• Dental Phobia Support

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Cannot get straight answerd from my dentist....

H

Heather76

Junior member
Joined
Oct 27, 2017
Messages
2
This is my first post here so please bare with me. I have always had a severe fear and anxiety of the dentist. Fortunately, I seemed to get through most of my life without any huge issue. Never even had cavities until a few years ago.I am now 41. Coincidentally, my dental problems arose when I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, not sure if any relation exists. But here is my story:

So I had some work done a few years back and found a great dentist. He was so understanding of my fears. Every time I even walk into a dental office my blood pressure goes through the roof. I sweat, shake and have a panic attack. I was ale to get the little bit of work done completely sedated. Perfect. I woke up to the work being done and no knowledge of what happened. Fast forward to about a year ago. I was pregnant and a tooth cracked and became abscessed. It was the most horrible pain ever so I went to a dentist. They refused to do anything other than pull the tooth after antibiotics. I wanted to try to save the tooth. The infection continued and got worse and eventually, within a month of trying to get help with the tooth, I went in to re-term labor. (May or may not be because of the severe infection but it is a possibility). Any way for the last year I was out on disability due to the pre-term labor and then my health plummeting. Because I was not able to work temporarily until I am well enough to return to work I only have the dental insurance provided by the state and no job to afford dental work. I finally went to the dentist as I knew that not only was the infection getting so horrible but it was starting to affect my whole mouth. I went from no cavities most of my life to every single tooth being decayed. The state insurance will not pay for the work (because if you are poor your oral health is just not as important) and I had to either come up with thousands of dollars for the work myself or get dentures. I did not want dentures but the dentist office talked me in to it and here I am miserable about my choice. I have already had 15 teeth pulled. (All of my molars top and bottom on both sides). Did impressions and will have my front teeth pulled when the immediate dentures are ready.

I have questions and then also advise for anyone going through something similar to myself.

Question: After tooth extractions (on the top) my left side just was not healing. It was actually looking infected and my extraction sockets became basically one big whole that felt to my tongue like it was filed with raw hamburger meet. Dentist told me it was not infected and that it was just healing slowly but that it looked fine. I went home after that and started pulling out pieces of bone. The more bone I pulled out or that worked its way to the surface so I could pull it out the more healing happened. So when I went for my impressions I asked about the other side of my top of my mouth as I could tell the same thing was starting to happen on that side. She looked and felt it and said there was no bone sticking out of the side of my gum facing my cheek but I could feel it with my tongue. So I went home and got tweezers and dug it out myself but this bone looked different from the sequestra that had come out on the other side. It looked like actual bone that was either part of my skull (not sure if that is the proper wording) or it was bone from in between tooth sockets. It was pretty large and looked different. It looked like actual bone and not just a sliver or small piece. It also smells horrible. It smells like something died and is rotten. My mouth smells like this and it is disgusting and has affected my mental health quite a bit. Does anyone know what this is. Actual bone. Why does it smell so horrible? By the way it is definitely not dry socket.... It does seem that the healing is progressing a little better now. But the dentist took the impressions for the dentures already and now the shape of my gum line has changed as it caves in more.

Also, I still have to have the final teeth removed. Th shots particularly at the roof or top of my mouth are painful and I am afraid. I also, despite being numb, become so afraid when they are pulling the teeth. My heart pounds and my blood pressure is always through the roof. I literally feel as though I am going to have a heart attack but cannot afford laughing gas or whatever they offer as they do not even offer sedation.

Advise I personally have for anyone going through something similar or about to go through it:
1) Get all your questions answered up front. I have been told so many different things and it as changed throughout the process. What I thought would be 6-8 weeks is actually a longer process and I feel like I am starving to death. I have been in so much pain over the last 4 weeks that I have probably taken enough Advil and Aleve to shut down my liver. I feel as though I traded my liver for some teeth that "might" work.

2) Check what they are billing your insurance for. I received statements from the insurance and they are being billed for a different type of extraction that what is being performed so that they get the most amount of money. I do not think that this is right. I am afraid to make an issue of it because they still have to complete the work and I am afraid they will retaliate against me.

3) Think long and hard about dentures before getting them. I felt coerced into doing this as I did not want to but they convinced me that this was the only treatment available to me. When I return to work the appearance of my teeth and smile will keep me from getting employment so it was a very catch 22 situation. Make the decision wisely as once you start down this path you cannot turn back. Insurance will pay for a full set of dentures for me but not a partial so I am stuck. My teeth are gone and I can never get them back.:o:mad:

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
I'm so sorry to hear all that you've gone through so far and hope that all turns out well in the end. I'm not sure if you made a typo or not, but I would imagine that you'll now find it easier to get a job, since your teeth should look fabulous. I'm not at all saying that it's good that you had them removed, and wish that you had been able to afford a better solution instead, but at least they should be gorgeous.

And the only issue that you've brought up that I can address, is the pain involved in the injections in the roof of your mouth. Will the same dentist be doing the upcoming work? If not, most newer dentists know that they should press most of their thumb on the roof, with the needle, to spread the pain around. The pressure on such a large area actually causes your brain to think that the assault is over a bigger area and the pain is diminished in a HUGE way. I used to be terrified of those injections too, until I met a dentist who had learned that trick in dental school. Since then, I always make sure that any other dentist I go to will do the same. It's like night and day, so you should bring it up when you go in for your next round of extractions.

I also just got dentures this summer, but am still new to the situation so haven't quite learned all that I need to yet, and can't share much in the way of advice on that front.

I really hope that a dental professional can provide you with an answer as to what that smelly, bone-like structure was, that you removed from your jaw.
 
I'm so sorry to hear all that you've gone through so far and hope that all turns out well in the end. I'm not sure if you made a typo or not, but I would imagine that you'll now find it easier to get a job, since your teeth should look fabulous. I'm not at all saying that it's good that you had them removed, and wish that you had been able to afford a better solution instead, but at least they should be gorgeous.

And the only issue that you've brought up that I can address, is the pain involved in the injections in the roof of your mouth. Will the same dentist be doing the upcoming work? If not, most newer dentists know that they should press most of their thumb on the roof, with the needle, to spread the pain around. The pressure on such a large area actually causes your brain to think that the assault is over a bigger area and the pain is diminished in a HUGE way. I used to be terrified of those injections too, until I met a dentist who had learned that trick in dental school. Since then, I always make sure that any other dentist I go to will do the same. It's like night and day, so you should bring it up when you go in for your next round of extractions.

I also just got dentures this summer, but am still new to the situation so haven't quite learned all that I need to yet, and can't share much in the way of advice on that front.

I really hope that a dental professional can provide you with an answer as to what that smelly, bone-like structure was, that you removed from your jaw.

Little Lynnie- Thank you so much for responding. I will definitely mention the thumb with the last set of teeth being pulled as they are all front teeth. It would be helpful if the dentist actually does something to lessen this pain for me. I will be glad when all of this part is over with. And of course my smile will look great. I do believe that this aspect will help with my appearance and of course getting a job. It is just embarrassing and I am afraid of not being able to really eat normally and the long term bone loss which may make using dentures obsolete. Thank you again. It feels a little bit better to know that others have or are going through this as well.
 
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