My story

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I have a dentist appointment today and am feeling very anxious so I thought I'd share my dental history to maybe make myself feel a little better.

When I was a child my family and I went to a dentist located 30 mins away. This isn't really <u>that</u> far but back then it seemed like an enormous journey. My appointments were always one of the first of the day so I had to wake up "early" to go to the dentist. I hated waking up so early and driving so far just to go to the dentist. My dentist was maybe around 50 years old. She was an immigrant from somewhere in Europe and her English skills weren't all that great. Her teeth were discolored and she had strange breath.

The first things I remember about the going to the dentist when I was younger are the terrible smell of latex, the sound of the drill and suction, and the disgusting taste of the fluoride goo stuff. I remember one time I went there and the girl before me threw up. The dentist jokingly asked what she ate and she replied "chicken nuggets." Gross. I never threw up at the dentist but I gagged regularly. I have a fear of vomiting so that didn't make it any better.

The dentist was very set in her ways and wasn't flexible at all. She would force my mouth open and if I closed it she would plug my nose until I had to open my mouth to breathe. It was terrible. The old dentist eventually left and I started to go to the one that replaced her, but she wasn't that much better either.

I then realized that since I am afraid of vomiting, gagging precedes/causes vomiting, and I gag when my mouth is dry and/or terrible tools and instruments are forced into it, that I would stop going to the dentist.

Several years ago I started having a very bad pain in one of my teeth. When I found that it was damaging my relationship with my girlfriend at the time (now ex-girlfriend) due to my irritability and general bad mood I decided it was time to get some work done. I found a new dentist closer to where I lived that offered nitrous for patients and decided to give that a shot. The dentist was understanding to my situation. We even arranged for a little hand signal that I could do if I needed her to squirt some water in my mouth to avoid gagging. With her, I had 4+ (I don't remember exactly) root canals done under nitrous and it was fine. I was to go back to her in a couple months to get crowns put on for two reasons: 1. I had maxed out my insurance, and 2. I was going away for college for a couple months.

While I was away at school, I cracked a couple of the newly done root canals. I didn't really have the time or the will to go back home to get them fixed, so I tried to go to the University hospital/dental school to get work done. They didn't offer nitrous, though. I had one appointment with them. I sat down, they started poking around with stuff and I almost gagged so I told them I wouldn't be able to have work done at that time and I left.

It's been two years since that incident and my teeth have gotten much worse. My breath is constantly bad, I have a bad taste in my mouth, and my root canaled teeth are cracked and broken. A couple weeks ago I was eating and I noticed one of my root canaled teeth had split nearly in half and one half was very loose and at an awkward angle. This caused incredible anxiety but I realized that I had to get this taken care of. I made an appointment for a new dentist where I now live. Yesterday I went for an exam so she could evaluate what needs to be done. She was very understanding and flexible, and was willing to let me hold a water squirt thing in case I needed some water to avoid gagging. I need a lot of work done.

I have gum disease, at least two teeth that need extracting (and will eventually need bridges or implants), and two teeth that need to be root canaled all over again. On top of that, I have dozens of cavities.

Today I am going to have half of my mouth "scaled" which involves scraping the tooth and root behind the gums to get rid of plaque buildup, which is step one. My appointment is in two and a half hours and I am not looking forward to it. I am terrified, but I am also hopeful that she will make the experience very easy for me.

I hope that she lets me do the water squirt thing again, and I am considering using nitrous for this procedure. I am very scared, though.

Anyway I thought it might make me feel better to get some stuff off my chest. If you read the whole thing, thanks.

Sorry to hear about your poor dental treatment during your youth. Sounds like you were treated with a lack of respect and abuse in your youth. Fortunately, dentistry has improved immensely in the past few years.

Good job plucking up the courage to take care of this. As many on this forum will tell you, the fear and anxiety regarding the appointment is far worse than the actual treatment.

I think you have found a dentist that is empathetic to your situation and is willing to do things to increase your comfort and feelings of control.

Best wishes for your appointment. I believe you are in good hands. Let us know how it turns out.

Thanks for the encouragement!

I had the procedure done earlier today and it went very well. I'm kind of looking forward to getting the second half done in a couple weeks! I think the dentist that I found is amazing and she has really helped to ease my fears.

that is encouraging to hear that your scaling went well. that is what i have to do next. if you could tell me a little more info about the actual procedure, i would greatly appreciate it. i know i can read about it online, but it's more reassuring to hear about it from someone else who is terrified of the dentist! if you can survive it, i guess i can too, though it seems like a friggin long time to be stuck in the chair

You'll be fine. It's pretty much what it sounds like - a deep cleaning. First they put you under nitrous so you relax a lot while they put topical anesthetic on your gums. Then they inject the novacaine stuff and you're completely numb. After that, they take one of those pick things and scrape off the plaque that is built up on your teeth and beneath your gums (around 5 mm below the gumline) but you don't feel a thing. Then they polish your teeth like in a regular cleaning and you're done. It really was no biggie and I'm not really sore at all. I'm not worried for the next appointment at all.