Chronic illness and fear of the recovery process

[uberkatja]

Hi everyone. I just need to vent, and I love to know if any of you have similar issues you have dealt with.

First, the current state of my teeth: I haven't been to the dentist in 3 years. At my last appointment, they told me I had 5 cavities, but weren't going to fill them because I was doing invisalign at the time and they didn't want it to ruin the molds I already had. After the orthodontic treatment ended, I never ended up going back to the dentist and the fear over these cavities and embarrassment has continued to grow. About a year ago, 2 of my back molars cracked fairly significantly (down to the gum), so I'm just missing big chunks of those teeth. I've never had pain with them, but I know it's something that needs to be dealt with eventually, and I prefer to do it on my own time rather than having my life derailed by sudden pain. I also still have my wisdom teeth, and am super scared that if/when I go to the dentist they're going to tell me I need to get them removed.

Now, all of this would be enough to deal with, but I also have a lot of chronic health issues that complicate dental procedures and just compound my anxiety. I have ehlers danlos syndrome (EDS), which among other things makes local anesthetic essentially useless. I wasn't diagnosed until recently, but I remember going to dentists in the past and needing multiple shots and still feeling some pain, and dentists always not believing me. So I'm really scared that whatever procedure I have will be painful and the dentist will dismiss my pain.

I also have something called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which affects my autonomic nervous system (heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, etc.). Any shots with epi are really bad because I already have a rapid heart rate and it could send me into a bad flare that could last for days after. The stress of going to the dentist in general could also trigger a flare, and any procedure that will need to be done on the cracked teeth (root canal, extraction, etc.) would definitely trigger a flare. I am also scared the stress will trigger a migraine. It's really hard to walk into something you know is going to make you feel really sick.

tl;dr: I'm terrified that the procedures I will need will make my other health problems way worse and I'm just going to spend like a month completely out of commission, but I also know I need to go to the dentist while I have minimal obligations and before my teeth get any worse. I feel like I'm stuck in a catch 22 and I don't know what to do. I need to go to the dentist, I just can't.

 

[comfortdentist]

Technic Tip:

First, the current state of my teeth: I haven't been to the dentist in 3 years. At my last appointment, they told me I had 5 cavities, but weren't going to fill them because I was doing invisalign at the time and they didn't want it to ruin the molds I already had.

Not a problem at all. The doctor just excavates the caries and does the basic composite filling a bit smaller than the tooth then places more composite into the invisalign tray inserts that into your mouth and cures the material. After curing clean up the excess and polish and continue with your orthodontic treatment.

 

[carole]

Hi WELCOME to the forum

I would in our position go to see the dentist and explain how you have on here what your problems are and also that you fear the way you are going to feel after. If your dentist cannot deal with this themselves then they should refer you to someone that can.

There may be something that they can do, I am sure that I have read on here somewhere about an injection that uses vibration. I am also sure it is called vibrajet, if anyone knows anything of this then please do tell.

Sorry I can't be of more help, please at least make an appointment with a dentist an discuss this with them, if you still feel you can't face it you have lost nothing. But you just may gain a way of getting the treatment you need