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Taking The Plunge But Still Need Some Help

Just got back a few moments ago, and here's what went down.

I went in, had to update paperwork because I hadn't been in so long. Turns out the last time I went was 22 months ago..a lot less time than I thought.

Few minutes later the hygienist comes out to greet me and take me to the exam room, and from there things went pretty smoothly. I told that I was fearful and she reassured me there was nothing to worry about, and that she would go as easily as she could. I had my music with me to listen to, and I paused it every so often if she wanted to ask a question.

The worst of it came toward the end. She did Xrays last, both bitewings and a panoramic one (where the thing spins around your head) because of the wisdom tooth. The Xrays showed up almost immediately since now the machines are hooked up to a computer via USB, so the image just gets imported. She confirmed that the molar I had been questioning did indeed have a cavity, it is under the sealant there. Turns out though, it's not alone.

The Xrays showed another 8 small cavities that are between my teeth, mostly in the back and on the right. My two front teeth also have a cavity between them, bringing the total to 9 cavities:scared:.

They won't do them all at once, just a few one day and the rest another day. The molar will be filled as it usually would, but the ones in between look like they will have to be filled across the top, so the fillings will be larger. Sounds like they will use amalgam for the inbetweeners and the molar, and white composite for the one in front.

This brings up a whole new bout of terror. I've never had an inbetween cavity before, and the only filling I ever got was via air abrasion on the bite surface of a molar. I trust my dentist and all, but this is something completely new to me. Anyone here ever dealt with cavities between teeth? I'd imagine filling it would take a little longer because of the size...

He did come in and chat with me after I had the Xrays, and of course the first thing he did is say "You are alive! I thought your mom was making that up!" He did express concern about those cavities and explained how they would do them, and again was so gentle and softspoken I was able to calm down. I don't have a set appointment for the first round yet because I have to wait for my mom's work schedule to come out.

I guess it could have been way worse but it still wasn't the outcome I expected. I was afraid of even finding the one on the molar. Now I feel I would have been happy with just that. But it's still not a root canal, or an extraction, or several of either, so I guess I can just live with that. I'm just glad it's over and the problem is fixable without losing teeth. It could have been way worse.

Not feeling a lot of pain after all that scraping during the cleaning, which was great since I was starving after I got out and craved some French fries :p. And to make me feel even better I bought a couple of scratch cards and got a winner on one of them, go me.
 
Morning all,

It's been two days since my D-Day appointment. I made the first appointment for the fillings yesterday and I won't be seen for a couple of weeks. I'm not going to worry about the length of time this is: the way I see it, a dentist who's fully booked like that has to be pretty good at his practice. We'll see if the nerves come back as the date draws closer, haha.:giggle:

Until then, I've got another problem I need some help with. At my appointment on Monday I got a full cleaning done, and the scale and polish was a bit on the rough side due to the amount of plague (and possibly tartar) that had built up over the years. For the last couple of days I've been rather sore, is this normal? I've been taking Tylenol for my teeth, which has worked, and yesterday I was able to stop taking it for a bit. My biggest concern is the gum just behind the last molar on the bottom left; it's pretty red and swollen. I'm guessing she nicked it while scraping, since it wasn't like this before the appointment. Tylenol doesn't work on it, but if I rinse with salt water it helps a little. Should I be doing anything else? I've been debating calling the office about it too, should I do that too?

Thanks so much for your help everyone. I'm so glad this site exists, I don't think I would have been able to make it this far without everyone's support. :thumbsup:
 
Hi Nashida,
I have an inbetween cavity on one of my lower molars that has yet to be filled. I think they are going to fill it at my appointment on Sept. 1st. I will let you know how it goes if they do......... that's only a week away.
You might want to call your dentist on that molar. It could be that your hygenist just cleaned a little too vigorously.
Great job on getting through your appointment!!!! :jump:
 
Good luck jen, my first round of fillings is on the 14th. I'm seeing another dentist in the same practice as my usual guy. My mother actually booked the appointment, she had asked our usual suspect about him when she went to get her temp grown re-cemented yesterday. this new guy is supposed to be very good with phobics, and is just as softspoken as my dentist.

The hygienist has been known to cut the gums while cleaning. Both my mother and I have had this happen to us. My mom (who's also an RN) has had me rinsing with warm salt water after each meal and before bed, so four times daily. I also found that Orajel I was looking for.

When I was rinsing today though I spat out what looked like tiny red clots...should I be concerned about this? I thought it might have been watermelon I had eaten around lunch but remembered seeing something similar while the hygienist was cleaning my teeth with the explorer.
 
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