L
laum1005
Member
- Joined
- May 13, 2020
- Messages
- 28
- Location
- United States
Thought I would share a journal of my story to help me get it out as well as maybe help someone else. This site has been so helpful to me. I am a 42 year old female. I had a bad experience with a mean old dentist when I was about 10 years old. He shoved the needle so hard the last time I went to him (kicking and screaming) that I actually bit him. He told My mother to take me and to leave and never come back. So I never did. I haven’t been to the dentist in over 30 years. Besides not going for that long my teeth did not start to get really bad until about 10 years ago when my mother passed. I just stopped caring I guess at that point.
I have all molars on all four corners broken now almost to the gum line. There are also small breaks on a couple of other teeth on the bottom In the backs.
I have never had really bad pain during all this time and I could still eat everything so I just figured no big deal. I still don’t have to go see a dentist. Well all that changed about a month ago while self-quarantining and working from home.
One day the very back of the roof of my mouth was sore for really no reason that I knew of. The next day I had slight tooth pain (nothing severe at all) on the left side of my mouth. Then the next day I woke up and my left cheek was swollen and hot. I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t have any tooth pain at all. It was also the time I usually have sinus problems every year. I called a telephone doctor and he told me it could be one of two things. An abscess tooth or sinus pressure causing swelling. Well the thought of an abscess tooth was appalling to me. What was I going to do now? I was prescribed the antibiotics but the pharmacy didn’t have them and I needed to wait until the next day to get them. The swelling actually went down by itself the next day (not completely but quite a bit reduced). I took the antibiotics religiously and told myself that if I got better I would go see a dentist to get checked out. When the medicine was over and I was better I was still putting it off. I had people telling me to do it. One day I just got up my courage and called to make an appointment. This dentist advertises as the no fear dentist with IV sedation. I thought that sounds like for me. Dentist offices in Ohio just opened back up for non emergencies that same week. That is another reason I waited. I didn’t want them to have to use PPE on me that could be used on real emergencies or Covid patients.
I called the dentist and told them that I needed a consultation. I cried through most of the call. This was a Monday and I made the appt for that Friday.
To my surprise I actually went to the appt. I was shaking like a leaf and crying the whole time. They were so nice and welcoming and the office was really nice. I kept going strong through the whole thing. The X-rays and the doctor sticking his hands and instruments inside my mouth. Then the doctor came in with his treatment plan. Cue Jaws music. I thought he was going to say.... nothing can be saved. He didn’t say that. He said I need a deep cleaning something like 10 fillings and 6 extractions. All of the extractions are on the sides of my mouth so can’t be seen when I speak. There is also a 7th extraction that I need which is a front impacted tooth that never made its way down for some reason. I am going to call them back after thinking about it and maybe not have that one removed with the rest at this time. I also have a piece missing from one of my front teeth that has been missing for years. I speak in a way so it doesn’t show. They said they can fix that with filling material also. Phew. That one really drives me crazy.
So I left the office still shaking like a leaf with an appt made for June 1st using IV sedation. I am having the deep cleaning,
Fillings, and extractions all in one session. It will take approximately 3 hours for all of it. I have a friend lined up to drop me off and pick me back up after. I am terrified and I literally can think of nothing else than this since my original appt. I have been consulting the internet way to much and seeing too many horror stories. Then I came across this site and it has actually eased my fears quite a bit. I still do have some major fears that I will describe below if anyone has any comments for any of them.
1. I am also scared of needles so the IV thing will be really scary for me when the needle goes in. My plan is to pinch myself really hard somewhere else while the needle is going in. I know it will still hurt but I have to do it.
2. I am scared of the whole IV sedation thing because I have never even had a surgery before. I don’t go to the regular doctor a lot either. I think I am relatively healthy but I don’t know if I have any underlying conditions since I do not get physicals or anything.
3. I have slightly higher blood pressure than the average person. Will this affect the IV sedation? They told me my heart rate will be regulated by the medications I am under at the time. This still makes me a little nervous since I don’t know what will happen with my blood pressure during this. I have not seen a cardiologist yet but when I take my blood pressure it is always higher than the normal.
4. I am really concerned about the clotting from the extractions. Everything I have read says that they should clot within the first 3-4 hours. What if they don’t for some reason? I have read to use black tea and I already bought black tea bags to try if they don’t clot quickly enough. I hope it works. I am scared to sleep until they clot for fear of losing too much blood and dying in my sleep.
5. I am scared of dry sockets. I bought nicotine patches and my plan is to start using those for a week prior to my surgery. I hope I can do it. I never suck on straws so I am not worried about that one. Because I am a smoker I tend to cough a few times to clear my throat in the mornings. Not sever hard coughing or anything. If I have to cough will that dislodge a clot? Also I don’t sneeze in ones or twos. If I have to sneeze I sneeze about 10 times one after another. Will any sneeze cause a loss to the blood clots? I have been practicing when I sneeze to sneeze more through my mouth than closing my mouth and sneezing just through my nose. Does anyone know anything about the coughing and sneezing stuff?
6. There actually isn’t anything else I can think of right now.
So now I am just waiting until the 1st and driving myself completely crazy at all times. I go to sleep thinking about this and wake up thinking about this. I am sleeping fine but during the day it is like my mind won’t get off of this anticipation and all the worries I have.
I keep telling myself if I don’t do this now I will never do it. I need to reclaim my life. I need to smile and laugh again and not have to worry about hiding my teeth. My breath is atrocious and I can’t stand it anymore. I am really outgoing and have lots of friends. No one has ever commented on my teeth. At least not to me directly. I need to fall in love again and haven’t had to courage to date with my mouth in its current state.
My plan is to let my extractions heal for the next 2-3 months and then to see about getting partial dentures for the gaps. I would not want implants. I have friends that have them and really encouraged me against getting any. Plus they are way too expensive. I also plan to brush in the morning in the evenings before bed and after every meal. I need to keep the rest of my teeth healthy as long as I possibly can. I feel so stupid for having let it get to this point because of my fears surrounding dentists and needles.
Anyway thanks for reading and I will update throughout my journey. Any advice or tips that you can provide to me would be greatly appreciated.
Laura
I have all molars on all four corners broken now almost to the gum line. There are also small breaks on a couple of other teeth on the bottom In the backs.
I have never had really bad pain during all this time and I could still eat everything so I just figured no big deal. I still don’t have to go see a dentist. Well all that changed about a month ago while self-quarantining and working from home.
One day the very back of the roof of my mouth was sore for really no reason that I knew of. The next day I had slight tooth pain (nothing severe at all) on the left side of my mouth. Then the next day I woke up and my left cheek was swollen and hot. I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t have any tooth pain at all. It was also the time I usually have sinus problems every year. I called a telephone doctor and he told me it could be one of two things. An abscess tooth or sinus pressure causing swelling. Well the thought of an abscess tooth was appalling to me. What was I going to do now? I was prescribed the antibiotics but the pharmacy didn’t have them and I needed to wait until the next day to get them. The swelling actually went down by itself the next day (not completely but quite a bit reduced). I took the antibiotics religiously and told myself that if I got better I would go see a dentist to get checked out. When the medicine was over and I was better I was still putting it off. I had people telling me to do it. One day I just got up my courage and called to make an appointment. This dentist advertises as the no fear dentist with IV sedation. I thought that sounds like for me. Dentist offices in Ohio just opened back up for non emergencies that same week. That is another reason I waited. I didn’t want them to have to use PPE on me that could be used on real emergencies or Covid patients.
I called the dentist and told them that I needed a consultation. I cried through most of the call. This was a Monday and I made the appt for that Friday.
To my surprise I actually went to the appt. I was shaking like a leaf and crying the whole time. They were so nice and welcoming and the office was really nice. I kept going strong through the whole thing. The X-rays and the doctor sticking his hands and instruments inside my mouth. Then the doctor came in with his treatment plan. Cue Jaws music. I thought he was going to say.... nothing can be saved. He didn’t say that. He said I need a deep cleaning something like 10 fillings and 6 extractions. All of the extractions are on the sides of my mouth so can’t be seen when I speak. There is also a 7th extraction that I need which is a front impacted tooth that never made its way down for some reason. I am going to call them back after thinking about it and maybe not have that one removed with the rest at this time. I also have a piece missing from one of my front teeth that has been missing for years. I speak in a way so it doesn’t show. They said they can fix that with filling material also. Phew. That one really drives me crazy.
So I left the office still shaking like a leaf with an appt made for June 1st using IV sedation. I am having the deep cleaning,
Fillings, and extractions all in one session. It will take approximately 3 hours for all of it. I have a friend lined up to drop me off and pick me back up after. I am terrified and I literally can think of nothing else than this since my original appt. I have been consulting the internet way to much and seeing too many horror stories. Then I came across this site and it has actually eased my fears quite a bit. I still do have some major fears that I will describe below if anyone has any comments for any of them.
1. I am also scared of needles so the IV thing will be really scary for me when the needle goes in. My plan is to pinch myself really hard somewhere else while the needle is going in. I know it will still hurt but I have to do it.
2. I am scared of the whole IV sedation thing because I have never even had a surgery before. I don’t go to the regular doctor a lot either. I think I am relatively healthy but I don’t know if I have any underlying conditions since I do not get physicals or anything.
3. I have slightly higher blood pressure than the average person. Will this affect the IV sedation? They told me my heart rate will be regulated by the medications I am under at the time. This still makes me a little nervous since I don’t know what will happen with my blood pressure during this. I have not seen a cardiologist yet but when I take my blood pressure it is always higher than the normal.
4. I am really concerned about the clotting from the extractions. Everything I have read says that they should clot within the first 3-4 hours. What if they don’t for some reason? I have read to use black tea and I already bought black tea bags to try if they don’t clot quickly enough. I hope it works. I am scared to sleep until they clot for fear of losing too much blood and dying in my sleep.
5. I am scared of dry sockets. I bought nicotine patches and my plan is to start using those for a week prior to my surgery. I hope I can do it. I never suck on straws so I am not worried about that one. Because I am a smoker I tend to cough a few times to clear my throat in the mornings. Not sever hard coughing or anything. If I have to cough will that dislodge a clot? Also I don’t sneeze in ones or twos. If I have to sneeze I sneeze about 10 times one after another. Will any sneeze cause a loss to the blood clots? I have been practicing when I sneeze to sneeze more through my mouth than closing my mouth and sneezing just through my nose. Does anyone know anything about the coughing and sneezing stuff?
6. There actually isn’t anything else I can think of right now.
So now I am just waiting until the 1st and driving myself completely crazy at all times. I go to sleep thinking about this and wake up thinking about this. I am sleeping fine but during the day it is like my mind won’t get off of this anticipation and all the worries I have.
I keep telling myself if I don’t do this now I will never do it. I need to reclaim my life. I need to smile and laugh again and not have to worry about hiding my teeth. My breath is atrocious and I can’t stand it anymore. I am really outgoing and have lots of friends. No one has ever commented on my teeth. At least not to me directly. I need to fall in love again and haven’t had to courage to date with my mouth in its current state.
My plan is to let my extractions heal for the next 2-3 months and then to see about getting partial dentures for the gaps. I would not want implants. I have friends that have them and really encouraged me against getting any. Plus they are way too expensive. I also plan to brush in the morning in the evenings before bed and after every meal. I need to keep the rest of my teeth healthy as long as I possibly can. I feel so stupid for having let it get to this point because of my fears surrounding dentists and needles.
Anyway thanks for reading and I will update throughout my journey. Any advice or tips that you can provide to me would be greatly appreciated.
Laura