• Dental Phobia Support

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Turned a Corner?

T

Tomithy

Junior member
Joined
Sep 11, 2012
Messages
14
Well, after over 10 years away from the dentist, years of self loathing and depression and more recently, months of putting off making that first phone call("I'll do it tomorrow, I swear!), I have an appointment on the 22nd.

Unfortunately the dentist the lady recommended was fully booked until end of November. I couldn't wait that long. Fingers crossed he's a nice guy, I plan on having a chat with him before he goes in my mouth. I like to think i'm a straight talking guy and will tell it how it is, they're bad teeth, I know this and don't need a lecture, just help.

I wasn't expecting to feel this relieved, but yeah, it feels strangely good, like the first day of a new life almost(i'm 26). My thinking is, If I feel this good now, how good will I feel when all the work is over and I can smile again?

I'm going into the appointment fully expecting the worst, then anything else is a bonus. I know I need my top two wisdoms out, I have an abscessed tooth which i'm terrified of getting worse as i've seen people I know's face bloat up like a balloon when that goes bad. My first molar on the left side has broken and causes a random horrible taste in my mouth and bad breath. One of my canines has a hole in it too which i'm scared of breaking off as well. This is what I know, i'm sure there will be more.

Just wanted to post this as a log for myself, and to thanks others on this great forum for giving me the courage to make the first step, and hopefully this can inspire another me out there to make that first appointment :)
 
Hello Tomithy :welcome: to the forum and :welldone: for finding the courage to ring for that first appointment. It is true the feeling you have of walking on air will last and as you go on it will get better and better.

It is amazing how much they can do to save teeth these days, and quite quickly we have out smiles. A caring and sympathetic dentist makes all this easier. I am sure you will be fine, if you find you are not comfortable seeing the first dentist ask if it would be possible to change to the one you first wanted to see.

I wish you well with your dental adventure's as I am sure you will now have many, some needing more treatment than others. Once you get over this first round of treatments you may need, it is much easier to keep up the 6 month appointments and you won't need as much needing doing.

Do explain to the dentist that you are nervous and that now you really want to get your teeth and mouth healthy and one you can be proud of. The treatments can be done pain free and the injections can also be done without pain as well.

The first appointment is usually an examination and if the probe (the pointy tool) bothers you ask if they could look just with a mirror at first until you feel less nervous, they also may want to do x rays but again if this feels like too much ask if you could do that later too. The x rays do tell them what is happening under the gums and is important for them to be able to decide what is the best course of treatment so if you can manage this it will help a lot.

They may give you some antibiotics to calm down any infection you may have at this first appointment and ask you to return at a later date. The antibiotics will only calm down infection and allow them to numb you to get the treatment you need. The treatment will get rid of the infection. You will be amazed at how well you feel and how clever you feel, it makes you feel like a good kid, daft I know but go with it it is worth it, I felt like skipping everywhere, I felt so light and worry free after my treatment.

I wish you GOOD LUCK :clover::clover::clover::clover::clover::clover: and well done for getting that first appointment it is the hardest step to take. Once you get there and get the first appointment out of the way things will become a lot easier as each appointment is completed. :respect::respect::respect:
 
Carole's just said it all really!

:welldone: for taking the first steps out of the dark place and into the light. It feels good out here, no stress and you're in control. Just getting yourself a dentist has made you feel "strangely good", just focus on what you are aiming at and soon you will be feeling really good. One step at a time, keep posting.

We have often been reduced to gibbering wrecks waiting for our first appointment, but there's nothing quite like the wonderful feeling when that visit is under your belt.
 
Just chiming in to congratulate you! I was away for 12 years, and it took a tooth falling out of my head to make me call a dentist.

To make the call of your own volition is already a great start! Wishing you well!
 
Thanks guys. I love this place so much, never found a community online that genuinely cares so much.

One of my biggest flaws as a person is that i'm not pro-active enough, always reactive in everything that I do, So this is a much needed break from the norm. I'll so often leave things until it's too late, I don't want this to be the case here. I'm happy to be able to see the dentist BEFORE something goes wrong, as opposed to when the **** hits the fan.

I'll call back in nearer the time to let you know how I get on.
 
I am in exactly same position as you and just like you finally picked up the phone and my appointment is tomorrow I am so scared but in another way I'm excited to actually be myself, able to smile and not be depressed anymore I hope, I found my dentist through this site and its definitely the best place to be for support I don't know what I would do without this site and I wish you all the luck in the world for your journey please keep us updated :)
 
I am in exactly same position as you and just like you finally picked up the phone and my appointment is tomorrow I am so scared but in another way I'm excited to actually be myself, able to smile and not be depressed anymore I hope, I found my dentist through this site and its definitely the best place to be for support I don't know what I would do without this site and I wish you all the luck in the world for your journey please keep us updated :)

Hey, how did you get on?


Well, Time is nearly here. Nervous, but desperate to get things sorted out.

I had a question as well, what are the chances of actually getting any work done at this first appointment? I have a tooth that simply needs to go asap, it's doing my head in. Would there be a chance he could remove it, or would this be something that varies from dentist to dentist?
 
It would be down to the individual dentist, if you are in pain they might remove the tooth if that is what is needed. On the first appointment they only usually chart the teeth, have a look and maybe do an x ray. If you ask, you never know, have a word with your dentist.

GOOD LUCK :clover::clover::clover: let us know how you get on. :)
 
*Gulp* Welp, here goes :dunno:
 
Got there to find that no appointment had been made. Fuming would be an understatement right now.
 
Thats awful!!! I hope you gave them an earful!! :mad:

Did they explain why there was no appointment!!?
 
It seems there were some crossed wires when I originally phoned them. When we were going through available dates/dentists, the girl obviously got confused and booked me with the wrong one.

All is well now, i'm re-booked in for Saturday with, i've been assured, the best and most sympathetic dentist at the surgery. Could be a blessing in disguise. Fingers crossed :)
 
Well i have fingers crossed all goes well for you :clover::clover::clover::clover:
 
Good luck! Hopefully it’ll be worth the wait. Interested to see how you get on!
 
Hi all, I'm just back from my appointment. Phew.

The dentist was running late, typically, so I had to endure an hour of drilling sounds before I went in. Not the ideal start I'm sure you'll agree. Why don't they just shut the friggin' door!?

Aside from that, I couldn't be happier. The dentist I saw was the nicest guy I could have possibly asked for, no judging, no lectures, no attitude, just a stand up gent.

He had a look around and immediately told the nurse to refer me for IV sedation. "Crap this is bad", i'm thinking. However, after X-raying me he canceled that and told me things weren't as bad as first feared. With regard to the work I need, Everything I listed in my first post was spot on and to my complete disbelief, there's nothing else that needs doing. He even said the tooth that's giving me trouble will most probably be saved with a crown.

So yeah, about as happy as I can be in my situation. I'm booked in for an hour this time next Saturday to have all the work done. If I were to choose to have sedation, I would have had to wait until January. This was simply not an option with Christmas coming up, need to be able to eat my mum's roast dinner!

For the first time in what feels like forever, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Feels good!:)
 
:yay: Glad to hear that all went well for you!!

There is nothing like that feeling of knowing everything is gonna be sorted is there!? I was on cloud nine after my first appointment!

Good luck for your appointment next week :clover:
 
RESULT :jump::jump::jump::cheer::dance2::dance2::dance2::dance2::dance2::dance2::dance2::dance2::dance2::dance2::dance2::dance2::dance2::dance2::dance2::cheer::jump::jump::jump: well who knew, one visit for treatment and you are all fixed :clover::clover::clover: I can't wait to hear how you go on. I am also glad that you have a nice considerate dentist. Sounds like it was worth waiting for.

Best wishes :friends:
 
Back from my first appointment of work done. The nurse got it wrong, there's another appointment to work on the other side of my mouth. I did think at the time it seemed like a lot of work for one hour.

Anyway, the dentist gave me a good clean to start off with, then got to drilling. He numbed me up pretty good, I barely felt a thing the whole time. In between drilling he took out the wisdom tooth on the top left side, again, didn't feel a thing and was over in under a minute.

He then did a filling, and then got to the tooth that was bothering me so much. He had to remove the root(is this root canal?), which sounded incredibly painful, but once again, nothing. This isn't to say I wasn't a nervous wreck the whole time though! I was shaking and sweating the whole time.

The appointment actually went surprisingly quick. The only negative now is that I have to wait until the 24th to get my other side sorted, i'm ready for it now!

So not quite out of the tunnel yet, but almost there :)
 
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