F
fabfemmeboy
Junior member
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2017
- Messages
- 4
I'm K, a 32-year-old dentalphobe living in the SF Bay Area. I have always had problems going to the dentist - even from the time I was 5 or 6, I would gag horribly, even with the tiniest instruments/cleaning trays. In my case it's genetic; my dad gags as badly as I do. Unfortunately I also inherited something else from him: crazy soft teeth. He had a bridge appliance by the time he was about 30 and full dentures by 40. I stopped going to the dentist as soon as I was done at my pediatric dentist (about age 12), and even though I tried a couple times to get my teeth cleaned using oral sedation, it never worked. I just kept sobbing and apologizing while I gagged. Not useful to anyone.
From about age 19, my teeth have been steadily crumbling. They don't hurt much, if at all, and they aren't infected, but they look dreadful. The uppers in particular are chipped beyond repair. When I began my new job a year and a half ago, my boss started to gently mention that I needed to look into getting them fixed. I work with clients, as well as court officials, and I need to look professional and pulled-together, and hillbilly teeth really don't do that. I tried a few other options, like those one-piece veneer-ish covers, because those were more affordable, but it turned out that my teeth had rotted too much and were too crumbled along the gumline to be able to do those. I was really horribly demoralized, especially after having to do impressions multiple times to get to that point, so I went back into denial about how bad they were (and how much everyone else noticed how bad they were) for about a year.
This past May, my boss offered to pay to fix my teeth properly. I still can't get over that kind of generosity, it's an absurd amount of money and a huge investment. Unfortunately, that generosity did come with a price - I couldn't just ignore things anymore and had to start seriously figuring out what to do. Five doctors in four weeks. I only managed it because I forewarned all the dentists so most didn't try to poke around too far. Ultimately it came down to two treatment plans: restoring what was there with a series of root canals and caps and crowns, or extractions and implants. I didn't want to have everything pulled, but I know that what's there is just going to keep deteriorating over time.
So, on September 21, everything on the top of my mouth is getting pulled and I'm having all-on-4 teeth-in-a-day implants. I'm really confident in my dentist/oral surgeon (he's both sweet and a total perfectionist) as well as the whole team, but I'm still completely terrified. I'm scared of, in no particular order:
-excruciating pain
-painkillers
-waking up mid-way through surgery
-having the implants installed while I'm alert (and choking)
-not being able to eat in the short-term
-not being able to eat in the long-term
-not being able to speak clearly
-looking like the dogs in the dentastix commercial
At T-4.5 days, I've been scrolling through the forums and reading whatever I can to get a sense of timeframe. I am fortunate that my jawbone is strong and I don't need grafts, nor do I need zygomatics at this point. But any advice (or encouragement) you could give would be really helpful!
From about age 19, my teeth have been steadily crumbling. They don't hurt much, if at all, and they aren't infected, but they look dreadful. The uppers in particular are chipped beyond repair. When I began my new job a year and a half ago, my boss started to gently mention that I needed to look into getting them fixed. I work with clients, as well as court officials, and I need to look professional and pulled-together, and hillbilly teeth really don't do that. I tried a few other options, like those one-piece veneer-ish covers, because those were more affordable, but it turned out that my teeth had rotted too much and were too crumbled along the gumline to be able to do those. I was really horribly demoralized, especially after having to do impressions multiple times to get to that point, so I went back into denial about how bad they were (and how much everyone else noticed how bad they were) for about a year.
This past May, my boss offered to pay to fix my teeth properly. I still can't get over that kind of generosity, it's an absurd amount of money and a huge investment. Unfortunately, that generosity did come with a price - I couldn't just ignore things anymore and had to start seriously figuring out what to do. Five doctors in four weeks. I only managed it because I forewarned all the dentists so most didn't try to poke around too far. Ultimately it came down to two treatment plans: restoring what was there with a series of root canals and caps and crowns, or extractions and implants. I didn't want to have everything pulled, but I know that what's there is just going to keep deteriorating over time.
So, on September 21, everything on the top of my mouth is getting pulled and I'm having all-on-4 teeth-in-a-day implants. I'm really confident in my dentist/oral surgeon (he's both sweet and a total perfectionist) as well as the whole team, but I'm still completely terrified. I'm scared of, in no particular order:
-excruciating pain
-painkillers
-waking up mid-way through surgery
-having the implants installed while I'm alert (and choking)
-not being able to eat in the short-term
-not being able to eat in the long-term
-not being able to speak clearly
-looking like the dogs in the dentastix commercial
At T-4.5 days, I've been scrolling through the forums and reading whatever I can to get a sense of timeframe. I am fortunate that my jawbone is strong and I don't need grafts, nor do I need zygomatics at this point. But any advice (or encouragement) you could give would be really helpful!