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deep cleaning

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LAURA1982

Junior member
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Messages
19
Location
manchester
Hi everyone. Just looking for a little bit of support. Am going the dentist on friday for a deep cleaning. This is the first actual dental treatment ive had in 20 years (im 28 years old). I had 3 teeth extracted under general anaesthetic last month, which went really well and i cant remember a thing.

Im feeling really anxious about the deep cleaning as i dont know what to expect, how long it will last and will it hurt. Ive told the dentist i want to try and go without any injections to numb me as i hate needles. I have got some diazepam to try keep me calm but ive never took this before and slightly worried about how that will make me feel. anyone have any advice for me?
 
They will probably have topical to numb your gums so the procedure is more comfortable. you're pretty young for deep cleaning- did they measure any pockets around your teeth over 4mm?


The valium will make you relaxed and therefore pain receptors aren't quite as "on edge" A bit of nitrous is supposed to help too.

let us know how it goes.

rp
 
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hi there i'll be interested to know how it goes too as i just swapped from nhs to private and they booked me in for deep clean too but didnt explain the procedure i thought it was same as scale and polish and then i read into it and freaked myself out.

i went for GA extractions last year and agree with you even tho i hate needles it was the best thing for me and im hopefully being referred for 2 molars extracted under ga again.Sometimes reading things on google is not the best thing to do as i seen about root planing and them cleaning under the gums and i ended up cancelling my appointment which should have been this monday and moved it forward to next monday

i had the idea that when you scratch something on your gums like a hard crisp or chip it bloody well hurts for ages afterwards,well ppl ive spoke to said they could imagine it being painful but when i rang to cancel they told me we wouldnt let you be in pain but still wasnt explained to me neither if i have 'pockets'

So i wish you all the best with your appointment and hopefully you will be able to relay to me once you had it done just what exactly they did

suze x
 
Hello,

I been to have some deep cleaning done on my teeth twice. The first time was for one quadrant and the second appointment was for the rest of my mouth. I too had googled it and it didn't sound very nice at all! However when I actually had it done it sounded a lot worse than it actually was.

When I first went to see the dentist they had said that I had 4mm pockets (a little metal proble could be put 4mm deep in between my gums and my teeth) and that I'd need a deep cleaning and have a bit of periodonitis too. I went a couple of weeks later for the first cleaning and the lady was really nice. I wasn't too keen on injections either as I had not really had them before, but it was actually fine, they didn't really hurt and the hygienist was really gentle. I am glad I had the injections done because it could be uncomfortable otherwise, this way she could just clean and I couldn't feel a thing.

I had horrible visions of the actual cleaning after reading about it, but it was fine too. She used the vibrating tool thingy and moved that up and down my teeth, she moved it underneath my gum as it had to get clean under there, but I didn't feel anything horrible. And afterwards there wasn't very much in the way of bleeding, only a little (but I got that just cleaning my teeth anyway). I took some ibuprofen for a few hours afterwards just in case I began to feel any pain but I didn't feel any.

And when I came out afterwards my teeth felt and looked so nice and clean. It's been three months now and my gums are looking so much pinker and healthier. I'm actually going for a follow up appointment tomorrow with the hygienist and I think there are some more areas that need a bit of extra work. All in all though I can promise that when looking through Google it makes it sound so much worse than it really is! I went in crying on my first appointment, yet for both of them I came out afterwards beaming from ear to ear!

Good luck it will all be fine and worth it!

Beamish
 
To be honest - if you can handle it have the LA. That way you won't have any discomfort.

Deep cleanings, as I said in another thread, really gets a bad rap. They shouldn't hurt when they're done, if LA is used, and usually there is little to no pain afterwards.

Valium is a sedative medicine and most people feel like they are slightly drunk on it. You should feel groggy and have less anxiety. You sort of have a 'I don't really don't care' feeling. You'll remember the work being done, you just won't be upset by it. That's the theory anyways.

I hope everything goes well for you. Really think about whether or not you'd like the LA. No one enjoys shots in the mouth, whether or not they have a dental phobia but it's there to make you comfortable and pain free. They have to get the medicine in there somehow :)
 
No one enjoys shots in the mouth, whether or not they have a dental phobia but it's there to make you comfortable and pain free. They have to get the medicine in there somehow :)

'Shots' really don't have to hurt though if the dentist uses the right techniques. They can probably just numb you with Oraqix gel which is like topical anaesthetic if it is just the gum area that needs to be numbed.
 
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Hi Laura

I had my first quadrant deep cleaned last week but because I have hyper sensitive teeth I have to be numbed. By the time I got to his office I was in tears through fear of the unknown and (as usual) blowing it up out of all proportion.

Although I don't have a fear of needles I still hate them in my mouth so he put on masses of topical gel then told me I would feel him 'jiggling' my cheek - to be honest I guessed he was doing the injection but I felt nothing at all.

The deep clean took seconds - but 5 hours for the injection to wear off! :giggle:
 
They really don't have to hurt though if the dentist uses the right techniques. They can probably just numb you with Oraqix gel which is like topical anaesthetic if it is just the gum area that needs to be numbed.

Sorry I didn't mean that they hurt. I meant that most people have a dislike at the very least, of having someone standing over them with a needle that they plan to poke into your gum. Yes it shouldn't hurt outside of occasional fleeting mild discomfort, depending on the area being numbed.

I supposed they can just slather topical numbing on the gum, it really depends if the dentist thinks that will supply enough anesthetic. But that isn't really an option for other dental work, unfortunately.

I wish we could just take pills that numbed the correct part of the mouth. Like a green pill that numbs the right side, and a Pink pill numbs the left side and this white one here would numb the roof of the mouth. It would make things so much easier.
 
well guys, never thought id say this, but my first cleaning was a breeze. yeah it did hurt a bit and the feeling of all that calculus coming off my teeth was really cringy and went right through me. my teeth have been uber sensitive since friday morning the day of my cleaning. but wow, what a difference already! easy peasy!
 

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