Ok here's my proposed treatment plan

Should I get a new dentist?

I went and saw a dentist for the first time after 12 years of not seeing one due to some really bad experiences as a child. My tooth started hurting real bad and I picked out a dentist within my dental network. People were raving about how he is such an awesome dentist etc. Well I was really nervous but the toothache overcame my fears. I got my consultation, xrays and he decided that i needed a root canal for my tooth. He then prescribed me antibiotics for my infection and scheduled me for the root canal 2 days later. Lord and behold, he turned out to be a really "busy" dentist.
First of all he gave me two shots which really didn't hurt. Then he left and went from room to room tending to other patients. i waited for 30 mins. I told him that I was not numbed at all, he decided to give me 2 more shots right down to my nerves. But he did not mention to me that he was doing that so of course I was taken aback by the first one. My tongue was in the way ( natural instinct) and he told me to move it so that he can do his job! Then left the room again. 30 mins later he came back and proceeded with the root canal. He gave me two more shots without telling me!! One on the inside of my mouth which didnt hurt and the other straight down my tooth. That made me jump and I got teary eyed. He then started the root canal and it seem like a battle field. Stuff flying everywhere, and at one point he even told the assistant if she's not ready for this to leave and he'll get someone else because he has no time for this!!
After he was done, he went outside and whispered something and a whole bunch of people started crowding around me. He patched my "hole" in my tooth up with temp cement and left the room, whispering that he couldn't do the whole procedure!!!
So I had to question the assistant about what's going on and she told me that I had a fourth canal in my tooth that the dentist couldn't get to. They have to refer me to an endodontist!! So basically they wasted my time but they did stop the pain as he took the nerves out of the 3 canals that he could get to. Needless to say i was upset, traumatized, and completely drooling on my way out with the dentist not saying anything to me the whole time!! All the girls up at the reception were giving me a really sympathetic look... I have to get another RCT on Oct 03 at the endodontist, and because of the dentist, I am completely terrified of shots now!! What should I do? Is it ok to go to another dentist? And I need help picking one as the last one I picked turned out to be a disaster!!

Re: Should I get a new dentist?

Let me be the first to give you a hearty!! Sorry to hear about all your problems!!! I've only started down my road to dental health, so I'm definitely not the one to give TOO much advice, but this dentist reminds me of the dentist that really helped to SET IN my dental phobia!!! I'm sure others will agree with me, yes get yourself another dentist!! I know if your dentist was my dentist, I WOULD NOT go back!! If your pain has kind of settled down and you can think straight, now might be the time to go dentist shopping.
I'm sure other people will have some more advice, that's the wonderful thing about this forum!!!!!
I wish you well.
,
Jen

Re: Should I get a new dentist?

Yes, you should. There are dentists out there who don't leave their patient alone for half an hour! I don't know if any other normal dentist could have finished your root canal, but at least he could have handled the situation better. But super-big congratulations for getting through it anyway! I may not could have done that. (Ok, my English grammar doesn't understand how to say that but hope you understand.)

Re: Should I get a new dentist?

FinnishGirl said:

Yes, you should. There are dentists out there who don't leave their patient alone for half an hour! I don't know if any other normal dentist could have finished your root canal, but at least he could have handled the situation better. But super-big congratulations for getting through it anyway! I may not could have done that. (Ok, my English grammar doesn't understand how to say that but hope you understand.)

Click to expand...

This flitting from patient to patient in 'godlike I'm so busy' fashion is definitely an American thing....I hope it never catches on in Europe.....if I am having a procedure or just a check-up, my dentist stays with me the whole time, chats while the LA is kicking in etc etc.....it makes such a difference to the whole experience...I'm sure you will be in much better hands with the endo so why not go there to get it finished off and then get a new recommendation...maybe if you like the endo more, you could ask him for advice. The way he spoke to his assistant was very unprofessional and would obviously make any patient feel uncomfortable and ill at ease.
If he ever was an awesome dentist, he has clearly overscheduled himself and taken on too many patients to be able to service them properly.
Good luck..endo will probably have nitrous.

Re: Should I get a new dentist?

Alright so here's the latest update on my root canal. I was rescheduled for the Oct 03 appointment with the endodontist. I never made it into the next appointment either due to a staph infection on my arm ( an ingrown hair gone bad). Anyway, he scheduled me for the 31st of October. I was very nervous when I arrived at the endo's office. They gave me a couple of Halcyon, and I felt really calm and relaxed in about 30 mins. The endo was WAYY nicer than the first dentist that started the root canal and I did not even feel the shots at all. The whole procedure lasted 45 minutes and I was home by 430pm, pain free. I went straight to bed and did not wake up until 10pm that night. I had minimal swelling and even got ready and went out to celebrate Halloween with friends that night! I am really proud of myself for doing it, now I'll just have to find a nice dentist to get my crown done.

Ok so I posted on this forum a couple of months ago about going through a root canal successfully and on top of that, I found me a new dentist. (The last one was horrible). Anywho, they gave me a proposed treatment plan which was 2 pages long and I am mortified!! I guess I totally deserved it when I did neglect my oral health for 17 years. They divided everything into 8 phases:
#1: Two resin composite on molars 18 and 20
Post and Core on 19 plus crown
#2: Resin composite on molars 30 and 31 (deep cavities)
#3: Periodontal Scaling
#4: Resin composite on Anterior 8 and anterior 9 (possible root canal)
#5: Resin Composite on Surface 2 and 3
#6: Resin Composite on Surface 14 and 15
#7: Wisdom teeth extraction on ERU1 and ERU 16 (fully exposed)

I guess I do have a lot of cavities and a number of deep scale. My question is:

Does it hurt to get these cavities filled?
Does the wisdom teeth extraction hurt bad?
Does the periodontal Scaling hurt?
Finally how does nitrous oxide work? Am I going to feel pain?

Sorry for being a chicken but I am simply too nervous and still shocked!! Any input would be great!!

bicardibutterfly said:

Does it hurt to get these cavities filled?
Does the wisdom teeth extraction hurt bad?
Does the periodontal Scaling hurt?
Finally how does nitrous oxide work? Am I going to feel pain?

Sorry for being a chicken but I am simply too nervous and still shocked!! Any input would be great!!

Click to expand...

After your good endo experience, you know the answer already really...so long as you have picked a competent caring dentist who gives proper priority to patient comfort, none of it need be painful. Any after pain (if any) can be handled with normal painkillers.

If they do not deliver on patient comfort...don't forget you are free to leave at any time....you are in control.
There's some info about nitrous here - for cleanings people sometimes use it alone without LA but for any other procedure usually LA is also given, the nitrous is just to relax you although it does have some numbing effect on gum tissue.
Many people have comfrotable cleanings with nothing except a gentle hygienist but it is very common to use LA or other numbing gels for deep cleanings.
I'm sure you will be fine - congratulations for not giving up.

Thank you for your encouraging reply, It should be better this time around. I am going to request some nitrous oxide or halcyon. I was prescribed Halcyon by the endo and love it! Good luck to me and I will keep everyone posted.

Re: One down 7 more to go....

Alright here's my latest update.... I went in for my phase 1 treatment and eveything went pretty smoothly. They did put me on some nitrous oxide and it did calm me down a little. They numbed my gums with some of the topical anesthetic and all I can say is I did not feel the first two shots. However they had to give me two more as I could still feel my back molars when they started drilling. I don't think I was in pain but my mind wants to think that it is going to be painful hence I was clawing the chair pretty badly! Now I noticed that the shot actually vibrated. Does anyone know what and why that is? The dentist also did a post build up and took impressions of my tooth for the crown. The whole procedure took almost three hours but I am so proud that I went through with it. I go in March 12 for my permanent crown and will reschedule for phase 2.

The composite fillings looks great and I was almost in tears to see them so ...nice... it's been years since I've seen my molars white!! Hopefully the rest of my visits will get better and that doesn't mean that my phobia is gone. I will continue to use Nitrous Oxide but for my wisdom teeth extractions (2 fully erupted on top) I will ask for Halcyon. It seem to sedate me a lil more than nitrous. Anyways, I will keep you guys posted....

hey

i have just had a wisdom tooth extracted and it was totally fine the only bit that made me jump a little was one of the shots i got cause she dribbled it on my tongue and it didn't taste too nice it went into the roof of my mouth lol, i was offered the gas but i didn't like the smell of it so went without and all you feel is some tugging and it was over in about 30 seconds! it was really quick i actually said to her is it out? lol

Re: One down 7 more to go....

bicardibutterfly said:

Now I noticed that the shot actually vibrated. Does anyone know what and why that is?

Click to expand...

It may have been vibraject which is a painless anaesthetic delivery system (google it if you are interested)....it obviously works pretty well since you said you didn't feel the shots.
TheWand is another more sophisticated one.

Congratulations on your progress...the treatment list doesn't sound that long and as you have seen you enjoy your teeth looking better. Keep us posted.

All right it's been a while since I've updated you guys. My bottom molars are done and they are moving on to my top teeth. I am getting a root planning done on the 8th of July and I am pretty darn nervous about it. Does it hurt b bad? Am I going to be anesthesized? I am also feeling pain on one of my molars located on my bottom right with a deep cavity. The cavity is cleaned out and filled but the dentist warned me that it might fail and if I felt any pain, I will need a root canal. Boy oh boy it's been hurting whenever I eat or drink hot or cold food. I fear the inevitable. I am not afraid of the root canal anymore but just the money that I have to fork out as my insurance is already maxed out for the year. He is also going to start on my front teeth ( huge cavity on the side and middle of my front teeth) after I bleach them to a desired white. I am getting the impression done on the 21st of July. *sigh* more money involved but I'll have nice teeth right?!

One thing that I really don't understand is that even though I am getting braver each visit to my dentist but I am still quite nervous. During the last visit, he gave me 6 shots for my bottom right side of my mouth and I could still feel a small pinch when he started drilling. He then gave me nitrous to up my pain tolerance because I was obviously still really nervous. I really need to get over that but I do not know how to!! Any tips or advice?? Alright I'll stop my blabbering for now. Until next time!

Welcome back. Congratulations on the progress that you've been making and for the work you've had done.

I had a scaling and planing done when I started back into dental care and, honestly, it really didn't hurt. My dentist's office broke the procedure up over a number of visits. They gave me a local anesthetic and I honestly didn't feel a thing. Honestly, if I had to sum up the experience I'd say it was more boring than anything else. My gums were a tiny bit sore after the anesthetic wore off. If you've ever had your toothbrush slip you've already experienced worse. By the next day, my gums were all better.

In terms of the possible root canal, talk to your dentist and explain your situation. Together, you may be able to come up with a plan of action.

As for being nervous, there's no timetable. There's no point at which people can tell you, "After this you will no longer feel nervous." Give yourself permission to take things at your own pace. Nobody is going to judge you and say, "You should be over it by now."

Right now, the unknown surrounding your filled tooth and the upcoming scaling/root planing are probably contributing to your nerves. Given what you've said about feeling a little braver after each visit, it sounds like you'll continue to get even braver after each procedure you have done - especially if you have a dentist you like and trust.

For us dental phobes, it seems to me that the root (no pun intended) of many of our problems is the unknown. ("What will this feel like?" "How much will this cost?" "Will this dentist be like my last one?" "What IS that thing?") As we answer more and more questions and have more positive, or at least tolerable, experiences those things we feared become a bit more mundane and the fear starts to loosen its grip a little at a time.

All of that to say, rest assured that you're normal. These things sometimes just take a little time. Try not to worry about the road ahead. Often it's a much shorter distance than it appears. Instead, look back over the road you've traveled and celebrate how far you've come.

Thank you for the encouragement. So my latest update... I just got done with the root planning and scaling. I walked into the dental office nervous, expecting the worse. However, it did not hurt that badly at all except for an occasional pinch and the annoying scraping sound. I did all these without any anesthesia and she did not do it in quadrants, she did my whole mouth in an hour!! I am sooooo happy that this is over and she scheduled me for a regular cleaning on Jan 2010! woo hoo!! My teeth feels great..... smooth adn clean!! I love it!! I am also purchasing the Oral B triumph electric toothbrush and it has a timer that tells you how long to brush each quadrant. I can't wait to try it. The next thing on my agenda is to get those bleaching trays for my teeth and after that the dentist will proceed to fix the cavities on my two front teeth.

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I've updated on my progress. Well as of this morning, I have successfully completed my treatment plan! I had to bleach my teeth before getting my front cavities filled and I would get uneven blotches of white. I stopped the bleaching for about a month, thinking that my teeth are still really yellow. Well to my surprise, they hygienist told me that I actually went 6 shades lighter than the last time and that the uneven blotching simply indicates that my teeth are over exposed to the bleaching agent. I went in for my appointment at 7 am and finished at 10:39 am. He did my whole upper portion of my mouth and let me tell ya that i have never been more numbed! The shots on the left and right side were fine and I did not feel anything. But the ones on my front really close to my nose stung a little actually I teared up. However, everything went by so well and he is so skilled! I could not tell that i had cavities or fillings there. So I am finally done with my treatments!! The only thing that I have to take care of, which the dentist told me that I can come in for those anytime are my wisdom teeth on my upper jaw. He said that they have completey erupted and they are straight like the rest of my teeth. He told me that it should "pop" out easily. Woo Hoo!! I feel like a brand new person and couldn't stop smiling. I hope everyone out there were able to gain some encouragement through my experience I mean i sure did from reading this forum. Good luck and I will up date on my last procedure end of the year!

If this scardy cat did it, I am sure all of you can do it too....

Congrats on completing your treatment plan! I bet it's the most wonderfull feeling! I am almost at the end of mine and I plan to celebrate like no one's business.

You made great strides and deserve to celebrate..Great job!!

I went back to read your very first post here!! WOW, what progress you have made!! You should be very proud of yourself!!! I wish I could say that I was done with MY treatment plan, but I'm getting there
Congrats!! Great job!!!

Thanks Oliv and Jen, I am really thrilled that eveything is done. The only thing left are my wisdoms but I trust my dentist that it will be fine. I am so proud that I stuck around and went through with the treatments. I am sure both of u will be very very content and satisfied after you're donw. Just keep plugging along and before you know it, its over. Good luck and I will let you guys know how my wisdom teeth extractions go.

Great news - stay in touch.

Hi everyone it's been a while since I've posted. Well, I just went back for my 6 months cleaning and check up. The dentist gave my teeth a clean bill of health! So happy!! I didn't get my wisdom teeth out yet but I will be scheduling an appointment in the summer. I hope everyone is doing well....