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Anxiety Due to Recent Extraction Surgery

P

pips90

Junior member
Joined
Jan 11, 2019
Messages
1
Location
USA
So, recently I had to have a full mouth of extractions and was fitted with a lower and upper denture. I'm pretty young for this to have happened, in my late 20's. Since I can remember, there were always problems with my teeth and jaw. I was in and out of braces since the third grade and had upper and lower jaw surgery when I was nineteen. In the end, they all had to go. So my problem now, every time I have to take my dentures out to clean them and brush my gums, I have a panic attack, like my hands shaking, elevated heart rate, and nausea. I'm terrified and then I'm completely exhausted by the time I'm done. I can't afford to see a therapist, but I'm really ashamed that I feel this way. I'm not normally an anxious person, but even a commercial about teeth puts me on edge. I feel like it's silly to be so anxious about this, but I don't know how to fix it. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?
 
Obviously some ptsd there. If therapy isn't an option then consider some self help in the way of reading about why this occurs and start to rethink this situation. Remember that this is in your past and you have control over your situation now.
 
I can certainly understand the anxiety. There is nothing to be ashamed of. While I am not in your situation, I would still like to offer support and reassurance.

Did you have a previous fear of losing your teeth? Maybe the act of taking out the dentures is triggering that anxiety? If not, just the stress of all you had done would certainly do that as well.

I hope you can get some relief from the anxiety. Maybe some soothing music, deep breathing before, and visualization exercises would help.
 
Pips90

This is a huge transition you went through in doing this getting the dentures, and a difficult one, so even if it didn't fully hit at time you went through it, the aftermatch may be difficult and triggering going through the motions . I would encourage you to see if there are any clinics that could match you with like an intern that would do therapy either probono or at a very reduced rate. At times in my life I could not afford therapy and getting better after domestic abuse. Well. I found some places that gave sliding fee scale but wouldn't turn down patients on ability to pay. There are several out there. You have to ask for it as most the time they don't advertise this but sometimes they do. If you go on psychology today webpage and put your zipcode in that is a great resource where they often say if they will take sliding fee too and where I found my psychologist who is the best :). I really hope you can find one to support you in this journey and we are also here for you !
 
Dear Pips90,

I am really sorry about what you are dealing with. Your post is short and sounds very to the point and at the same time I am trying to imagine what you are struggling with every day and just how hard this must be for you.

I am not a psychologist and do not know what the cause for your panic attacks is and even if I was it just wouldn't be responsible to guess any diagnosis or solution here. You know, our minds are so complex and there are just too many different things that can play a role and things can be more complicated than they seem. Panic attacks, especially if appearing at a certain frequency, is an issue that really should be discussed with a mental care professional who can help you with this. The earlier you get help, the easier it will be to fix it.

There are a lot of people who cannot afford a therapist and the best thing to do would be to find a place that can offer you help at a low cost or no cost at all, as krlovesherkids suggests. An additional option I would recommend to you is to call the Samaritans. In my country they have a database of places where people can get further help and they are happy to tell you where you could go if you ask them to.

Last, but very very important thing: please do not feel silly, there is nothing silly about what is happening, on the contrary. You deserve help and support. I really hope your closest ones and anyone you ever talked to about this is supportive and look after you well. If anyone ever makes you feel like you're not ok, do not listen to them.

Many people here on the forum find writing about problems and feelings helpful so if you feel this might be your case, feel free to start a journal in our journal section. For me it was a huge help in the hardest times.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you to soon find a possibility to deal with this.

All the best wishes and keep us posted
 
We have an article about panic attacks in our common fear section, you can find it here. There are some information you might find helpfull as well as videos from Dave Carbonell, a clinical psychologist who is also a member of our Expert Advisory Board.
 
Pips.. just wanted to check up and see how you are doing..
 
So, recently I had to have a full mouth of extractions and was fitted with a lower and upper denture. I'm pretty young for this to have happened, in my late 20's. Since I can remember, there were always problems with my teeth and jaw. I was in and out of braces since the third grade and had upper and lower jaw surgery when I was nineteen. In the end, they all had to go. So my problem now, every time I have to take my dentures out to clean them and brush my gums, I have a panic attack, like my hands shaking, elevated heart rate, and nausea. I'm terrified and then I'm completely exhausted by the time I'm done. I can't afford to see a therapist, but I'm really ashamed that I feel this way. I'm not normally an anxious person, but even a commercial about teeth puts me on edge. I feel like it's silly to be so anxious about this, but I don't know how to fix it. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?
I get this. Although I’m not exactly where u are, I have just had one upper molar removed. I’ve been in super anxiety mode since. High anxiety shaking nauseous. (My mom was young and had dentures and that scared me all my life to not follow that road age 50 and only one small cavity. How did it come to loosing my molar?) Fixated on it scared to death of more loss down the road etc. I couldn’t handle it. I always had a horrible anxiety over losing teeth My worse nightmare I’m trying to get passed it but not sure how to. I thought I was alone in feeling this way and something was wrong with me ? I so Wish neither of us had to go through this ?. Super big hugs
 
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