S
Solomunchkin
Member
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2015
- Messages
- 35
- Location
- Halifax, Nova Scotia
Hello all,
First off, let me thank everyone for the great stories, reassurances and anecdotes that have proven to me I am not the only one with a fear of dentists!
***WARNING***
This is going to be a looooooong first post. I feel it necessary for some reason to give a back story before getting the present and the future! So, let’s get started.
My first memory of the dentist is age 4 when we were forced to go to the school dentist. There were no appointments as such, you were just called out of class and sent to the room of doom! I remember my first visit vividly. I had no fear as I had nothing to relate it to. I just went along with it. Check up went well. Then she said I needed a filling and pulled out this massive needle. Needles I knew all about and they frightened me. So rather than just put me at ease, she said “Fine then, we will do it without the needle!” Ok, I thought, must be ok. Then she started drilling! I literally pushed her off me and ran all the way home without stopping, crying my eyes out! It was horrific!
So, after that, my Mom decided to get me in to a “Normal” dentist. But the only thing in our budget was the Dental School! We lived in Toronto at the time and the dental school was on Elm Street! Ugh. This was in the 80’s as well, just when Nightmare on Elm Street came out. But, I went every 6 months! I am pretty sure they used us all as guinea pigs as I had to have a filling, fisher sealing or something done every time! The appointments were usually 2 hours. 1 hour for “work” and an hour for cleaning. Even the x-rays hurt. They put those plastic things in your mouth on the outside of your teeth and made you bite down. My mouth is tiny, so it would cut in to my gums and cheek, making me cry before they even really did anything. To top it all off, all you could hear was drills going from the hundreds of other people in there being worked on, kids crying and all sorts of horrible smells. It was never an easy process either as the students working on your mouth had to go find a teacher to check their work before they moved on to the next bit. So if having a filling, they would drill, get a teacher to check they got all the decay before filling it. 90% of the time, they didn’t, so it was back to drilling, then more waiting, then filling, then more waiting. So it was never a relaxing experience for me AT ALL!
When I was 11, I moved to Nova Scotia with my Dad as my Mom moved to England. He booked me in to a private dentist straight away when he saw the look on my face as we talked about anything medical I needed. I did need a filling when I went to see him, but it was easy! Pain free and quick. For the first time I felt ok about the dentist! I had 2 baby teeth still and he said they had to be pulled as there were no adult teeth to push them out. Top and bottom 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] molars back on the right. He told me he would do it under sedation if I wanted and then we would look at braces to close the gaps. I felt ok about this and he said it wasn’t urgent at all. We could do it the following year. But, after living with my Dad and step mother for 6 months, I wanted to be back with my Mom, so I moved to England.
Being 12 at this point and easily influenced, I listened to the kids around me that all dentists were terrible in England and that it always hurts! So every time my Mom booked an appointment for me, I would call back the next day, pretend I was her and cancel the appointment. She would forget that she had booked me an appointment and never follow up with me on how it went. So I got out of having to go for many years!
A couple months before I turned 18, I had an adult talk with myself and decided I should see the dentist. Especially as it was free until I turned 18! So, I booked an appointment with the first place I found that was taking on new patients. He seemed a nice man. Told me off a little for not flossing. Gave my teeth a little scrape and said overall my teeth looked really good for not having been to a dentist for over 6 years at that point. He then said I 4 tiny cavities that he would sort right there and then as they were so small, it was preventative more than restorative. Cool! I can do fillings. Wasn’t bad when I was 11, so wont be any different now right? Wrong. He pulls out his drill and just starts blasting away! Paying no attention to me wriggling around in the chair under his death grip! When he did stop for a second, I asked for freezing. He just said they were too small! It was like scraping the surface so I shouldn’t feel a thing!
Needless to say, I was not in a hurry after that to go back! About 6 months after that visit, the filling on my top right very back tooth fell out. It didn’t hurt or give me any troubles, so I just ignored it. Plus I do not chew on that side due to the 2 baby teeth I had still at that point, which had ended up sinking in to my gums leaving large gaps.
Fast forward to me being 31, 5 years ago. It had been 13 years since I had even thought about seeing a dentist. I had moved back to Canada with my husband, who had been really trying to get me to see a dentist. But I was acting very much like a 5 year old having a temper tantrum every time he mentioned it, that it just became easier for both of us to just not talk about it! Anyway, a massive cavity formed in my lower left wisdom tooth and it was giving me some trouble. So, I kindly asked my man if he would do the honours of booking me an appointment at his dentist. Who, coincidentally was at the same dentist office I went to when I was 11! Not the same dentist, but still, I was optimistic. Keeping this in mind, I was very brave and went for a check up! She confirmed I indeed only had 3 wisdom teeth. 2 on the left which were through the gums, and 1 on the lower right which was impacted. I also only had 1 cavity, but would need old fillings replaced. I felt pretty smug to be honest. Really?! That’s it! I totally though my teeth were doomed to have root canals in all of them! But nope! She said she wouldn’t do any work to my teeth until I had a good cleaning, but would refer me to an oral surgeon to sort my wisdom teeth out as a matter of urgency.
I booked my first cleaning with the hygienist. She said we would do it over 4 visits and I could be frozen if I wanted. When she said needle, she saw my face and suggested we try just some numbing gel first and see how I get on. If it is too much and I want to be actually frozen, she would get the dentist to come in and do it. My front bottom teeth were the worst, so she started with those. Asking every time she scraped anywhere if I was ok. She also opted not to use the water pick as she felt it would be a bit too much for my first visit. All went really well and I was feeling invincible after my 45 minutes there. I was starting to feel like I could actually deal with it.
Then I had my consult with the surgeon. I said I wanted to be under general anaesthetic to have my wisdom teeth out. He convinced me to go for IV sedation. Really nice man and pretty good looking too, so that probably helped sway my decision! He said he would also get the 2 baby teeth out at the same time as it was only gum holding them in, so would be nothing.
1 week later, I was in there ready to go. I asked to keep my teeth, for some strange reason, but did actually throw them out about a week later. I don’t remember a thing about the whole procedure, which is what I wanted. I vaguely remember being in the car and my husband telling me I needed to stop talking and bite on the gauze that was in my mouth. Then I remember being really thirsty about 4 hours after we got home. My mouth stayed numb until the next morning pretty much and then the pain started. It wasn’t pain from where he pulled the teeth though. I guess he hit a nerve and my tongue was really sore and swollen. I couldn’t poke my tongue out of my mouth at all. After about 3 weeks, my tongue just went numb and still is today. I occasionally get pins and needles in it, like when your foot falls asleep and it is just starting to wake up again. It is also only on the right side of my mouth. All in all though, the wisdom tooth thing was pretty easy.
3 weeks after having them out, I was back in for round 2 of cleaning. Numbing gel again and she said she would get my bottom molars on both sides done. She didn’t pay any attention to me really when I said things were hurting and she laughed at me when I jumped when she started with the water pick. Not amused! But I sat through it and got out of there as fast as I could.
1 week after that, back in for round 3. This time, she refused to use the numbing gel and just started on my top teeth with the water pick. I was wriggling a writhing. Asked her to stop on several occasions. Asked for actual freezing and she said it was all in my head and pointless now as we had done so much already. Then she got her hygienist friend who wasn’t doing anything to come hold the sucker thingy while they talked about Big Brother! I lasted about 10 minutes and then legged it! Didn’t even pay my bill. I phoned the next day, cancelled my final cleaning appointment and paid what I owed over the phone. I was done! No more dentists for me!
So, fast forward now to June this year. I was back in the UK for work and was visiting some friends. We went out for a curry and after the wonderful meal, I was poking around my teeth with my tongue, fishing out little bits of rice and chicken, to be greeted with a piece of my upper very back molar missing! No pain, but what felt like a giant hole in my tooth was present. When I got back to the hotel, I investigated with my little mirror to see that half of my filling had come out, taking a tiny piece of tooth with it. So I knew I had to get my frightened self to a dentist as soon as I got home.
I did some research and asked around at my office for advice on who to go see. I wasn’t going to go back to that other dentist. No way! A colleague suggested a place around the corner from the office that use Nitrous Oxide and suggested I go see them. So I made an appointment. All by myself. Through email though as I just couldn’t pluck up the courage to use a phone! I was very open about me fears and the lady I chatted with over about 4 days was very reassuring and managed to convince me to go in for just a check up. So off I went...this was last month. July 22[SUP]nd[/SUP].
The dentist and his assistant were lovely. Made me feel very relaxed. The x-rays didn’t hurt at all! They use 3D imaging, so nothing actually really went in my mouth! I was quite happy about this. He then did a full exam and explained what I was going to feel and assured me there would be no pain. And he was right. He then got a tiny camera and showed me around my mouth on the TV screen above my head. Showing me where there were issues and what needed to be addressed sooner rather than later. We then talked about what needed to be done and what my options are.
First are the top 2 very back teeth on either side that have lost their fillings and have very large cavities in them now with a lot of decay. My 2 options are having them pulled or having root canals. We talked about the pros and cons about both options. No cons to having them pulled as they are the very back ones, so will have very little impact on the rest of my teeth, if at all. Cons of root canals are price, length of time it takes to do them, and then likely having to have the teeth pulled in a few years anyway as the way my teeth line up, they may or may not take well. So I said I would likely agree to have them pulled.
Next is fillings. I have 2 new cavities and need 7 fillings replaced. 5 of the 7 fillings that need replacing, there is a little bit of decay around them so will sort that at the same time. The 2 new cavities are small, so no urgency for that.
Then cleaning. Needed cleaning really bad. Said the same thing about freezing, but this time I said I 100% want to be frozen. Don’t want to feel anything! Cleaning comes first, so I booked an appointment for the next morning. This is where I am trying to be really adult about this. I arrived on time and was greeted by the hygienist. Lovely lady who instantly put me at ease. She had a look and said we would start with the harder stuff, then I know it would only get easier. So, bottom left quarter of my mouth it was to be. She rubbed some numbing gel on my gums and said she would go get the dentist for my freezing. The dentist comes in and sticks the needle in my bottom right! When he finished poking me, I told him the mistake he made. He laughed and said “Well, you are tougher than you thought you were” and walked out laughing. Ok, this was kind of funny and was just a little needle, so not like he pulled the wrong tooth or anything!
So on we went with the cleaning. It went well! Didn’t feel a thing and the hour seemed to go quick. Watching TV and very light chit chat made it pass fast and I felt pretty relaxed. The hygienist asked if I wanted to come in the following afternoon to have the other half of my bottom teeth doneI I was totally happy to do this. So in I went the next day. Made a joke with the dentist about putting the needle in the correct side. It was all light hearted and relaxed. The cleaning went well and I left feeling pretty good about myself. I couldn’t get in to see her again for a month, but we both agreed that would be a good thing. Allow my gums time to settle and make sure I don’t get any virus as apparently that is common when having a thick layer of plaque removed from your teeth.
We are now almost at present day! 2 days ago, I went in to start the cleaning on my upper teeth. Top right to start. Again, very light hearted. The dentist made a joke about freezing my left foot, so I knew he still felt a little silly about my first cleaning, but happy to joke about it. This also put me at ease. He was very honest about the needle saying the one in the roof of the mouth would likely sting a little but it only literally takes 3 seconds. He was right. It stung, but was quick. It seemed to go extremely smoothly and I was out a little earlier than expected, so that was nice. My last appointment was booked for the next day (yesterday) and I was feeling really proud of myself for getting through as much as I had, but now starting to get nervous about having the actual work done!
So yesterday, I arrive a few minutes early as always and was greeted with lots of smiles from the reception team. They are like my own personal cheerleading squad at the moment, it’s awesome! Anyway, the dentist comes in and freezes the left side of my mouth and sits me up. “Let’s talk about what happens after today shall we?” he says. So we decide that pulling the tooth on the right first will be the best thing to do. This is the one that just broke in June and is feeling a little achy, so best to get it out. I said I was nervous and both him and the hygienist said the cleaning part is harder than the extraction and if I can sit through an hour of someone scraping at my teeth, I can sit through 2 minutes of having a tooth pulled. He explained the 40 minute appointment would be taken up mainly by waiting for anaesthetic to work and making sure the bleeding slows after. The actual process of pulling the tooth out will literally be 2 minutes, if not less! I made a comment that he would pump me full of nitrous anyway, so I would be ok, to which he replied he didn’t think I needed it! Oh no! But I do! At least I think I do! He said he wont deny me having it, but he thinks I will be just fine without any and if I can do that, I can do anything. Just not sure if I am ready for that yet.
Anyway, he said to think about it while my teeth were being cleaned and we would talk about it after. It had been about 10 minutes so should have been nice and frozen up by then. All but the last 2 teeth froze. Every time she ran that water pick over them, it was like an electric shock! So she did all my other teeth then tried again, thinking it just needed more time. Nope! So she got the dentist back in who gave me more freezing around those teeth. We waited about 5 minutes and tried again. Nope. So waited a bit more. Nope. So more freezing and more waiting. And the stupid things wouldn’t freeze. That means she couldn’t finish my cleaning.
So what the dentist has said is when I go to have that tooth pulled, I will just spend 20 minutes with the hygienist first to finish the cleaning and then pull the tooth! He said he will use a stronger freezing and will make it freeze! But what happens if it wont freeze? How is he going to check it is frozen? Just start pulling? What if it is frozen enough to not feel the water pick but not quite frozen enough and I feel him pulling my tooth? So now I am freaking out! And I was doing so well!
Some reassurance would be good. Please don’t post links to other posts as I have read them all, but am looking for replies that are relevant to this exact thing. Has anyone had this before? Did the stronger stuff work? Why don’t they just use the stronger stuff in the first place?
Thank you in advance!
First off, let me thank everyone for the great stories, reassurances and anecdotes that have proven to me I am not the only one with a fear of dentists!
***WARNING***
This is going to be a looooooong first post. I feel it necessary for some reason to give a back story before getting the present and the future! So, let’s get started.
My first memory of the dentist is age 4 when we were forced to go to the school dentist. There were no appointments as such, you were just called out of class and sent to the room of doom! I remember my first visit vividly. I had no fear as I had nothing to relate it to. I just went along with it. Check up went well. Then she said I needed a filling and pulled out this massive needle. Needles I knew all about and they frightened me. So rather than just put me at ease, she said “Fine then, we will do it without the needle!” Ok, I thought, must be ok. Then she started drilling! I literally pushed her off me and ran all the way home without stopping, crying my eyes out! It was horrific!
So, after that, my Mom decided to get me in to a “Normal” dentist. But the only thing in our budget was the Dental School! We lived in Toronto at the time and the dental school was on Elm Street! Ugh. This was in the 80’s as well, just when Nightmare on Elm Street came out. But, I went every 6 months! I am pretty sure they used us all as guinea pigs as I had to have a filling, fisher sealing or something done every time! The appointments were usually 2 hours. 1 hour for “work” and an hour for cleaning. Even the x-rays hurt. They put those plastic things in your mouth on the outside of your teeth and made you bite down. My mouth is tiny, so it would cut in to my gums and cheek, making me cry before they even really did anything. To top it all off, all you could hear was drills going from the hundreds of other people in there being worked on, kids crying and all sorts of horrible smells. It was never an easy process either as the students working on your mouth had to go find a teacher to check their work before they moved on to the next bit. So if having a filling, they would drill, get a teacher to check they got all the decay before filling it. 90% of the time, they didn’t, so it was back to drilling, then more waiting, then filling, then more waiting. So it was never a relaxing experience for me AT ALL!
When I was 11, I moved to Nova Scotia with my Dad as my Mom moved to England. He booked me in to a private dentist straight away when he saw the look on my face as we talked about anything medical I needed. I did need a filling when I went to see him, but it was easy! Pain free and quick. For the first time I felt ok about the dentist! I had 2 baby teeth still and he said they had to be pulled as there were no adult teeth to push them out. Top and bottom 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] molars back on the right. He told me he would do it under sedation if I wanted and then we would look at braces to close the gaps. I felt ok about this and he said it wasn’t urgent at all. We could do it the following year. But, after living with my Dad and step mother for 6 months, I wanted to be back with my Mom, so I moved to England.
Being 12 at this point and easily influenced, I listened to the kids around me that all dentists were terrible in England and that it always hurts! So every time my Mom booked an appointment for me, I would call back the next day, pretend I was her and cancel the appointment. She would forget that she had booked me an appointment and never follow up with me on how it went. So I got out of having to go for many years!
A couple months before I turned 18, I had an adult talk with myself and decided I should see the dentist. Especially as it was free until I turned 18! So, I booked an appointment with the first place I found that was taking on new patients. He seemed a nice man. Told me off a little for not flossing. Gave my teeth a little scrape and said overall my teeth looked really good for not having been to a dentist for over 6 years at that point. He then said I 4 tiny cavities that he would sort right there and then as they were so small, it was preventative more than restorative. Cool! I can do fillings. Wasn’t bad when I was 11, so wont be any different now right? Wrong. He pulls out his drill and just starts blasting away! Paying no attention to me wriggling around in the chair under his death grip! When he did stop for a second, I asked for freezing. He just said they were too small! It was like scraping the surface so I shouldn’t feel a thing!
Needless to say, I was not in a hurry after that to go back! About 6 months after that visit, the filling on my top right very back tooth fell out. It didn’t hurt or give me any troubles, so I just ignored it. Plus I do not chew on that side due to the 2 baby teeth I had still at that point, which had ended up sinking in to my gums leaving large gaps.
Fast forward to me being 31, 5 years ago. It had been 13 years since I had even thought about seeing a dentist. I had moved back to Canada with my husband, who had been really trying to get me to see a dentist. But I was acting very much like a 5 year old having a temper tantrum every time he mentioned it, that it just became easier for both of us to just not talk about it! Anyway, a massive cavity formed in my lower left wisdom tooth and it was giving me some trouble. So, I kindly asked my man if he would do the honours of booking me an appointment at his dentist. Who, coincidentally was at the same dentist office I went to when I was 11! Not the same dentist, but still, I was optimistic. Keeping this in mind, I was very brave and went for a check up! She confirmed I indeed only had 3 wisdom teeth. 2 on the left which were through the gums, and 1 on the lower right which was impacted. I also only had 1 cavity, but would need old fillings replaced. I felt pretty smug to be honest. Really?! That’s it! I totally though my teeth were doomed to have root canals in all of them! But nope! She said she wouldn’t do any work to my teeth until I had a good cleaning, but would refer me to an oral surgeon to sort my wisdom teeth out as a matter of urgency.
I booked my first cleaning with the hygienist. She said we would do it over 4 visits and I could be frozen if I wanted. When she said needle, she saw my face and suggested we try just some numbing gel first and see how I get on. If it is too much and I want to be actually frozen, she would get the dentist to come in and do it. My front bottom teeth were the worst, so she started with those. Asking every time she scraped anywhere if I was ok. She also opted not to use the water pick as she felt it would be a bit too much for my first visit. All went really well and I was feeling invincible after my 45 minutes there. I was starting to feel like I could actually deal with it.
Then I had my consult with the surgeon. I said I wanted to be under general anaesthetic to have my wisdom teeth out. He convinced me to go for IV sedation. Really nice man and pretty good looking too, so that probably helped sway my decision! He said he would also get the 2 baby teeth out at the same time as it was only gum holding them in, so would be nothing.
1 week later, I was in there ready to go. I asked to keep my teeth, for some strange reason, but did actually throw them out about a week later. I don’t remember a thing about the whole procedure, which is what I wanted. I vaguely remember being in the car and my husband telling me I needed to stop talking and bite on the gauze that was in my mouth. Then I remember being really thirsty about 4 hours after we got home. My mouth stayed numb until the next morning pretty much and then the pain started. It wasn’t pain from where he pulled the teeth though. I guess he hit a nerve and my tongue was really sore and swollen. I couldn’t poke my tongue out of my mouth at all. After about 3 weeks, my tongue just went numb and still is today. I occasionally get pins and needles in it, like when your foot falls asleep and it is just starting to wake up again. It is also only on the right side of my mouth. All in all though, the wisdom tooth thing was pretty easy.
3 weeks after having them out, I was back in for round 2 of cleaning. Numbing gel again and she said she would get my bottom molars on both sides done. She didn’t pay any attention to me really when I said things were hurting and she laughed at me when I jumped when she started with the water pick. Not amused! But I sat through it and got out of there as fast as I could.
1 week after that, back in for round 3. This time, she refused to use the numbing gel and just started on my top teeth with the water pick. I was wriggling a writhing. Asked her to stop on several occasions. Asked for actual freezing and she said it was all in my head and pointless now as we had done so much already. Then she got her hygienist friend who wasn’t doing anything to come hold the sucker thingy while they talked about Big Brother! I lasted about 10 minutes and then legged it! Didn’t even pay my bill. I phoned the next day, cancelled my final cleaning appointment and paid what I owed over the phone. I was done! No more dentists for me!
So, fast forward now to June this year. I was back in the UK for work and was visiting some friends. We went out for a curry and after the wonderful meal, I was poking around my teeth with my tongue, fishing out little bits of rice and chicken, to be greeted with a piece of my upper very back molar missing! No pain, but what felt like a giant hole in my tooth was present. When I got back to the hotel, I investigated with my little mirror to see that half of my filling had come out, taking a tiny piece of tooth with it. So I knew I had to get my frightened self to a dentist as soon as I got home.
I did some research and asked around at my office for advice on who to go see. I wasn’t going to go back to that other dentist. No way! A colleague suggested a place around the corner from the office that use Nitrous Oxide and suggested I go see them. So I made an appointment. All by myself. Through email though as I just couldn’t pluck up the courage to use a phone! I was very open about me fears and the lady I chatted with over about 4 days was very reassuring and managed to convince me to go in for just a check up. So off I went...this was last month. July 22[SUP]nd[/SUP].
The dentist and his assistant were lovely. Made me feel very relaxed. The x-rays didn’t hurt at all! They use 3D imaging, so nothing actually really went in my mouth! I was quite happy about this. He then did a full exam and explained what I was going to feel and assured me there would be no pain. And he was right. He then got a tiny camera and showed me around my mouth on the TV screen above my head. Showing me where there were issues and what needed to be addressed sooner rather than later. We then talked about what needed to be done and what my options are.
First are the top 2 very back teeth on either side that have lost their fillings and have very large cavities in them now with a lot of decay. My 2 options are having them pulled or having root canals. We talked about the pros and cons about both options. No cons to having them pulled as they are the very back ones, so will have very little impact on the rest of my teeth, if at all. Cons of root canals are price, length of time it takes to do them, and then likely having to have the teeth pulled in a few years anyway as the way my teeth line up, they may or may not take well. So I said I would likely agree to have them pulled.
Next is fillings. I have 2 new cavities and need 7 fillings replaced. 5 of the 7 fillings that need replacing, there is a little bit of decay around them so will sort that at the same time. The 2 new cavities are small, so no urgency for that.
Then cleaning. Needed cleaning really bad. Said the same thing about freezing, but this time I said I 100% want to be frozen. Don’t want to feel anything! Cleaning comes first, so I booked an appointment for the next morning. This is where I am trying to be really adult about this. I arrived on time and was greeted by the hygienist. Lovely lady who instantly put me at ease. She had a look and said we would start with the harder stuff, then I know it would only get easier. So, bottom left quarter of my mouth it was to be. She rubbed some numbing gel on my gums and said she would go get the dentist for my freezing. The dentist comes in and sticks the needle in my bottom right! When he finished poking me, I told him the mistake he made. He laughed and said “Well, you are tougher than you thought you were” and walked out laughing. Ok, this was kind of funny and was just a little needle, so not like he pulled the wrong tooth or anything!
So on we went with the cleaning. It went well! Didn’t feel a thing and the hour seemed to go quick. Watching TV and very light chit chat made it pass fast and I felt pretty relaxed. The hygienist asked if I wanted to come in the following afternoon to have the other half of my bottom teeth doneI I was totally happy to do this. So in I went the next day. Made a joke with the dentist about putting the needle in the correct side. It was all light hearted and relaxed. The cleaning went well and I left feeling pretty good about myself. I couldn’t get in to see her again for a month, but we both agreed that would be a good thing. Allow my gums time to settle and make sure I don’t get any virus as apparently that is common when having a thick layer of plaque removed from your teeth.
We are now almost at present day! 2 days ago, I went in to start the cleaning on my upper teeth. Top right to start. Again, very light hearted. The dentist made a joke about freezing my left foot, so I knew he still felt a little silly about my first cleaning, but happy to joke about it. This also put me at ease. He was very honest about the needle saying the one in the roof of the mouth would likely sting a little but it only literally takes 3 seconds. He was right. It stung, but was quick. It seemed to go extremely smoothly and I was out a little earlier than expected, so that was nice. My last appointment was booked for the next day (yesterday) and I was feeling really proud of myself for getting through as much as I had, but now starting to get nervous about having the actual work done!
So yesterday, I arrive a few minutes early as always and was greeted with lots of smiles from the reception team. They are like my own personal cheerleading squad at the moment, it’s awesome! Anyway, the dentist comes in and freezes the left side of my mouth and sits me up. “Let’s talk about what happens after today shall we?” he says. So we decide that pulling the tooth on the right first will be the best thing to do. This is the one that just broke in June and is feeling a little achy, so best to get it out. I said I was nervous and both him and the hygienist said the cleaning part is harder than the extraction and if I can sit through an hour of someone scraping at my teeth, I can sit through 2 minutes of having a tooth pulled. He explained the 40 minute appointment would be taken up mainly by waiting for anaesthetic to work and making sure the bleeding slows after. The actual process of pulling the tooth out will literally be 2 minutes, if not less! I made a comment that he would pump me full of nitrous anyway, so I would be ok, to which he replied he didn’t think I needed it! Oh no! But I do! At least I think I do! He said he wont deny me having it, but he thinks I will be just fine without any and if I can do that, I can do anything. Just not sure if I am ready for that yet.
Anyway, he said to think about it while my teeth were being cleaned and we would talk about it after. It had been about 10 minutes so should have been nice and frozen up by then. All but the last 2 teeth froze. Every time she ran that water pick over them, it was like an electric shock! So she did all my other teeth then tried again, thinking it just needed more time. Nope! So she got the dentist back in who gave me more freezing around those teeth. We waited about 5 minutes and tried again. Nope. So waited a bit more. Nope. So more freezing and more waiting. And the stupid things wouldn’t freeze. That means she couldn’t finish my cleaning.
So what the dentist has said is when I go to have that tooth pulled, I will just spend 20 minutes with the hygienist first to finish the cleaning and then pull the tooth! He said he will use a stronger freezing and will make it freeze! But what happens if it wont freeze? How is he going to check it is frozen? Just start pulling? What if it is frozen enough to not feel the water pick but not quite frozen enough and I feel him pulling my tooth? So now I am freaking out! And I was doing so well!
Some reassurance would be good. Please don’t post links to other posts as I have read them all, but am looking for replies that are relevant to this exact thing. Has anyone had this before? Did the stronger stuff work? Why don’t they just use the stronger stuff in the first place?
Thank you in advance!
Sounds like you're doing great - really!
Never give up! What works will be different for different people (in my case what was needed was a different type of injection), but I'm sure he will put the effort in to find the answer.