Beatrice evangeline
Junior member
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2008
- Messages
- 3
- Location
- England
Hello everyone.
I'm 37 and having problems coming to terms with the dental treatment I need and hope that writing it down will help to clear my head. I've been panicking (not eating, not sleeping, crying non stop) for about two weeks now and I feel I just can't take any more.
About 20 years ago I was the recipient of a bit of malpractice during my first ever dental treatment - aged 18 I'd never been taken to a dentist and so inevitably needed a couple of surgical extractions and some fillings - in short doing the first extraction the dentist used the wrong technique (just tried to pull it) and knocked the healthy tooth next to the one being treated out - and in order to cover her back simply shoved it back in and told me it was an accident and it would be fine - which it kind of was until recently...
I went to my new dentist a couple of weeks ago and was told it has to come out. As it has never sat properly and is a constant reminder of what happened
(outrage about that doesn't do any good as it was 20 years ago, I was a working class teenager with no support network and times were very different, also I did kind of recover for this long so complaining about it to the NHS would have got me nowhere then. Which is not to say I don't torture myself about how powerless I was etc etc)
Anyway - although I didn't have a problem with the second surgical extraction done properly I have now developed a fear severe enough to have caused two weeks during which I've not eaten, slept, talked or thought about anything but teeth and driven my husband mad - I went to see a counsellor last week, which calmed me down for a couple of hours but now we're back to square one.
My dentist will not treat me without sedation as I was a tearful wreck just having my teeth cleaned at my last appointment - he is a top ranking private dentist for obvious reasons (NHS NO WAY EVER AGAIN) and we have agreed that the offending tooth needs to come out and as it is next to the gap I already have and the tooth behind that has slid into it at an alarming angle he can correct my bite and fill the gap I've always had by giving me a bridge. As I'll be sedated I'll also be having my wisdom teeth out and my bite corrected on the other side with a kind of extended crown.
The trouble is the bridge - My real sticking point is that I desperately don't want more healthy teeth to be damaged by being prepared as anchors and I'm doubtful about how secure I would feel with a bridge. I know gaps cause trouble but I'm still not comfortable with having something stuck on top of two (now ruined - and yet again by a dentist) teeth. I'm a severe 'picker' and know if i was aware of the thing I'd get it off somehow.
If it improves my bite, doesn't annoy me and lasts a lifetime then great - but if it is annoying/feels unsafe and for whatever reason beaks or has to come off in 3 years what then? I just don't know what to do. Part of me knows I'm too screwed up about this tooth to make a rational decision to go with what my dentist says is the right thing to do.
I'm very tired and weak now but need to be able to make the right choice for me in a couple of weeks at the outside as the appointment is for the end of September. I can handle gaps - I can kind of handle what happened to me (I've lived with both for a long time) but a very expensive and horrid appliance? just on account of some stupid inept woman 20 years ago? on the other hand this thing could finally give me the ability to chew properly again and act as a 'retainer' on my remaing back tooth
i could go on forever - this feels so unreal but I'm hoping just coming here will help me find peace of mind and somehow I'll be able to make a decision I'll be able to live with.
B E x x
I'm 37 and having problems coming to terms with the dental treatment I need and hope that writing it down will help to clear my head. I've been panicking (not eating, not sleeping, crying non stop) for about two weeks now and I feel I just can't take any more.
About 20 years ago I was the recipient of a bit of malpractice during my first ever dental treatment - aged 18 I'd never been taken to a dentist and so inevitably needed a couple of surgical extractions and some fillings - in short doing the first extraction the dentist used the wrong technique (just tried to pull it) and knocked the healthy tooth next to the one being treated out - and in order to cover her back simply shoved it back in and told me it was an accident and it would be fine - which it kind of was until recently...
I went to my new dentist a couple of weeks ago and was told it has to come out. As it has never sat properly and is a constant reminder of what happened
(outrage about that doesn't do any good as it was 20 years ago, I was a working class teenager with no support network and times were very different, also I did kind of recover for this long so complaining about it to the NHS would have got me nowhere then. Which is not to say I don't torture myself about how powerless I was etc etc)
Anyway - although I didn't have a problem with the second surgical extraction done properly I have now developed a fear severe enough to have caused two weeks during which I've not eaten, slept, talked or thought about anything but teeth and driven my husband mad - I went to see a counsellor last week, which calmed me down for a couple of hours but now we're back to square one.
My dentist will not treat me without sedation as I was a tearful wreck just having my teeth cleaned at my last appointment - he is a top ranking private dentist for obvious reasons (NHS NO WAY EVER AGAIN) and we have agreed that the offending tooth needs to come out and as it is next to the gap I already have and the tooth behind that has slid into it at an alarming angle he can correct my bite and fill the gap I've always had by giving me a bridge. As I'll be sedated I'll also be having my wisdom teeth out and my bite corrected on the other side with a kind of extended crown.
The trouble is the bridge - My real sticking point is that I desperately don't want more healthy teeth to be damaged by being prepared as anchors and I'm doubtful about how secure I would feel with a bridge. I know gaps cause trouble but I'm still not comfortable with having something stuck on top of two (now ruined - and yet again by a dentist) teeth. I'm a severe 'picker' and know if i was aware of the thing I'd get it off somehow.
If it improves my bite, doesn't annoy me and lasts a lifetime then great - but if it is annoying/feels unsafe and for whatever reason beaks or has to come off in 3 years what then? I just don't know what to do. Part of me knows I'm too screwed up about this tooth to make a rational decision to go with what my dentist says is the right thing to do.
I'm very tired and weak now but need to be able to make the right choice for me in a couple of weeks at the outside as the appointment is for the end of September. I can handle gaps - I can kind of handle what happened to me (I've lived with both for a long time) but a very expensive and horrid appliance? just on account of some stupid inept woman 20 years ago? on the other hand this thing could finally give me the ability to chew properly again and act as a 'retainer' on my remaing back tooth
i could go on forever - this feels so unreal but I'm hoping just coming here will help me find peace of mind and somehow I'll be able to make a decision I'll be able to live with.
B E x x