• Dental Phobia Support

    Welcome! This is an online support group for anyone who is has a severe fear of the dentist or dental treatment. Please note that this is NOT a general dental problems or health anxiety forum! You can find a list of them here.

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New to all this and 4 years out of treatment.

U

unclebloodyfester

Junior member
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
9
Hi hello etc etc,

First off, what a cracking website, wish i'd found it sooner!!

I've been putting off going to see a dentist as like most people i don't like them ( nothing personal if any dentists read this ) but today after finding a wisdom tooth that was missing one of its corners, I've had to go and see one.

The dentist i've settled on is The Hub Dental Practice in Milton Keynes and having been in today for the preliminary stuff, they seem friendly, nice staff and the patients I saw coming and going all looked happy too.

So the treatment;

1. 2 small and 1 large Xray £18 and £15
2. New patient Examination £25
3. Remove wisdom tooth. ( multiple roots) £75
4. Replace 2 fillings and put one new on in. ( all marked as complex) £147
5. Several ( three) visits to the Hygenist for Dentomycin treatment as well as scale and polish etc. £195

Cost £475

I'm fine with 1, 2 and sort of 4 but i'm nervous as heck about 3 and 5. Root planing just sounds like something I did at CDT class with a fairly unsurgical tool! I have smoked although am have since quit, diet hasn't been great, like sugar with everything including with sugar and i'm diabetic - so more prone to gum infections.

I want to firstly check that the costs don't look exhorbidant .... and secondly how much discomfort i'm likely to feel from 3 and 5. I also don't like how they've specified multiple roots on the treatment form, does this mean they expect to have to go in with fishing nets to trawl my jaw for escaping roots?

Bearing in mind it's probably 20 years since I last had teeth out and equally long since I had a filling done ( hence why they need replacing) how far have pain management techniques come in that time .... it would be lovely to find out i'm not going to feel anything at all :)

Lastly I suppose I could do with the usual bit of reassurance as like most folk, I can think of many places i'd rather be on Monday afternoon than laying back whilst a trained gorilla manhandles one of my stubborn big teeth out :)

Cheers,

Pat.
 
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Hello Pat. ;D
Can't offer you any advice really, as I'm just on here like you, to ask questions on this brilliant site!
But I want to wish you loads of luck for Monday.
Just think how fab you are going to feel when all this work is done and you're recovered and your teeth are dazzling!

Have you looked at dental insurance?
If you're in the UK you can get it for around £10 a month for NHS treatment.
My old dear had two lots of work done, around 9 months apart, that would have cost her nearly £400 on the NHS, but her insurance paid, so she only pays £120 a year, and is covered for all necessary treatment.
Just a thought! (Though you may prefer private treatment.)
Best of luck. It will be worth it in the end!!
;D ;D ;D
 
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Hi Poppy,

Thanks for the reply :)

I'm not fussed about private or NHS, all i want is a good dentist who i can trust to do what needs doing and charge me fairly for it. I always knew a 4 year gap of treatment was going to cost me a bit and technically, it's just cost me less than what paying insurance would have cost so I guess i can't complain too much :cheers:
 
Just out of interest, have you tried Stantonbury Dentists for the NHS view of things ? I don't know whether they're taking NHS patients at the moment (I've been with them for a long time) but there's no harm in asking.

On the other hand MK Dental Care have been around for a long time as well. Mr. Gilmartin seems to divide opinion depending on who you talk to, but then you could say the same about virtually any dentist.

Good luck, I hope it goes well for you !

John
 
I haven't tried Stantonbury no although my first impressions of MK Dentalcare was that it was a small practice with a small team, not overflowing with hi-tech stuff but that sort of suits me as that is what i'm used to. I find it incredibly difficult to relax in the larger 'super efficient' surgeries as I get no feel of personality or warmth from them. I spend enough time dealing with those sort of places courtesy of being T1 diabetic - really not looking forward to Mondays evening meal with a face like a hamster and a mouth full of cotton wool.

His manner was friendly and everything was clean and tidy - will give them the benefit of the doubt and see how it goes.

I know a rough dentist from a good dentist so i'll report back after Monday, either way i'm not looking forward to it.
 
Bit of an update to this.

I have elected to ask for referral to the Hospital to get this done under proper anaesthetic.

Some might think that's madness for what is ultimately minor surgery ...

1. I'm a terminally nervous patient at a new dentist.
2. No guarantee the tooth will come out in one piece and / or with all the roots attached. Tooth is already damaged, will it stand the force of extraction before it cracks?
3. Big teeth, small jaw.
4. Hospitals will do whatever needs doing without me being awake to flinch.
5. When they're done, all tidied up and given proper pain management.
6. I'm T1 diabetic, take longer to heal, more prone to infection and need as little trauma as possible to speed recovery. Hospitals have my records and have Diabetic friendly nursing staff.

I have read so much about how 'GA' doesn't cure the feeling of anxiety, I can say it does, I know i'll wake up when all the noises etc are over. If the tooth came straight out in one piece, grand .. no harm done. If it comes out in 43 different bits followed by bits of roots, no harm done either. Either way I have a sore jaw and some issues with diet for a few days.

Ultimately it's my call and honestly i'm just not happy about this being done in a Dentists chair whilst I'm concious.
 
mkdentist.co.uk @ Oxford house.

Wow - a complete change in atmosphere and the chap who saw me couldn't have been more reassuring.

They offer a full referral service for concious sedation although having been 'subjected' to half an hour of inspection i'm actually going to give them the benefit of the doubt and let them do the work. That said, the dentist said that IF referral for sedation was something I was happy to pay for then he'd get ALL the work done whilst i was 'out'. The place they use is called 'The Leagrave', apparently in Luton.

Utterly impressed and no matter where i end up having the work done, they will be my dentist from now on.

That is the first time i've left a dentist with a list of work that needs doing and i've almost no apprehension about it!
 
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Went in at 3.30pm .... 3.35pm job done, 3.45pm drove home.

For anyone who is worrying about this, please don't. If your dentist tells you it will be a simple removal, trust them.

Ok there a couple of unpleasant noises but NO pain, can't stress that enough, I was awake and fully conscious for this, only local injection.

1. NO feet or knees on chests.
2. NO savage pulling.
3. A little bit of twisting
4. I didn't have to brace myself against the chair.
5. There was not loads of blood.

I'm hoping that's my phobia dealt with at long last.

Yes there is degree of aching, that's to be expected but it's less sore than the toothache it has replaced and unlike the toothache. this ache will go away as things heal.

Big thumbs up from me for mkdentist.co.uk / Oxford House.

I'd already been in for a filling on Friday gone, the Dentist was really good, excellent needle technique.
 
Great news :jump: which dentist did you see?
 
Dr Harris and you couldn't ask for a nice more patient man. He took his time, explained everything, booked me in for the 'easy' filling first. He's both precise and gentle with the inspection tools, everything builds confidence. The fact that Oxford house were almost 50% cheaper than the first place and said I needed less treatment was the icing on the cake.

The initial consultancy fee is high, it's 89 pounds including the 3 xrays etc but do I begrudge paying it - absolutely not.

The overall treatment for 4 fillings and a wisdom tooth removal + the initial fee was 277 pounds, the other place wanted 475 pounds. The extra was for 3 deep cleaning sessions plus root planing and dentomycil which I'm told is just not required. The only reason it looked like it was required was because i'd not brushed properly in years, it's now getting on 3 weeks since my original checkup and it looks and feels like I have new teeth with proper brushing.

Lesson learnt but more importantly, phobia and fear finally under control.

If anyone in Milton Keynes is looking for a decent dentist that they can build a good relationship with, I would have absolutely NO problem at all in reccomending him.
 
Thanks Unclebloodyfester
I have added it to the main dentist finder. I particularly liked the fact that all the dentists there qualified in 1980s and therefore have experience.
 
I had been lucky over the years, i've had some GOOD dentists.

543 Centre, Anlaby Road, Hull - Dr Holguin
Serfontein Atkinson & Jennings - Gosforth, Newcastle Upon tyne.
Dr Steele - Orthodontist to the above practice.
Dr Tim Straw - Stokesley, North Yorkshire - since retired but i will find out the new practice owners name.

What was funny was that all of those guys went to the same Dental training school and all of them knew each other.

Over the years i've moved so many times that I just got out of the habit of finding a new dentist hence the current problems.

Oxford House ranks up there with all of the ones above :)
 
One last post from me on this.

1. Follow your dentists advice on post tooth removal care.

Do NOT smoke.
Do NOT drink alcohol
DO rinse with warm salt water after each meal
DO buy some Corsodryl and use that to rinse the salt taste away
DO drink lots of water

The longer you can stomach a liquid diet ( tomato soup for me as it has no bits in it) the better then you don't run the risk of getting food stuck in the gum.

Be aware that if you're used to a high carb diet, switching to just soup is going to present liquid problems at the other end ;)

Breakfast has been either microwaved scrambled eggs mixed with sliced hot dog sausages. Or one crumbled weetabix mixed with half a sliced banana ( sliced into quarter of the round slices) and full fat milk but wait till it goes all soft before you eat it.

Lunch has been soup mixed with more of the above and buttered bread, the butter helps to keep the bread in one piece so you can keep it away from the gum.

Evening meal - more soup.

I have also invested in low fat yoghurt for between meals to ensure there's plenty of good bacteria kicking around - this seems to have really sped up the healing process.

Two things are going to happen, firstly you're going to lose any excess weight you had and secondly you're going to hate the taste of soup :) I'm ok with the latter on the basis of the former!

Lastly and for a rare few this will help. I'm T1 diabetic so the reduction in carb means a massive reduction in insulin requirements, be aware that Ibuprofen / Neurofen will remove your low blood sugar physical warning signs. Test more frequently and if like me, you're on a basal / bolus DAFNE system, you'll really need to work out what you're going to do with insulin.

Remember no two T1 diabetics are the same but my basal insulin was split 18u and 18u morning and evening. At the moment due to diet changes, i'm running 12u morning and 8u evening - this also due to the weight loss which makes you less insulin resistant.

Before you go in for the tooth out, please bear in mind you may not want to eat for up to 24 hours - to do that safely as a diabetic you need to ensure you reduce your basal insulin BEFORE you have the tooth out. Also ensure you eat a good meal before going in so that your blood sugar can be kept high enough to be safe. 24 hours of running a little higher than normal won't kill you.

Lastly and i can't stress this enough, i haven't needed any painkillers since the day the tooth came out - i've had no swelling at all and on day 5 it looks like my appetite has returned.

So if you're out there and nervous, you can't be any more :hidesbehindsofa: than I was and i'm fine :)

Cheers,

Patrick
 
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