Deep Cleaning Fear

[Adam R]

Y'know I never thought I'd ever find myself in a forum like this, I've always hated the dentist yes and dreaded going just like many others.

However recently I've scheduled an appointment for a long-overdue deep cleaning to remove some tartar build up on my teeth and take care of some cavities I guess, sure, doesn't seem so bad, I've gone through both without problems in the past save for the usual discomfort.

My problem however is that it looks like the gums have receded away from one of my mid-upper teeth with something brown showing, I'm assuming it's the dentin or root or whatever, the problem doesn't stop there, whenever I drink something cold it's this sharp shooting pain enough to make me wince, same goes for sweets, surprisingly hot liquids and the like don't affect it.

My worry is that when I go for the deep cleaning I know that they have to scrape off some tartar off of that particular tooth along with a few others but if drinking cold water wasn't bad enough, if I even pick at it with a toothpick or my nail the pain turns eye-watering in severity. I know that there are some anesthetic options but I'm worried that a local anesthetic won't numb the hypersensitive tooth, or if I can even afford the local anesthetic for that matter which leaves the Nitrous Oxide option which also has me worried because although it's cheaper and apparently has pretty good pain-killing properties I've read that it's only effective for soft-tissue related procedures although my problem is the tooth itself.

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Hi Adam,

You stated many concerns let's attend them one by one:

I'm worried that a local anesthetic won't numb the hypersensitive tooth

I can guaranty you the local anaesthetic will make sure you feel no sensitivity from that tooth.

which leaves the Nitrous Oxide option which also has me worried because although it's cheaper

I don't believe it is true. Local anaesthetic by definition is easier and cheaper that laughing gas.

and apparently has pretty good pain-killing properties I've read that it's only effective for soft-tissue related procedures although my problem is the tooth itself.

Laughing gas has no analgesic/numbing effect, not on the soft tissue neither the hard one. It simply helps the patient to cope with the anxiety, giving an euphoric feeling, but nothing more.