M
Mike2
Junior member
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2007
- Messages
- 18
Hello!
My name is Mike and I posted on another area of this site about being scared stiff because I needed a deep cleaning. I wanted to et everyone know my experience so hopefully it can help those who are like me scared stiff to go to the dentist.
Below is a letter I wrote to someone who needs this procedure and is also scared. I hope this helps to clarify and give everyone confidence. Please let me know if this helps.....
I went into the dentists room and we spoke a bit to try and calm me down and reassure me that I was in good hands. Anyway, the first thing done was the gel that was on these sticks. She put them into my mouth, on the gums in about 5 different places and they were held in place by my mouth. She left it on for about 3 or 4 minutes and I did feel it getting numb a bit.
Then it was time for the needles. I told her that I was really nervous and I asked her to please make sure that I was numb enough. We decided to do the bottom of my mouth first because it was really bad in regards to plaque. Also, some people say that the bottom does not take that well to Novocaine or whatever it is that she uses I think it was lidocaine?. The top of the mouth is supposed to be better.
I just stared at a part of the ceiling and focused on one spot when I knew it was coming. The first needle I felt a little bit but honestly it is no more than what you would feel when you go for a blood test. We decided to do the whole bottom of my mouth so I needed to be numbed from ear to ear on the bottom. She did about 4-5 needles across the bottom and waited for it to take. Within seconds I was getting number and number. Whatever she used it was working quick, thankfully!
She waited about a minute or so and gave me more injections another 6 or 7 HOWEVER.....I felt only 1 or 2 of them as I was really numb so don't worry. And when I say "felt" I mean "slight" once I was numb. The injections were really not that bad at all and I did not feel most of them. The ones I did feel were not that bad at all. Again, just like a blood test. Yes, I cringed a bit but this is normal and she did it as slow as she could to not make me go into pain.
Once I was numb it really was a weird feeling. My whole bottom lip felt really big and it really was numb. It was not painful of course to be numb, just weird.
Then she had an assistant with a suction hose stand by me so she could collect whatever would being taken off my teeth. This hose was like a vacuum cleaner. My dentist started to work on my teeth and I really had a ton of plaque on them so she really needed to work on me. My dentist used this high powered water blaster. It felt like someone was picking at my teeth but my wife was watching the whole thing and she said there was no picking at all. This water blaster or water pick was really high powered.
My wife said the plaque was just being blasted off my teeth and sucked up with the suction hose. I could see some debris flying up but I think that it was water as well. Needless to say I was a nervous wreck. I was sweating a bit as well but I managed to hold myself together. The reason for this was I was not feeling pain!!!!
My dentist was constantly asking me if I feel anything and I said no. We agreed that if I felt pain I would raise my arm. I had that arm over my chest by my heart where it was easy enough for her to see...I made sure of that!
I could swear she was really picking my teeth but again my wife tells me tonight it was high powered water. She was going under my gums with it as well. Anyway, as she was continuing to work on my teeth I did begin to feel a sensation in an area which felt like it does when you drink something cold and you have sensitive teeth or bite on and ice cube. Nothing I could not handle but I flinched a bit. It had to be the cold water from the high powered water pick doing it. It also could have been from her going a bit deeper under my gums as well and the water going into areas that were covered in plaque so it was sensitive.
She saw that I was a little uncomfortable in one area so she decided to give me more injections. I was completely numb thankfully so I did not feel them except for a slight pinch in 1 or 2 areas. When it was all said and done I had about 16 injections and she emptied 2 and half vials of Novocaine or lidocaine that she used. She told me that she is allowed to give me 8 vials if needed so don't worry she told me but that was all I needed.
I had to periodically rinse my mouth out and that was just plain funny. I was trying to get the water in my mouth but I could not feel the cup with my bottom lip. Once I had the water in my mouth I had a hard time keeping it in and it was squirting out because I could not again feel my bottom lip.
Yes, you will see some particles and some blood when u spit out but this is to be expected. As I kept rinsing the blood was less and less and there was not much blood anyway.
She tried to get as much plaque off as possible and go as deep as she could again I did not feel anything except for the sensations mentioned earlier on a few teeth. Other times on most of the teeth on the bottom I did not feel anything except for some pressure that's it!
I do have bone loss as she could see it on the x-rays. I have gums that are receded and are swollen and of course are a bit more swollen now after the procedure.
I wanted to get everything done in one day but she was 2 hours backed up and my wife who was with me who also needed a minor cavity taken care of rescheduled her visit for next Monday. I think after sitting in the chair for an hour I had enough anyway.
I have another appointment for the 23rd of February where we will do the top of my teeth which have a lot less plaque on them and should take much less time.
I was told to rinse with warm salt water 3 times a day for a few days and she told me to purchase a water pick.
I was numb for about an hour after the procedure was done and slowly came out of it. My teeth are sensitive to cold now so do not drink anything cold right after. My wife blended up some home made soup for me and I sucked it through a straw and it felt fine. Seems like warm stuff does not bother me. You can eat about 2 hours after but nothing hard. Only soft stuff.
I took 600 MG of Ibuprofin 1hour before I went in to the dentist. When I got home I took another 600 MG. My dentist said that was fine to do. Did it help or is it helping? Not sure but I will do it this way again in 2 weeks can't hurt. It is now 5 hours after my procedure and I feel fine. Just a bit sore and again sensitive to cold and when the air passes through the teeth.
My dentist said that once the upper teeth are done that 3 months later I will need to take x-rays to see if the disease has been slowed down or halted. If not I may need to see a specialist who may need to do other procedures.
I am keeping my fingers crossed now that this will work out fine and I can stop this periodontal disease from continuing.
If you have a lot of plaque buildup ( The really hard yellow stuff that you can't get off with a brush) you will not believe the results. As she was finishing she was blasting my mouth with air and some sandy white substance as well. She told me to rinse for a few minutes holding the water in my mouth for a minute at a time....( comical when numb...dribble,dribble)
When I got home I looked in the mirror and yes, my gums are swollen and there are areas that have spaces in between my teeth where the plaque used to be. My teeth feel a bit weird and my tongue does not recognize my mouth...feels weird to have no plaque but looks great! My wife cannot believe the difference and keeps on complimenting me.
She honestly thought I was going to cancel or get there and then leave but is really proud I stuck it out.
Was I a nervous wreck? Yes. I was even sweating heavily because I was so nervous. I was even trembling a bit....not from pain but my nerves got the best of me.
HOWEVER, I got through it and you will as well. It was not nearly as bad as I thought and the injections were not bad as I said. I only felt a few and it was a pinch that's it. It is bearable.
My bottom teeth look much better and I have a feeling of accomplishment. Yes I have more work to be done but at least I know what is coming and I can't wait for the whole mouth to be done and looking clean. We need to do this because I was assured we will lose our teeth if we let this go. In my case there is no guarantee that this will be it. I may have to get my teeth cleaned a bit more down the road or go to a specialist but IT MUST BE DONE.
If we do not take the first steps and at least try there is only one ending that will be and it will not be good.
Please go and make the appointment and tell me when you do. You will feel good that you did and although you may be scared or nervous and the waiting for that day to come may drive you a bit nuts, it will be worth it once you get home...Trust me.
I was almost in tears today when it hit an hour before I had to go and scared stiff, jelly legged the whole nine yards. But I went because I knew it was the right thing to do. Plaque could lead to all kinds of other things like heart disease etc...
Our lives are worth too much and if we have to pay the price by being a bit scared in order to keep our bodies healthy so be it. I feel a sense of calm now. I know I am doing something positive instead of making a bad situation worse due to fear.
If I can do this anyone can. Please....make the appointment take control of your life and get healthy. We have to at least try. Let me know if this helps you and I will answer any questions you may have to the best of my ability. You can and will be able to do this trust me. I am behind you 100% I will let you know how I am doing over the weekend. Take care!
My name is Mike and I posted on another area of this site about being scared stiff because I needed a deep cleaning. I wanted to et everyone know my experience so hopefully it can help those who are like me scared stiff to go to the dentist.
Below is a letter I wrote to someone who needs this procedure and is also scared. I hope this helps to clarify and give everyone confidence. Please let me know if this helps.....
I went into the dentists room and we spoke a bit to try and calm me down and reassure me that I was in good hands. Anyway, the first thing done was the gel that was on these sticks. She put them into my mouth, on the gums in about 5 different places and they were held in place by my mouth. She left it on for about 3 or 4 minutes and I did feel it getting numb a bit.
Then it was time for the needles. I told her that I was really nervous and I asked her to please make sure that I was numb enough. We decided to do the bottom of my mouth first because it was really bad in regards to plaque. Also, some people say that the bottom does not take that well to Novocaine or whatever it is that she uses I think it was lidocaine?. The top of the mouth is supposed to be better.
I just stared at a part of the ceiling and focused on one spot when I knew it was coming. The first needle I felt a little bit but honestly it is no more than what you would feel when you go for a blood test. We decided to do the whole bottom of my mouth so I needed to be numbed from ear to ear on the bottom. She did about 4-5 needles across the bottom and waited for it to take. Within seconds I was getting number and number. Whatever she used it was working quick, thankfully!
She waited about a minute or so and gave me more injections another 6 or 7 HOWEVER.....I felt only 1 or 2 of them as I was really numb so don't worry. And when I say "felt" I mean "slight" once I was numb. The injections were really not that bad at all and I did not feel most of them. The ones I did feel were not that bad at all. Again, just like a blood test. Yes, I cringed a bit but this is normal and she did it as slow as she could to not make me go into pain.
Once I was numb it really was a weird feeling. My whole bottom lip felt really big and it really was numb. It was not painful of course to be numb, just weird.
Then she had an assistant with a suction hose stand by me so she could collect whatever would being taken off my teeth. This hose was like a vacuum cleaner. My dentist started to work on my teeth and I really had a ton of plaque on them so she really needed to work on me. My dentist used this high powered water blaster. It felt like someone was picking at my teeth but my wife was watching the whole thing and she said there was no picking at all. This water blaster or water pick was really high powered.
My wife said the plaque was just being blasted off my teeth and sucked up with the suction hose. I could see some debris flying up but I think that it was water as well. Needless to say I was a nervous wreck. I was sweating a bit as well but I managed to hold myself together. The reason for this was I was not feeling pain!!!!
My dentist was constantly asking me if I feel anything and I said no. We agreed that if I felt pain I would raise my arm. I had that arm over my chest by my heart where it was easy enough for her to see...I made sure of that!
I could swear she was really picking my teeth but again my wife tells me tonight it was high powered water. She was going under my gums with it as well. Anyway, as she was continuing to work on my teeth I did begin to feel a sensation in an area which felt like it does when you drink something cold and you have sensitive teeth or bite on and ice cube. Nothing I could not handle but I flinched a bit. It had to be the cold water from the high powered water pick doing it. It also could have been from her going a bit deeper under my gums as well and the water going into areas that were covered in plaque so it was sensitive.
She saw that I was a little uncomfortable in one area so she decided to give me more injections. I was completely numb thankfully so I did not feel them except for a slight pinch in 1 or 2 areas. When it was all said and done I had about 16 injections and she emptied 2 and half vials of Novocaine or lidocaine that she used. She told me that she is allowed to give me 8 vials if needed so don't worry she told me but that was all I needed.
I had to periodically rinse my mouth out and that was just plain funny. I was trying to get the water in my mouth but I could not feel the cup with my bottom lip. Once I had the water in my mouth I had a hard time keeping it in and it was squirting out because I could not again feel my bottom lip.
Yes, you will see some particles and some blood when u spit out but this is to be expected. As I kept rinsing the blood was less and less and there was not much blood anyway.
She tried to get as much plaque off as possible and go as deep as she could again I did not feel anything except for the sensations mentioned earlier on a few teeth. Other times on most of the teeth on the bottom I did not feel anything except for some pressure that's it!
I do have bone loss as she could see it on the x-rays. I have gums that are receded and are swollen and of course are a bit more swollen now after the procedure.
I wanted to get everything done in one day but she was 2 hours backed up and my wife who was with me who also needed a minor cavity taken care of rescheduled her visit for next Monday. I think after sitting in the chair for an hour I had enough anyway.
I have another appointment for the 23rd of February where we will do the top of my teeth which have a lot less plaque on them and should take much less time.
I was told to rinse with warm salt water 3 times a day for a few days and she told me to purchase a water pick.
I was numb for about an hour after the procedure was done and slowly came out of it. My teeth are sensitive to cold now so do not drink anything cold right after. My wife blended up some home made soup for me and I sucked it through a straw and it felt fine. Seems like warm stuff does not bother me. You can eat about 2 hours after but nothing hard. Only soft stuff.
I took 600 MG of Ibuprofin 1hour before I went in to the dentist. When I got home I took another 600 MG. My dentist said that was fine to do. Did it help or is it helping? Not sure but I will do it this way again in 2 weeks can't hurt. It is now 5 hours after my procedure and I feel fine. Just a bit sore and again sensitive to cold and when the air passes through the teeth.
My dentist said that once the upper teeth are done that 3 months later I will need to take x-rays to see if the disease has been slowed down or halted. If not I may need to see a specialist who may need to do other procedures.
I am keeping my fingers crossed now that this will work out fine and I can stop this periodontal disease from continuing.
If you have a lot of plaque buildup ( The really hard yellow stuff that you can't get off with a brush) you will not believe the results. As she was finishing she was blasting my mouth with air and some sandy white substance as well. She told me to rinse for a few minutes holding the water in my mouth for a minute at a time....( comical when numb...dribble,dribble)
When I got home I looked in the mirror and yes, my gums are swollen and there are areas that have spaces in between my teeth where the plaque used to be. My teeth feel a bit weird and my tongue does not recognize my mouth...feels weird to have no plaque but looks great! My wife cannot believe the difference and keeps on complimenting me.
She honestly thought I was going to cancel or get there and then leave but is really proud I stuck it out.
Was I a nervous wreck? Yes. I was even sweating heavily because I was so nervous. I was even trembling a bit....not from pain but my nerves got the best of me.
HOWEVER, I got through it and you will as well. It was not nearly as bad as I thought and the injections were not bad as I said. I only felt a few and it was a pinch that's it. It is bearable.
My bottom teeth look much better and I have a feeling of accomplishment. Yes I have more work to be done but at least I know what is coming and I can't wait for the whole mouth to be done and looking clean. We need to do this because I was assured we will lose our teeth if we let this go. In my case there is no guarantee that this will be it. I may have to get my teeth cleaned a bit more down the road or go to a specialist but IT MUST BE DONE.
If we do not take the first steps and at least try there is only one ending that will be and it will not be good.
Please go and make the appointment and tell me when you do. You will feel good that you did and although you may be scared or nervous and the waiting for that day to come may drive you a bit nuts, it will be worth it once you get home...Trust me.
I was almost in tears today when it hit an hour before I had to go and scared stiff, jelly legged the whole nine yards. But I went because I knew it was the right thing to do. Plaque could lead to all kinds of other things like heart disease etc...
Our lives are worth too much and if we have to pay the price by being a bit scared in order to keep our bodies healthy so be it. I feel a sense of calm now. I know I am doing something positive instead of making a bad situation worse due to fear.
If I can do this anyone can. Please....make the appointment take control of your life and get healthy. We have to at least try. Let me know if this helps you and I will answer any questions you may have to the best of my ability. You can and will be able to do this trust me. I am behind you 100% I will let you know how I am doing over the weekend. Take care!
It is so nice to realize one is not alone in one's fears....that there are others out there just like you...me, etc who are going through the same thing!! 
She did do the numbing gel of course, and that was enough for me!! She told me if I changed my mind, she could always give the injection stuff. I was like UHHH--NO THANKS!! I TOTALLY can relate to the WEIRD sensation of them 'blasting' the tartar OFF your teeth!! It is STRANGE!! I did have to have her stop a few times when I felt some medium amount of pain. Then she would start up again. I had to go back for a second visit to do the teeth on the bottom. I am MUCH BETTER at doing the flossing and I am going to get a water pic too!! 
