36 years of worry

[April]

I thought that my appointment today was for the final tighten and the permanent fillings to hide the screw holes - should have known better!
The longer you leave it to settle the better so have my next appointment in September.

My whitening kit is still staring at me from the bathroom shelf, I still haven't got the courage to give it a go and I am trying to convince myself that, like everything in dentistry seems to be, it won't be half as bad as I am imagining

 

[April]

My 13 year old daughter first had braces and a contraption to widen her jaw 4 years ago, my husband dealt with everything, I couldn't even look in her mouth. Poor thing, she never questioned why I couldn't take her but she knew nothing about my phobia.

When I started my treatment my children knew something was up but not exactly what, over the months I have had to 'come clean' and pray that it didn't have any effect on them. Last week she had to have braces again, I had a discussion with my husband and decided that I would let him deal with it all again as I didn't know if I could cope with it. She went and had them fitted with no problem, didn't bat an eyelid.
Last week she had a problem with one of the wires and we had to have a last minute appointment the day before the weekend - my husband was stuck in a meeting so I had no choice but to take her.
Bless her, she offered to go on her own and was so concerned I would faint - being one of my tricks - we came to a deal that if I felt funny at all I would up and leave.

I wasn't exactly jumping for joy at the prospect but put a smile on my face and went in, I managed to stay there for the whole adjustment, I didn't faint, shake or feel sick ....... I did it

A filling would be a whole different ball game but who knows. One baby step at a time, another 1st, another milestone



p.s. My home whitening kit now has a generous covering of dust!!

 

[Dave48]

I had braces some years ago i did not work for me now i would like to try them again.

Dave.

 

[April]

Have been and seen Dr. H today, he had a quick poke about and has 'invited' me back in 6 weeks for an xray as he thinks I may need a small filling, therefore, he has not done the final tighten of my implants as he may as well leave it until then ...... and so it continues!!

Have come to the conclusion that this dentist thing is catching - my daughter still has her monthly trips for her braces and although my husband has good teeth he has decided to have a bridge and have his old amalgum fillings replaced.

My mother, who is in her 80's and still has all her own teeth bar 2, has just had another one removed and added to her plate.

My sister has had to loose 2 teeth - something she went along for quite happily whilst I was at home feeling sick and nervous - a bridge isn't an option apparently so she too is having an implant!

The final one was the dog ...... yes, he needed a tooth out - thankfully no bridge or implant required there!

 

[Strawberry310]

I just wanted to thank you April for sharing your two year journey here. I read the whole thing. I appreciate it so much. You sound like me and it makes me feel so much better. Please continue to post your dental happenings. Thanks again. You have definitely touched my life.

Also, I wanted to know if you still like and use your sonicare? I need to start using mine but am afraid to use them on the new crown. I have this vision of the strongest of the sonicare knocking the new crown off.

Also, do you have crowns? Did they feel funny eating on them at first?

Sorry for all the questions

 

[April]

Hi Strawberry

Thank you

If it helps I am pleased ...... it wasn't something I set out to do, it sort of happened.

I have the Oral B Oxy brush with the water jet (pick) and it is very good. It did take some getting used to but I am fine with it now and have had no problems - according to my dentist it's doing it's job as my teeth and gums are now alot healthier.
I don't have any crowns but my husband does, he uses a sonic and has no problems with it.

I work on the basis that the pressure of a toothbrush is no where near the pressure of chewing and if your teeth are fine with a piece of steak a tooth brush should cause no problems.

Ask away ........ every question and answer may help

 

[April]

I finally dusted off my home whitening tray .................

My instructions were:

Take Brufen and painkillers
Clean teeth with sensodyne toothpaste
Insert tray with 'goop'
Leave for 30 mins
Clean teeth again with same toothpaste
Use same (cleaned) tray with industrial strength flouride for 10 mins

The first night I tried it I had no problems and went to bed very excited - yes thats right, excited ...... after a week of this I would have white teeth

After following the instructions, again, to the letter the second night wasn't so good. My gums went white and four of my teeth (2 top and 2 bottom) started tingling, all very bearable for about 30 minutes then ...... ouch!!
I took more Brufen and more painkillers but nothing touched it until it finally wore away about 12 hours later - and I thought my painful sleepless nights were a thing of the past!!
My gums were so sore and when I finally managed to clean them with a soft baby brush the gums started to bleed. The gums around the 4 teeth that were hurting stayed sore for about a week ............. needless to say I haven't tried it again.
I need to speak to my dentist when I go next week, maybe my teeth really are too sensitive

 

[April]

I have been a little naughty ........ I have been away a lot since December and haven't been able to get to my dentist for a check up etc and the chances of me going to see someone different is a big fat zero.

I went yesterday feeling a little nervous as I expected a telling off but he said nothing (he does know why I have away through my husband) but even so.

I had a clean and apparently he would like to do a small filling 'sometime in the next couple of months' and a deep clean. Because I have hyper sensitive teeth he wants to numb me up to do the clean which he will do one quadrant at a time - I then found myself saying he may as well do the filling while I am numb
I also went upstairs to see Dr. T the orthodontist and he tells me my teeth are perfect, nothing moved and the retainer is still in place - whoop whoop!

What a weird experience, another 1st .... I booked the appointment for 3 weeks time, came home, put it on the calender and haven't thought about it since - I think this is what 'normal' people do

 

[April]

...... and the day of my deep cleaning dawned

I hadn't really thought about it at all until I woke up at 3am this morning - it was all down hill from there!! By the time I got to the dentist I was in a bit of a state and of course the minute he spoke to me and asked me how I was I burst into tears ..... that's something I haven't done for 18 months.
He sat me down and had a chat, explaining what he wanted to do and how he intended to do it, followed by "Do you want to go through with it? It's your decision" - he really is so understanding, I almost felt like I was letting him down. He has always been so honest and he has never ever done anything to make me distrust him so I decided it was just my fear of the unknown jangling my nerves.

...... and here we go again - what was I scared of?

He rubbed in plenty of numbing gel and we sat and chatted until it worked. If I hadn't have known that the injection came next I honestly wouldn't have had a clue what he was doing - brilliant!!
He then 'messed about' a couple of cleaning implements and what felt like a tiny, tiny drill - and that was it, so quick.

It's now 3 hours later, I am still numb and have just dribbled tea all down my clothes

The original plan was to do the 4 quadrants at 4 different appointments. After my successful appointment today I have opted to have the right side, top and bottom, done at one time and then the last quadrant done after that.

I was a bit disappointed with my reaction today and it has just proved to me that a little piece of that stupid phobia monster is still in there, however, I did it and have to put it down to a new dental experience

 

[john8611]

First, congratulations, cant believe how similar a lot of these fear stories start (bad experience at an early age etc.). Your story so similar to mine but I am opting for the dentures route, the thought of raw plug's going into my face, nooo thanks. But may I ask... your dentist put in your final tops after your gums had healed right..? wouldn't an impression have been made so your new teeth would fit your bite, not fit new teeth then grind the old ones down to make them fit, not trying to sound like a downer, (now wondering if dentures would need reshaping, tho I guess I could post them to dentist for check-ups lol) again top respect to you, and well done again.