Noise of metal on my teeth

I have had very inconsistent dental care my whole life. Mainly due to finances. Once again I actually have dental insurance coverage. The group insurance has been active for 3 months now, but I still haven't bothered to look into getting a dentist.

Some issues I need help with:

1) The sound of metal on my teeth makes me climb the walls. Makes me want to throw up (but I never do). Headphones and music don't help. Many dentists/hygienists interpret my reactions as pain and thus I get the whole sensodyne lecture. My teeth do not hurt. Nor do they hurt when the scaling is happening. It's the SOUND that makes me want to jump out the window (and my last dentist was on the 4th floor). I do have one tooth that is mildly cold sensitive, but the only accommodation I have to make is using lukecold/lukewarm (ie, not really really cold) water to rinse after brushing.

2) Gag reflex. I have trouble brushing my back teeth (no wisdom teeth anymore). Flossing them is even more of a nightmare. So, needless to say, hands and instruments in my mouth is torture. I also can't stand it when asked a question, yet hands remain in my mouth. Seriously, how do you expect me to answer?

3) Taste. What is with the disgusting flavours of stuff they use? I can't stand bubblegum, cherry, watermelon (allergy to this one), but how do I convince them to not use this?

Any suggestions?

Hey

You can ask the oral hygienist not to use the ultra sonic scaler (which involves lots of water and sound) but to use only hand instruments. I guess that the oral hygienist will not be happy to use only hand instruments (it means working a bit harder) but this is your right.
Regarding the taste: if you cannot bare the taste of any paste, you can first rinse your mouth with Listerine or corsodyl which contain alcohol and than let the OH brush your teeth with the paste. The alcohol will mask the taste of any paste.

RebeccaB said:

.....The sound of metal on my teeth makes me climb the walls.

Click to expand...

Yeah I get that but only during daily life routines... forks on dinner plates, metal silverware hitting teeth... OMG!! I wanna run! It's like fingernails on a chalkboard, another "sound" that makes me cringe. So actually having to FEEL that had me cringing.

I take it you don't use sedation when visiting? I've had 2 visits where I was sedated and thought I'd end up hearing all this stuff but I didn't hear a thing. I was very sedated and had my iPod on pretty loud.

As for gagging.... raises my hand up REALLY high! I'm super bad with gagging. SUPER bad!! I have to have implants and partials because dentures are not an option for me. I gagged during impressions and I gagged on my second visit. It sucks bad!! I hate it hate it hate it but the sedation leaves me not caring. If it happens, it happens but I'm not left totally scarred by it. I'll go back and just hope the assistant is more careful with the water suction. There are also some tips to try on gagging, like salt on the tip (or back) of the tongue, or using a numbing spray on the throat etc.

In daily life, I gag with certain foods, gag with lollipops, or chewing gum etc. So yeah... mine's pretty bad! I wish there was a way to surgically remove the gag reflex but I heard that's pretty bad thing to do as it won't let you "throw up " if you're sick.

The metal pick basically causes me the same feeling you describe. The sound of it touching my teeth makes my skin crawl. My dentist always stops to make sure I'm not actually feeling pain. but I've told them that it is the sound, so they just check and continue on as long as I'm okay.
I gagged and vomited on my bite wing x-rays. The dentist switched to a smaller film, one meant for kids or something, and got it done. Maybe smaller films would also work for you if you need x-rays.

Your post sounds so much like me!
The sound of metal on my teeth has always made me cringe. Have you ever experienced scaling with an ultrasonic scaler? I find that the ultrasonic scaler is much more tolerable than the manual scaling instruments. It does not take as long and I think that between the water that sprays and the whining noise of the instrument (yes! I'd prefer whining drill-like sounds over metal scraping teeth!), there is a great deal of distraction happening which makes the scraping less noticeable. I actually thought for the longest time that the teeth weren't even being scraped and they were using a high powered water-pick of some sort. I think this method of scaling is more comfortable for all involved and while sometimes manual hand scaling instruments are still used they are used much less since the ultrasonic scaler takes care of the brunt of it.

Gagging is a problem I've just recently but gradually developed and I'm still trying to figure out how to cope with it (although it's getting progressively worse). I have read that a chloraseptic spray for numbing the throat may help but in my opinion it is too short term (wears off in like 5 seconds) and having a numb throat makes me think I can't breathe and it just makes me more panicky. I usually attempt to focus on breathing deeply through my nose and that's been the only semi-effective solution thus far. If it's a claustrophobia or control type of thing, than maybe you could try taking more frequent breaks during a procedure or use a stop signal when you need to take a breather?

I don't know what to do about the terrible flavors but I like the Listerine rinse suggestion! I will need to try that.