• 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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And so it begins!

S

shannysue

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Messages
20
Location
Washington State
I made it through the appointment! I was anxious, teary eyed, and just a wreck but I warned them. The assistant was so nice. She didn't believe me when I told her it was time for everything to go. Being 25 and needing dentures isn't very common and thanks to "awesome" genetics (not really) i got to be the lucky girl with the train wreck, rotting mouth to convince her otherwise. The dentist came in, did the exam and wasn't even phased by the damage going on. She was extremely understanding and worked with me to make a plan of action. December 16 will be the 1st of 3 extraction appointments. Taking all the back bottom teeth (what's left of them anyway) and then I will return in a few weeks to do impressions for my lower and upper dentures. Once the lab makes them the second possibly third extraction appointments will happen. I feel such relief finally going through with this! I finally have a light at the end of the tunnel and know I will be OK and healthy after all of this!
 
I made it through the appointment! I was anxious, teary eyed, and just a wreck but I warned them. The assistant was so nice. She didn't believe me when I told her it was time for everything to go. Being 25 and needing dentures isn't very common and thanks to "awesome" genetics (not really) i got to be the lucky girl with the train wreck, rotting mouth to convince her otherwise. The dentist came in, did the exam and wasn't even phased by the damage going on. She was extremely understanding and worked with me to make a plan of action. December 16 will be the 1st of 3 extraction appointments. Taking all the back bottom teeth (what's left of them anyway) and then I will return in a few weeks to do impressions for my lower and upper dentures. Once the lab makes them the second possibly third extraction appointments will happen. I feel such relief finally going through with this! I finally have a light at the end of the tunnel and know I will be OK and healthy after all of this!

Join the party! I'm 26 with upper and lower partials(got them when I was 25 though). Partially thanks to genetics drawing a bullseye on me, partially a severe dental phobia that kept me away from any dentist(gee thanks mom, I REALLY appreciate you bringing me to papoose using dental school for my work when I was 4) for well over a decade. Honestly, I'm kind of surprised the dentist didn't flinch looking at my train wreck of a mouth. Something like 14 extractions and 2 fillings for me. Feels like I wasted my time though.

Am I over my phobia? Nope. Am I going to my 6 month thing in 2 weeks? Most likely a big fat no as long as I remember to ignore my cell when they call in to remind me. I hate my current mouth way worse then my old mouth and I almost never wear my partials since I hate the story that the stupid things have locked away deep within.
 
shannysue, a HUGE congrats on getting through the worst appointment!!! Usually that is the hardest part. You should be incredibly proud of yourself. It sounds like the appointment went very well and that you have a plan that you feel good about. So incredibly happy for you!!!

Please keep us posted on how things are going for you. I can't wait for you to write your success story :)
 
Thank you guys for your support! As it gets closer to the 16th the more I dread the idea of getting teeth pulled. No matter what I'm going to do it. There's no going back! Luckily the dentist wrote a prescription for Valium to take the night before and the day of to take me down a notch. I'm going to be taking 4 days off of work to recover from it and I'm hoping that will be enough :( once again, so great full for your support and I will keep you posted ♡♡♡
 
Tomorrow is the first of two extraction appointments. I'm so stressed out! I asked the dentist if 4 days was enough time to recover from work and she said yes. I'm a walking train wreck. I don't want to do it but I will. This is for the ultimate outcome! I just wish I could get it all over and done with.......

:scared:
 
Congrats on getting through the first appointment, and good luck today! you will be fine, you should not feel a thing except some pressure, but no pain. afterwards when the Novocain wears off you will have a little soreness so it's a good idea to take some advil while you are still numb.
 
Congrats on getting through the first appointment, and good luck today! you will be fine, you should not feel a thing except some pressure, but no pain. afterwards when the Novocain wears off you will have a little soreness so it's a good idea to take some advil while you are still numb.

11 teeth out. Including wisdom teeth. Definitely kicked my booty. I was lucky enough to stay at my mom's for the first few days. It's day 5 now and I'm feeling better and have to go back to work tomorrow. I ended up needing a little more time :( thank you for your ongoing support! The next step is impressions and then all the rest go! Excited and nervous. Does anyone have issues when taking vicodin? It made me an emotional wreck. Is there something just as good for pain but not so hard on the emotions that I could ask for? I ended up doing half the dose of the vicodin and taking ibuprofen.
 
I'm so sorry you're having a tougher time than you had hoped for.

I cannot take any opiates because they make me sick. Instead, I take 1000mg of Tylenol up to 3x/day as well as 800mg of ibuprofen up to 3x/day. I take the ibuprofen every 8hrs (this is important as it is way more difficult to get it work once the pain is bad again) and the Tylenol in between those doses. You have to make sure you eat or dink something with the ibuprofen or it can cause stomach issues.

You SHOULD NOT take Tylenol with Vicodin ( though ibuprofen is ok) as I believe that it has Tylenol in it. Tylenol can be very, very toxic to the liver in doses higher than recommended.

I hope this is helpful.
 
11 teeth out. Including wisdom teeth. Definitely kicked my booty. I was lucky enough to stay at my mom's for the first few days. It's day 5 now and I'm feeling better and have to go back to work tomorrow. I ended up needing a little more time :( thank you for your ongoing support! The next step is impressions and then all the rest go! Excited and nervous. Does anyone have issues when taking vicodin? It made me an emotional wreck. Is there something just as good for pain but not so hard on the emotions that I could ask for? I ended up doing half the dose of the vicodin and taking ibuprofen.

Vicodin makes me very nauseous so I can't take it. the last thing I want when in pain is to have to vomit besides. You could ask for Percocet next time and see if that works better for you. it is ok to take it with ibuprofen but it is also not something to take with Tylenol since it already contains Tylenol. I'm going to be joining you on the extraction train lol. Just one though, I hope. my wisdoms are already gone but I am suffering with a failed root canal and that tooth needs to go.
 
Hey everyone! I just wanted you to know that I'm still here! Still battling through to my dental dream! I had run into a bit of a speed bump after my 11 tooth extraction. When I went to get my impressions she noticed I had an epulus (excessive/benign tissue) across the top; of my mouth so I couldn't get a good impression. Thank roller derby and getting hit in the mouth enough to develop that whole hot mess! Last Tuesday I had it removed and will be back to the grind with impressions in the next week or so! Wish me luck! I just want this all over and done with! I'm hoping it will all be said and done the 1st or 2nd week of June :)
 
Hey everyone! I just wanted you to know that I'm still here! Still battling through to my dental dream! I had run into a bit of a speed bump after my 11 tooth extraction. When I went to get my impressions she noticed I had an epulus (excessive/benign tissue) across the top; of my mouth so I couldn't get a good impression. Thank roller derby and getting hit in the mouth enough to develop that whole hot mess! Last Tuesday I had it removed and will be back to the grind with impressions in the next week or so! Wish me luck! I just want this all over and done with! I'm hoping it will all be said and done the 1st or 2nd week of June :)

Wow. Really hope things go a lot better 4 u then they have for me. Still am past due for a cleaning, still can't tolerate wearing my partials for long(about once every 8 days), and still regretting everything I've put myself through.
 
Wow. Really hope things go a lot better 4 u then they have for me. Still am past due for a cleaning, still can't tolerate wearing my partials for long(about once every 8 days), and still regretting everything I've put myself through.
I just wanted to thank you for being there and responding after all these months. I know from personal experience that partials can be hard and uncomfortable. Once every 8 days is great! Getting used to them is the hardest part. Maybe try once every 7 and then 6 days. Small goals help me with.....pretty much everything. And the cleaning? You will do it when you are ready ;)
 
Actually, I started of wearing them a lot often. Nearly every day when I was healing from my work but then my tolerance began plummeting shortly after that point. it went to about 2x a week, dropped to about once every 5 days, then 6, then 7, and now I'm at 8 which is the furthest I'm willing to push it.

Love the days I go partial-less, dread t-day. W/o partials in, I can put the trauma behind me. I feel like my normal self. W/ them in and I'm often either reliving a nightmare over and over again or fighting to keep the nightmare at bay. Often catching flashbacks of the mistakes I've made when wearing them. Not just with choosing to start this journey at a dental place that doesn't specialize w/ dental phobs, but the years leading up to this point. Years ago, the problems I had were small, but thanks to my phobia, things just snowballed

Except for the fact that they tend to be pretty pricet, I'd be looking into at least an upper flexible partials which I heard are WAY more comfortable and look better.
 
Actually, I started of wearing them a lot often. Nearly every day when I was healing from my work but then my tolerance began plummeting shortly after that point. it went to about 2x a week, dropped to about once every 5 days, then 6, then 7, and now I'm at 8 which is the furthest I'm willing to push it.

Love the days I go partial-less, dread t-day. W/o partials in, I can put the trauma behind me. I feel like my normal self. W/ them in and I'm often either reliving a nightmare over and over again or fighting to keep the nightmare at bay. Often catching flashbacks of the mistakes I've made when wearing them. Not just with choosing to start this journey at a dental place that doesn't specialize w/ dental phobs, but the years leading up to this point. Years ago, the problems I had were small, but thanks to my phobia, things just snowballed

Except for the fact that they tend to be pretty pricet, I'd be looking into at least an upper flexible partials which I heard are WAY more comfortable and look better.
I wish I could refer you to my dentist. It took me awhile to find a great one but man am I happy with her she was in front of me the whole time playing roller derby with me. It took me awhile to ask her for help because i was so ashamed of my mouth and all the work but she's very understanding when it comes to the high levels of stress that dental appointments cause for me, so much stress she prescribed valium, and her entire staff knows and is so accommodating. Have you thought about looking for another dentist with better experience with our kind? I know it can be hard and you feel like it's probably pointless but maybe I can ask my dentist to look into dentists in your area that may be able to help?
 
I tried valium for the deep cleaning and both rounds of extractions along w/ laughing gas. The valium did NADA and i went w/ just the gas for the fillings. As i later found out from another person here, 10MG is a low dosage. No wonder why the stuff never helped.

I tried talking to mom about switching dentist when i was having all the problems w/ the stupid partials but she said that "we'd have to start paying for visits w/ a new guy". I decided that it wasn't worth the fight since i tried telling her in the first place that i wanted to find an iv sedation dentist for the work and that i was just going to the first guy to get an idea of what needs to be done. But no, she couldn't get past the fact that my aunt, who was paying for my work, MIGHT not of(something that was never checked out to see if it was a fact or not) wanted to pay for the extra cost of iv sedation.

except for the fact that my luck is so bad, i'd be looking into how much those flexible dentures would run since i'm in agony over here. these things feel more and more foreign every time i wear them, i can't eat right w/ the things in, and at times they down right can cause me to ache when they decide to act up even though they fit fine. Problem is knowing my luck, i'll finally get at least an upper then i'll have some of my remaining teeth crap out and i'll need to start paying more for a new flexible partial.

I barely managed to squeeze in 6 hours w/ the upper today b4 i had to call it quits and i'm still another 1.5 hours on the lowers till the 8 hour mark i try to aim for on average but i can't take it anymore. The lowers are coming out as soon as i finish this thread. Didn't want to wear the things but i had to meet w/ a guy for a lego trade.
 
I tried valium for the deep cleaning and both rounds of extractions along w/ laughing gas. The valium did NADA and i went w/ just the gas for the fillings. As i later found out from another person here, 10MG is a low dosage. No wonder why the stuff never helped.

I tried talking to mom about switching dentist when i was having all the problems w/ the stupid partials but she said that "we'd have to start paying for visits w/ a new guy". I decided that it wasn't worth the fight since i tried telling her in the first place that i wanted to find an iv sedation dentist for the work and that i was just going to the first guy to get an idea of what needs to be done. But no, she couldn't get past the fact that my aunt, who was paying for my work, MIGHT not of(something that was never checked out to see if it was a fact or not) wanted to pay for the extra cost of iv sedation.

except for the fact that my luck is so bad, i'd be looking into how much those flexible dentures would run since i'm in agony over here. these things feel more and more foreign every time i wear them, i can't eat right w/ the things in, and at times they down right can cause me to ache when they decide to act up even though they fit fine. Problem is knowing my luck, i'll finally get at least an upper then i'll have some of my remaining teeth crap out and i'll need to start paying more for a new flexible partial.

I barely managed to squeeze in 6 hours w/ the upper today b4 i had to call it quits and i'm still another 1.5 hours on the lowers till the 8 hour mark i try to aim for on average but i can't take it anymore. The lowers are coming out as soon as i finish this thread. Didn't want to wear the things but i had to meet w/ a guy for a lego trade.

Can I just say that the Lego trade you mentioned has been the best thing I've read today?! I love Legos! Probably not as big of fan/participant as you but still stoked! Great job wearing them for as long as you did too! It's progress! I wish that there was a way to make the ones you have more comfortable :(
 
Can I just say that the Lego trade you mentioned has been the best thing I've read today?! I love Legos! Probably not as big of fan/participant as you but still stoked! Great job wearing them for as long as you did too! It's progress! I wish that there was a way to make the ones you have more comfortable :(

Cool! Not many people tend to talk about their lego fandom outside of forums. When i did the trade yesterday, it turns out i had a couple bags of parts more then i needed for the trade so now i have some tradables for when i catch him at the flea market.

Honestly the only reason i wore them as long as i did yesterday was if i took them out early, i'd still have to subject myself to a torture day in 5 days. Unless the guy will be at the FM on Saturday, there's no way i'd want to wear the things any sooner then i have to. By putting up with them just a little longer, i swung things in my favor so i was able to reset the clock.

With the lowers, i think part of the problem is that they need some sort of cushioning. When i chew harder stuff like Chicken strips or burgers, i start to feel aching on my gums that i don't feel it w/o the partials in.

Problem though is then that could start a whole new rounds of problems w/ getting them to fit. Something i'm not in a rush to do.
 
Well its official! June 9th will be the final extraction date. Since my oral surgery I have done the god awful impressions, fittings and fittings oh my! I picked out the shade, the shape and everything. I never realized how hard it is to pick out a smile you never had. I took in a picture of my brothers smile. He has perfect teeth. I just want to look like my family. Those with good teeth in the family have prominent canines and straight pretty bright smiles. I went the brightest natural white I could go (no worries not chiclet white ;) ) and I tried to pick the lady version of my brothers tooth shape. I go in the see the final wax draft before they get made into the real thing. As the date gets closer the more nervous I get. I know this will make everything better. I will never have to worry about toothaches ever again and most importantly I will be able to smile! I will most likely be on the couch pilled up for my birthday 6 days after the big day. It's the best gift ever.
 
Well done I'm amazed how strong you are. I would never be able to take out 10 teeth at once.
Too much change and healing process just sucks I can barely eat when I get one out yet alone 10.
That is why I had one max two pulled at one session but I did go every day or every other for a week.
Then take brake for it to heal a bit then resume.

It must have been wonderful to chose your new smile, It makes me happy that you are doing so well :jump:
 
8 days to go and I'm battling the toothaches and hopefully the last infection I will ever have. So much pain and the antibiotics are no fun. I'm hoping this can be managed with ib profin and antibiotics...God!!!!
 

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