Round Two beckons.........

A months reprieve and the next appointment rears its head. This gets a bit scary now as things are now really going to start to happen. I believe I am in good hands although it is still daunting. This next session is about gum charting which sounds horrible, as it involves considerable poking around, something that I have been fearful of since my butchery in my teens. Any enlightenment on what is involved and how to cope much appreciated! I am on trial this coming Wednesday (21st March)..........

Hi Surreyveryphobic
I am sure gum pockets can be measured gently but if you were to find things uncomfortable you could presumably request topical numbing such as Oraqix:
'Oraqix is a revolutionary injection-free local anaesthetic for subgingival procedures like probing, calculus removal, scaling and root planing. It is indicated for use in adult patients with gingival inflammation such as periodontal disease. Oraqix is a locally applied anaesthetic gel consisting of a eutectic mixture of 2.5% lidocaine and 2.5% prilocaine in a thermosetting system. It dispenses as a liquid, and changes in the periodontal pocket to a gel. Oraqix features a 30 second onset, with a duration of about 20 minutes per tooth and can be re-applied'.
Best wishes

Thanks for this very useful information. I will certainly try and use this stuff with my dentist if possible. I know my practice use it, as it was mentioned when I "interviewed" them back in November. Hopefully this should resolve this and many other issues!

I think I had this done when I went in for a partial cleaning but I didn't know what was happening until it was done. I didn't find it painful at all.

Hey Surreyvwphobic (and spelling this took more time than this whole post),
measuring of pockets was one of my biggest fears too since and I must say: it's much worse in your head than it is in reality. The whole thing took hardly two minutes and I didn't notice anything, I couldn't tell what the dentist were doing at all. It didn't feel like what I imagined when thinking of poking.
My dentist offered me to try just one tooth first and if it were ok to try some other teeth so I had a chance to process how it felt first which was very helpful. He also always just did few teeth and then stopped for a moment to check how I was doing so maybe you could ask your dentist to go slowly.

Thanks for this very helpful insight! Sounds like it should all be relatively straightforward. What I am most looking forward to in all of this is hopefully getting some closure from the previous teenage abuse and moreover getting the onward care and support I should have got years ago! Watch my journal space for the update on how things went following next Wednesday (titled "Smiles Better" aka the catchy name of the surgery concerned).

Just a few hours to go now. Thank God the snow has gone so hopefully trains running normally! A simple case of fingers crossed.........

Sending good vibes and wishes and keeping my fingers crossed for you! You will do great!
Have a good travel and a good visit and keep us posted!

Enarete said:

Sending good vibes and wishes and keeping my fingers crossed for you! You will do great!
Have a good travel and a good visit and keep us posted!

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Hey I did it! All was a resounding success all told. I have put a detailed account on my posting in the "Journals" section titled "Smiles Better" for those interested and wanting to read. The leap in confidence is such that in a year's time I might even be able to relocate to a local dentist (who are walking distance). For now though, I want to go through a complete cycle so that I have reached the regular maintenance stage, so that I can then approach a wider spectrum of choice, without the "extreme phobia" issue hanging over me. One piece of advice I would like to share again with all who might be reading this, is simply: it's all about the person! Just finding the right character is the hardest part, the rest will follow naturally. Happy to help anybody else who asks. I am now a dental abuse survivor!! Love Simon

Hi Simon, I'd been waiting for your update and I'm so pleased to hear that it went really well - congratulations !!

One piece of advice I would like to share again with all who might be reading this, is simply: it's all about the person! Just finding the right character is the hardest part, the rest will follow naturally.

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I can totally relate to that (I'd add technically competent, keeping up with new developments and ethical as key requirements to that list, but without the right personality, none of these are of much use).

Enjoy and celebrate your success !!!