• Dental Phobia Support

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Don't mind me just getting myself all worked up over here...

tigerstripedred

tigerstripedred

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2016
Messages
323
Location
Missouri
who the heck forgot to tell me that my dental work was scheduled for fri 13th?? :/
I actually haven't slept properly since my last appointment an hour here or there...nightmares of the tooth shattering as she removes the filling even though the xray was ok. missing a top tooth incredibly visible for thevrest of my days and being bullied into proceedures and screenings I don't want....( note please my dentist has never bullied me in to anything I don't know why I'm even afraid of that with her) I've actually woken up several times checking my teeth to see if was a dream. I am never any less nervous...it's always what could go wrong....like these crowns not staying on tightly because this one is the one above my missing tooth. etc
Thinking The whole office probably hates me too...because I'm such a spazz when I am there. what if i have a flashback mid dental work that I can't somewhat get a handle on...how do I explain why I am suddenly a shaking snivelling mess and sorry doc I don't get why it happened here it's not dental related at all. Or how can i tell them know i don't want your new person to watch please make them leave...and can I please explain why these rooms can't have doors?

even cleanings are like this: crap they are going to make me do more xrays....i am not good at saying no even when i really really want to I'm afraid to....i'm even afraid to ask for the thyroid collar because i don't want to make them dislike me more...urghhh.

I have some pretty creative panic driven scenarios going on right now...bright side...i'm so afraid food i might get back down to my leanest weight by the time my permanent crown arrives...2 days tillthe drama dont let these teeth die....fyi the spider zooming infront of my face better not be an omen
 
also annoying i realize how dumb i sound and how circular my thinking is and yet...it continues ughh
 
Hey -

I know how it is, your head just gets into a cycle and runs away with you! Anxiety can do this, for what it's worth, it's normal!

...I'm currently in mid meltdown over struggling to schedule an appointment and my stupid head has already decided me that if the appointment is at a time the dentist doesn't like he'll get angry and then Bad Things will happen and it will be my fault because I probably deserve it anyway :wtf:


Here, have a hug :XXLhug: This is normal, lots of us feel that way sometimes.

Best advice I have is to take care of yourself, and ride it out until you start to feel like yourself again - you know it's anxiety talking, it's not telling the truth. Distraction can help sometimes, if you've got something to do that works well for you - nothing too challenging, just whatever engages your mind even a tiny bit.


....think I'd better go take my own advice!
 
Just looking at your other thread - maybe go for a run! Exercise is one of the best things around to blow off some of that extra adrenaline that's driving you crazy, break you out of the loop.
 
*waves from worked up corner* How are you getting on? x
 
Tink - I tried to PM you, but I don't think it worked. Just wanted to say I'm here to offer support if you want to reach out.
 
Hi Tink. thanks muchI seem to get more worked up while at work...yay graveyard...between that and total lack of sleep I'm in a state. sliding back to old coping methods (cutting and fasting) wtf seriously i left that behind so long ago.
I'm terrible about calling because I don't want them thinking i'm dumb and then they get mad when i see them. I can make those calls for my friends though...just not me...plus i always worry the staff doesn't pass on my concerns or questions.

your dentist has all the times he doesn't like blocked out of their schedule already I bet. Don't fret...if he didn't plan on working he wouldn't have that slot open *hugs*

i did workout this morning andwent to my chiropractor at least that equaled a little sleep. making some treats for the dental office...can't hate me if i feed them right?? lol
 
crap...just tried holing a piece of ice at the one that is getting crowned crap crap it's dead...will it even stay in my head if they root canal it and the one below it is missing helppppppp i can't lose this one you'd see it. crap i honestly take care of my teeth i spend 2 hours on them out of my day. it looked fine on xray last friday what happened help help help
 
I'm booked in for an extraction tomorrow - of a failed root canalled tooth. It did last for 8 years before deciding to literally fall apart, and as it was a front tooth it was too fragile to crown, I was told - so I can't complain. But also, yes. Fri 13th! I'll be out of there by 10 o clock, hopefully, and going home to sleep all day and be treated like a princess. Am trying to focus on that despite being petrified. Being petrified is a waste of mental energy. Easier said than done, though...

Have decided that days that are bad luck for other people are unusually good luck for me!

And I'm sticking with that idea.

Try to stay as calm as you can - I'm faking it at the moment (only ever had extractions under GA/IV sedation). But really thinking up the worst case scenarios is just torturing ourselves for nothing. I've realised that if this was another medical procedure, something at the hospital, I'd try not to think about it in any detail beforehand and would literally let the dr worry about it so why not just leave this to my dentist... but when you're dental phobic, you can't apply your usual logic. (And for me this is a new dentist so it's hard to hand over my trust til he's earned it!)

But try and stay positive and focus on the afterwards. This time tomorrow, the whole thing will (hopefully) be behind me. By x time tomorrow, it will be behind both of us.
 
I'm booked in for an extraction tomorrow - of a failed root canalled tooth. It did last for 8 years before deciding to literally fall apart, and as it was a front tooth it was too fragile to crown, I was told - so I can't complain. But also, yes. Fri 13th! I'll be out of there by 10 o clock, hopefully, and going home to sleep all day and be treated like a princess. Am trying to focus on that despite being petrified. Being petrified is a waste of mental energy. Easier said than done, though...

Have decided that days that are bad luck for other people are unusually good luck for me!

And I'm sticking with that idea.

Try to stay as calm as you can - I'm faking it at the moment (only ever had extractions under GA/IV sedation). But really thinking up the worst case scenarios is just torturing ourselves for nothing. I've realised that if this was another medical procedure, something at the hospital, I'd try not to think about it in any detail beforehand and would literally let the dr worry about it so why not just leave this to my dentist... but when you're dental phobic, you can't apply your usual logic. (And for me this is a new dentist so it's hard to hand over my trust til he's earned it!)

But try and stay positive and focus on the afterwards. This time tomorrow, the whole thing will (hopefully) be behind me. By x time tomorrow, it will be behind both of us.
thank you and good luck tomorrow...hope all goes well for you :)
 
I hope you are right don't think i can handle anymore bad news.
 
You totally *can* do this, both of you!

Hugs all round! :XXLhug:
 
Tiger - I completely get where you're coming from! I've been round pretty much *all* of those thought processes, many times over.

First of all, the people at the dentist's office won't hate you. I know it can feel that way, and I know it feels so threatening because it seems like they have all the power - but they are there to take care of you and help you, that's their job.

Re getting that tooth root canalled - yes, a root canalled tooth very often *can* stay in your head. I've got an old root canalled tooth with a crown on it that was done at least 15 years ago, and is only just needing retreated now. Even then, I still have a very good chance of keeping the tooth (for mine, they said an 80/90% chance of it lasting another 10 years. There's quite a lot dentists can do to save teeth, and they will try to save it if they can.

Also, it might not even be dead! Wait and see what the dentist has to say.


Finally, I'm concerned at what you say about cutting and fasting. I get it, those have sometimes been coping methods for me in the past too :XXLhug: Do you have a doctor or therapist that you could talk to for some help with that? It may be something to consider, just to make sure you're properly supported as you deal with this - it can be pretty stressful stuff, and those are the times when we are under the most pressure and for some of us can be the times when it's most difficult to find healthy ways of coping.

If you have healthy alternative ways of releasing stress and coping, please try to use them. It sounds like this is something you have conquered in the past, so you know you have it in you and you can do it again. Remember, you deserve food, it's OK to eat. Think self-care, be kind to yourself and do what is best and kindest for you. It's OK to just take good care of yourself until it's over, don't beat yourself up for being stressed. It's normal to find this very difficult, lots of people do, and you deserve kindness and care just as much as anybody else would.

Meanwhile, hang in there, stay safe, seek help if you need it, and vent here whenever you need to x
 
Hello Tiger + TwoThirty -

Just dropping by on my way to bed to wish you both all the best for your appointments tomorrow.

I'll be rooting for you both - let us know how you got on! And you *can* both do it x
 
hey thanks. 130am here 6.5 hours till doom. i really hope the fillings are just loose but i guess they might have cracked the tooth. i randomly tried chewing something uncomfortable enough but not horrible not that i want to try again.
my whole body is ready to mutiny...ran 12 miles because i couldn't sleep so now i have zero sleep going into this im going to be extra tired and stiff. But hey the office gets treats so at least they can't hate me too much? three layer cake & peanut butter fudge. At least they seem to enjoy the stuff i bring in.

I just need to know what's going to happen...im so afraid there won't be any options or these wont be the issue and i still won't want to eat. This not knowing is terrible and I am such a freak i am not even driving there...running home is going to be a disaster probably. As,for docs or therapist nope other than my chiropractor none. ahh and im hungry but even my safe foods are a no go. Not a fan of upchucking not willing to risk it either.

twothirty22 hope all went smoothly. you mean i still might lose root canalled teeth all that hell for nothing ugh. I had one with just novocaine. that was my intro to my current dentist. honestly though i have very little memory of it other that sobbing uncontrollably...which is not something i do in front of anyone. nor had she even touched me yet. Hope you have speedy healing...

i'd be worked up over anything where i don't have control of my body and what is done...
 
ugh and last time my eye wasn't functioning right when they numbed me. i couldn't see properly because it affected my contacts on the one side. i really hope that doesn't happen. I hate my top teeth being worked on ahhh>
why did I have to get the one next to these crowned. they were fine until then. what happened?? it had to be the new crown.
 
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Hey Tiger, I'm back and all over! Totally completely painless - but I did make him stick me with an extra needle. ;o)

In a few hours we'll both be through and out the other side. You can do this. xxx

The tooth did fall apart on him, as he'd predicted, the second he started work on it. What was left took him a good 5 minutes (two songs on the iPod) but I felt nothing, the whole time and when he finally got it out didn't even realise he'd finished.

I got one stitch, which again was absolutely painless. And means it may heal faster.

Although it wasn't fast or straightforward it was painless and I felt well looked after.

Now I only lost that root canalled tooth because (a) it was one of the little single rooted ones, near the front so fragile and (b) because of the reason it got RCT in the first place. Not decay but it cracked - sheared in half. But not below the gumline. So rather than lose it, the dentist RCT'd it. If it was a bigger tooth she could have crowned it and it probably would have seen me out. But she couldn't crown it so when it did eventually shatter, it shattered along the line of that original crack from 9 years ago.

I had it for a year with a deep filling and the filling failed, then I had RCT.

If it had been a different tooth or been RCT'd for a different reason, I've no doubt I'd still have it now and for another 9 years! So try not to worry. Most RCTs work and last a long, long time. I was just unlucky.
 
Tiger, I know everything feels out of control right now - it gets overwhelming!

Your job now is to turn up, and keep breathing. That's it. Don't try and fix anything else or figure anything else out, just aim to turn up and you can take it from there. Baby steps is the answer when you get overwhelmed like this, just take one tiny thing at a time. Get through the next 5 minutes...and then the next.


It's going to be ok x
 
TwoThirty, well done, so glad to hear it went well!

Take care of yourself today, you've done so well - take some time to rest if you can x
 
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