a book and my iphone with the most upbeat music (and it's loud) I have - usually a combination of my favorite celtic rock and southern gospel bands.
I try to drown out the sounds as much as possible. The book is to keep me from thinking.
If you can find something that you can hold on to - it may help. Or at least, it may distract you long enough for the panic to subside.

Re: Left the dentist without following through

I agree that distraction is a very good idea. My dentist has a TV in the ceiling so I watch that, but I always take my iPod for the waiting room and I have one of those sweetie bracelets and I kind of play with the rings on that if I am having an anxious moment. Also, stupid as it may sound, there is evidence that looking at a photo of a loved one actually makes the brain release endorphins, so you could maybe take a little picture of someone close to you to look at and see if that helps.

Re: Left the dentist without following through

Thanks, I have a lot of good music and audiobooks on my ipod..i was too busy trying to jump out of the chair to bother bringing it out...have you guys found if you distract yourself long enough through the initial panic that it gets better?

The most frustrating part is i never used to have a fear of the dentist i would lay there for as long as they needed without a care in the world. now i feel trapped!

Re: Left the dentist without following through

Stacen said:

Thank you both. They suggested sedation but that makes me just as anxious its all a control thing with me. I am booked back next week to try again and see how i do. just hope my tooth is okay until then

I was so sad when i came home, i felt really defeated and cried a lot..how could i let this fear stand in the way of my health!? Its not fair! I am mad at the fear..and so far this is the most helpful tool i have had so far...just pray to god i get through this because i dont want to damage my health and i want to get past the fear!

Click to expand...

Salut!

I also want to say that I do not want you to overlook the courage it took for you to even make an appointment ...and actually show up …and actually talk to the dentist …and actually sit in the chair …and actually let a dentist look inside your mouth …. Etc, etc…

These steps are huge and you deserve to praise yourself for these steps. Sure, maybe to a non-phobic, it seems a little silly, but for people like us…well, I’m proud of you, girl!

I get really mad at my fear, too, which then leads me down the dark path of getting mad at myself. I mean, for me, here I am, a decorated war veteran and I can’t get my ass into a dentist chair without losing my shit. I have to battle so hard against my own feelings of humiliation because I am brought to my knees by this phobia. Literally at the dentist office and in life when the pain from my cracked teeth overwhelm me. And then again when my loving and caring friends try to sensitively address the issue with me.

It took a two person escort to get me to the dentist office for the first time, and so far the only time…I haven’t been able to muster up enough courage to go back : (

I know what it’s like to feel defeated but I’m sure there was a time in your life when you thought even going to the dentist seems overwhelming if not impossible. Despite the fear, you showed up! That’s the opposite of being defeated. That’s a victory! Victory over fear!

I also want to say I completely understand your feelings around not wanting sedation because of ‘control issues’. I hate feeling incapacitated because I feel very unsafe and very unable to defend, protect or advocate for myself in case something were to go wrong.

Keep me updated on your progress. Feel free to share more, I/we are here to listen!

Pax,
Odette

Re: Left the dentist without following through

Thank you Odette I will keep you posted. I booked back for next week..going to try and stick to the motto 'feel the fear and do it anyway'

what is it for you that makes you so fearful of the dentist? It is tough!! Thank you for all the kind words

Re: Left the dentist without following through

Stacen said:

Thank you Odette I will keep you posted. I booked back for next week..going to try and stick to the motto 'feel the fear and do it anyway'

what is it for you that makes you so fearful of the dentist? It is tough!! Thank you for all the kind words

Click to expand...

What makes me most fearful of the dentist is the loss of control I feel when I’m being treated. With this, I mean I fundamentally fear being hurt, which is different than a fear of pain.

Some of this fear stems from abuse issues I suffered as a child at the hands of a family member, which generally makes it difficult to have someone I don’t know in my personal space. I do not like the feeling of laying flat on my back as I feel very vulnerable in that position and I feel helpless, and because we are taught not to resist the dentist, I feel like I just have to lay there and take it, even if the dentist is hurting me. I also do not like having foreign metal objects in my mouth.

To lay it down (warning cuz I don’t want to trigger anyone) someone in my family decided to punish me for talking too much by pulling out my child teeth. This very much impacts my perceptions of the dentist; which I know is different from people who are phobic because of actual bad dentist experiences but I think it’s important to note that people are be afraid of the dentist for many different reasons, all equally valid.

Honestly, it has been difficult to come to terms and express that my childhood experience of abuse greatly impacts how I perceive dental treatment. Lucky for me, my best friend David knows of my past and understands at a deeply sympathetic level how much I struggle with my fear of dentistry. I think we’ve actually had a hundred million conversations about me going to the dentist as he has to constantly reassure me that I will be ok if I go, as well as supporting me and comforting me when I’m in pain.

The other half of this ‘why am I phobic?’ question can be answered by disclosing that I am a vet and my experiences in field and the consequential PTSD I suffer, only ads to my already present fear.

What do you attribute your fear to? Perhaps therein lays the key to beating it?

I do sympathize greatly with your fixation on the damage done to your teeth and the potential risks to your health. I obsess about that, too, though strangely enough it is not enough to motivate me. I know what it is like to also feel utterly defeated by this problem. And my anger towards my fear unfortunately quickly switches to an anger I feel towards myself for my cowardice and inability to mount up and solve this problem.

I do hope you’re well. Please keep me updated if you can.

Re: Left the dentist without following through

Thank you for sharing your personal story and challenges Odette.

I am going again this week to try..the pain is making me crazy!

I will post a new thread and hope it will be in the success section!!



"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."

Still Scared

Hi, so i have posted on here a few times...i went to get some looong overdue root canals done last thurs and i bolted out of the chair.

Well now pain has kicked in big time in the one tooth..so bad..like im being punished for waiting..it makes me want to get it fixed even more but im still so scared.

I called the dentist early this morning to see if i can get in before thurs when my app is booked...the lady seemed super annoyed with me and is like ' it hurts because you need a root canal!' just her tone was so rude..ya i know thats why it hurts!! anyways she made me feel even more nervous like more pressure to get through it...luckily the dentist is a lot nicer than she is.

I am just worried. there is no visiable swelling but the tooth hurts so much..is it okay to wait till thurs...if there was a bad infection i would notice some swelling in my neck cheek or gum right??

sigh.

Re: Still Scared

Hi:

Tooth infections tend to stay localized but the pain effects every area of life. It takes courage to face your fears. I will guarantee you that you have suffered more pain from living with these teeth than the dentist will ever cause you.

Most dental fear is fear of the unknown and the ability to handle the treatment. Root canals are easy and painless. There is more pain from avoiding the dental treatment.

You can do this. You will feel much better, tooth wise, and self esteem and self-confidence wise.

Do not dwell on the past but look to the future and see yourself being successful. If you have dealt successfully with these painful teeth then the dental treatment will be easy. You are much stronger and more resourceful than you think.

Avoiding the problem will not make it better and you will not feel better about yourself.

You are going to do great. Believe in yourself. If your anxiety is high it would not be unreasonable to ask the dentist for an anti-anxiety medication like Ativan to take the edge off the fear.

Blessings and Peace

I have my root canal in the morning...i bolted out of the chair last week when i went for it. I will not take any meds im anxious of that too.

I cant leave this tooth any longer..i fear going through with it i will lose my mind or lose control...even after the procedure is over..i know that sounds crazy..but i feel crazy!!!

I absolutely agree with Mercedes. LOve that name by the way. A sense of control is really important.
I knoiw that a good share of my dental phobia came from things beings forced on me againt my will and without telling me what was happening so the need to be in control is very important.
In my case, my terror was so overwhelming it was paralyzing making it impossble for me to even to thibk about making an appointment. For me, the use of sedatives was the only way to calm the terror. However, before I allowed a dentist to come near me we had discussed and agreed on what would be done, how it woyld be done, and that nothing we had not talked about would be done, No surprises. With the ground rules firmly established, the sedatives served as a way to calm the terror and make the work possible. For me, they also had the added benefit of allowing time for trust to grow with me and the dentist.
.