T
Terrified Shaky Girl
Junior member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2012
- Messages
- 8
Braces --> External Re-absorption --> Tooth Extraction --> Fear!!!!
When I went for my routine checkup last summer, they took xrays and the dentist found something on the root on one of my teeth. It was one of those things where the hygienist was cleaning my teeth after my exam and was told, "Dr. *** would like to see her when you're done." And we all know that's never something we want to hear. I was happy earlier because my severe phobia had kept me away from the dentist for 2 years and although my dentist is the nicest, gentlest, and most understanding ever my anxiety was so severe that I would make up any excuse to delay my appointment....nothing was hurting me, I follow this weird regimen where I brush 2 minutes w/the sonicare, floss, brush 2 minutes again and then follow it up w/listerine for 1 minute. So why was I happy? Before hearing those "words of doom" while sitting in the chair, the hygienist just informed me that there was nothing for her to clean because I had no plaque or tartar on my teeth. I had been proud of myself; although I delayed an exam for 2 years I had no cavities, no plaque, my teeth were stellar. So why did they want to see me?
So the shaking begins....
Like a leaf, I sit back down in the exam chair and holds up my xray into the light, probably checking and rechecking for the 100th time. Well, he says, "I want to refer you to an endodontist because something is going on w/your root on this tooth and it will probably be a root canal or they may have to extract it."
I feel my heart sink to my toes at the realization that my greatest dental fear has come to fruition. I ask him to repeat what he said, hoping and praying that somehow I heard him wrong. I ask what the chances are that they'll do a root canal (at this point it's the better option) and he says he doesn't know. So I reluctantly gather the courage to see the endondontist, a very nice man and when I go to the office I am still a nervous wreck, even though I took the anti-anxiety pill (they prescribe for me before all my appts, as I am that patient who shakes in the chair). This time the pill doesn't work so well as the magazine shakes uncontrollably in my hands as I sit in the waiting room. The door opens and they call my name; I feel like I'm going to vomit. So the nurse asks if I'm ok I start shaking as I sit in the chair. Equipment is all over the place and I feel like I can't breathe. I nod and force a laugh, "I'm sorry, I'm just nervous." My hands are shaking uncontrollably and she asks if I need a sedative. I tell her that I just took my anti-anxiety pill and she seems amazed that I'm still in a state of panic. She takes pity on me and holds my hand for a minute. Then she tells me she's just going to take an xray and I let her, after she leaves the tears stream down my cheeks. Then enters the doctor, a jovial middle aged man who enlarges the xray on the monitor. "Sit up, we need to talk," he says as he elevates my chair back to an upright position.
"Did you ever have braces?"
I nod. "Yes, when I was younger, why?"
He goes on to explain that, although rare, the force of my braces caused the root of this tooth to move out of its original place. Our bone cells break down over a process of 10-15 years and rebuild themselves. However these cells cannot distinguish between tooth and bone, so basically my body is eating itself, a process called external re-absorption. He assured me that NOTHING I did caused it (other than wearing braces) and it was so far down into the root that a root canal wouldn't fix the problem.
"Now I'm in the business of saving teeth,not pulling them. But I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do to save this tooth."
"How much time do I have?" I gravely ask.
He said he did not know, as he did not know how fast my bone cells were doing this. It could be another 10 years, it could be next week.....there was no way of knowing.
So like a baby I cried in the dental chair. I think a lot of my fear comes from loss of control, and I'm an adult, I should take it more maturely. But I cried, he seemed uncomfortable, patted me on the shoulder and handed me a kleenex and left. The nurse came back in and sat w/me a while, telling me it will be ok and displaying great empathy. She was my angel that day.
So I go back to my dentist and we discuss my diagnosis. He tells me about implants, bridges, I panic more. He asks if I'm in pain and I say no (because until my appt I had no idea there was a problem) and says, "Well, let's take an xray at your next appt in January and we'll see what the progression is and we'll take it from there. There's no point in worrying about it now if you're not in pain."
So 2 days ago I had my usual anxiety attacks and went to the dentist. I hoped they would somehow forget to take that xray. Cleaning went ok. No cavities. I thought I was scott free until the receptionist poked her head in and said, "Dr. *** don't forget to take that xray." Drats.
So they take the xray, I shake so they have to take it twice because it's blurry from my shaking. The dentist looks at it and sends me to the waiting room and discusses my xray w/the other dentist "to get another opinion". Of course I irritate the other patients waiting w/my shaking legs against the communal couch. They call me back in. Dentist holds my hand and explains that the re-absorption has progressed to the point that it needs to be pulled....soon. There's now an infection up there and the reason I don't feel it is because it's getting drained out because of the re-absorption. They want me to go back next week so I can get an impression of my tooth so the oral surgeon can put in a temporary once they pull it, then I'll eventually have an implant because I'm "so young".
So I'm scared, I haven't slept since my appt 2 days ago and I can't focus on work. I'm a graduate student in addition to working full time and this is really affecting my life. When I think about what has to be done I start to hyperventilate. Nobody seems to understand what I'm going through, I am SO SCARED. I really hope they can just put me to sleep when my Doomsday comes, as I won't get my referral for the oral surgeon until next week. I know there are worse things in life but this is a big deal for me, I get terrified of going in for a cleaning, that they're going to tell me my teeth are all rotten and I'll end up looking like a guest on Jerry Springer. How am I going to handle this extraction? I need help....
When I went for my routine checkup last summer, they took xrays and the dentist found something on the root on one of my teeth. It was one of those things where the hygienist was cleaning my teeth after my exam and was told, "Dr. *** would like to see her when you're done." And we all know that's never something we want to hear. I was happy earlier because my severe phobia had kept me away from the dentist for 2 years and although my dentist is the nicest, gentlest, and most understanding ever my anxiety was so severe that I would make up any excuse to delay my appointment....nothing was hurting me, I follow this weird regimen where I brush 2 minutes w/the sonicare, floss, brush 2 minutes again and then follow it up w/listerine for 1 minute. So why was I happy? Before hearing those "words of doom" while sitting in the chair, the hygienist just informed me that there was nothing for her to clean because I had no plaque or tartar on my teeth. I had been proud of myself; although I delayed an exam for 2 years I had no cavities, no plaque, my teeth were stellar. So why did they want to see me?
So the shaking begins....
Like a leaf, I sit back down in the exam chair and holds up my xray into the light, probably checking and rechecking for the 100th time. Well, he says, "I want to refer you to an endodontist because something is going on w/your root on this tooth and it will probably be a root canal or they may have to extract it."
I feel my heart sink to my toes at the realization that my greatest dental fear has come to fruition. I ask him to repeat what he said, hoping and praying that somehow I heard him wrong. I ask what the chances are that they'll do a root canal (at this point it's the better option) and he says he doesn't know. So I reluctantly gather the courage to see the endondontist, a very nice man and when I go to the office I am still a nervous wreck, even though I took the anti-anxiety pill (they prescribe for me before all my appts, as I am that patient who shakes in the chair). This time the pill doesn't work so well as the magazine shakes uncontrollably in my hands as I sit in the waiting room. The door opens and they call my name; I feel like I'm going to vomit. So the nurse asks if I'm ok I start shaking as I sit in the chair. Equipment is all over the place and I feel like I can't breathe. I nod and force a laugh, "I'm sorry, I'm just nervous." My hands are shaking uncontrollably and she asks if I need a sedative. I tell her that I just took my anti-anxiety pill and she seems amazed that I'm still in a state of panic. She takes pity on me and holds my hand for a minute. Then she tells me she's just going to take an xray and I let her, after she leaves the tears stream down my cheeks. Then enters the doctor, a jovial middle aged man who enlarges the xray on the monitor. "Sit up, we need to talk," he says as he elevates my chair back to an upright position.
"Did you ever have braces?"
I nod. "Yes, when I was younger, why?"
He goes on to explain that, although rare, the force of my braces caused the root of this tooth to move out of its original place. Our bone cells break down over a process of 10-15 years and rebuild themselves. However these cells cannot distinguish between tooth and bone, so basically my body is eating itself, a process called external re-absorption. He assured me that NOTHING I did caused it (other than wearing braces) and it was so far down into the root that a root canal wouldn't fix the problem.
"Now I'm in the business of saving teeth,not pulling them. But I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do to save this tooth."
"How much time do I have?" I gravely ask.
He said he did not know, as he did not know how fast my bone cells were doing this. It could be another 10 years, it could be next week.....there was no way of knowing.
So like a baby I cried in the dental chair. I think a lot of my fear comes from loss of control, and I'm an adult, I should take it more maturely. But I cried, he seemed uncomfortable, patted me on the shoulder and handed me a kleenex and left. The nurse came back in and sat w/me a while, telling me it will be ok and displaying great empathy. She was my angel that day.
So I go back to my dentist and we discuss my diagnosis. He tells me about implants, bridges, I panic more. He asks if I'm in pain and I say no (because until my appt I had no idea there was a problem) and says, "Well, let's take an xray at your next appt in January and we'll see what the progression is and we'll take it from there. There's no point in worrying about it now if you're not in pain."
So 2 days ago I had my usual anxiety attacks and went to the dentist. I hoped they would somehow forget to take that xray. Cleaning went ok. No cavities. I thought I was scott free until the receptionist poked her head in and said, "Dr. *** don't forget to take that xray." Drats.
So they take the xray, I shake so they have to take it twice because it's blurry from my shaking. The dentist looks at it and sends me to the waiting room and discusses my xray w/the other dentist "to get another opinion". Of course I irritate the other patients waiting w/my shaking legs against the communal couch. They call me back in. Dentist holds my hand and explains that the re-absorption has progressed to the point that it needs to be pulled....soon. There's now an infection up there and the reason I don't feel it is because it's getting drained out because of the re-absorption. They want me to go back next week so I can get an impression of my tooth so the oral surgeon can put in a temporary once they pull it, then I'll eventually have an implant because I'm "so young".
So I'm scared, I haven't slept since my appt 2 days ago and I can't focus on work. I'm a graduate student in addition to working full time and this is really affecting my life. When I think about what has to be done I start to hyperventilate. Nobody seems to understand what I'm going through, I am SO SCARED. I really hope they can just put me to sleep when my Doomsday comes, as I won't get my referral for the oral surgeon until next week. I know there are worse things in life but this is a big deal for me, I get terrified of going in for a cleaning, that they're going to tell me my teeth are all rotten and I'll end up looking like a guest on Jerry Springer. How am I going to handle this extraction? I need help....