Thanks to everyone for their support and encouragement! I just got home from my appointment, and wanted to share my experience. I went in dreading this appointment as much as I did my first appointment last month. I felt sick and shaky, my heart was racing, and I spent a few minutes crying in the parking lot before I could work up the courage to walk into the office. Half of me really wanted to cancel the appointment, but I was afraid that if I waited, I'd build it up in my mind to the point where I wouldn't be able to have another dentist appointment.
My dentist is really friendly and has a very calm, soothing demeanor; I actually felt calmer when she called me in, compared to when I was waiting. When I got into the exam room, the first thing I noticed was that everything was already set up for the procedure, including the pillow and blanket I requested. It helped me a lot to see everything ready, and know that the worst part-the injection of the local-would be over soon, with minimal waiting. We talked briefly about what the cleaning would look and feel like, and then she let me get settled in the chair while she finished prepping. After drying my gums on the upper left side with a cotton swab (weird feeling!) she spread on the topical anaesthetic gel, then had me hold a q-tip of the gel in place for a few minutes. My expectations for the numbing gel were really low, as I didn't think it helped that much when I had my debridement done a few weeks ago, but I was happy to try anything to make the injections more comfortable. We waited a few minutes longer, to let the gel work, me getting more and more nervous in anticipation.
I very carefully didn't watch as the needle was prepared, and tried to keep busy getting my MP3 player and earphone ready. When she was ready, the dentist told me that she always closes her eyes for the shot-I love that she gets the needle fears!-so I shut my eyes and tried to focus on my breathing. Guys, I never felt the needle go in. I could feel a little pressure and oddness while the needle was in (it takes about a minute, because the slower the liquid is injected, the less you feel it) but the only time I felt anything close to pain was for two seconds when the needle was removed. For a few minutes afterwards, the injection site felt a little bruised, kind of like your arm does after a vaccine, only much less painful. I can't believe I was so terrified of this and it turned out to be so easy!
After my injection, we waited a few minutes, then she tested the area with the metal scraping tool we all know and love. I could feel the tool touch my gum line, but it didn't hurt. She said we should wait until I couldn't feel the tool at all though, so we waited another three or four minutes.
We started with a water pick, which I was familiar with from my debridement. The tool is noisy, and having had it used on me with only numbing gel, I can tell you it does hurt a little (not excruciating, just a more intense version of the metal scraper, minus the scraping noise). This time, I couldn't feel anything. I could hear her working, feel the pressure against my teeth, and be mildly annoyed at having my mouth open long-term, but there was no pain. At all. I just laid there and listened to an audio book, eyes closed, suctioning my mouth whenever I wanted to. Any time I moved or opened my eyes, my dentist asked if I was in any pain, if I needed a break, or if I needed to rinse m mouth. Wen I got tired of holding my mouth open, she got me a mouth block, which is a little rubber thing that you hold bite down on with the side of your mouth not being worked on. It set off my gag reflex for a second, but she moved it nearer to the front and that helped. Not having to think about holding my mouth open definitely made things more comfortable, and made the experience feel less like a dentist appointment.
Altogether, my appointment lasted two hours, including injections, questions before and after, and the actual work, which was then examined by a supervising dentist (I'm being treated at a dental school to keep costs low, so all work has to be okayed afterwards).
What you should know about a deep cleaning: in a lot of ways, it feels like a more comfortable version of a routine cleaning. We alternated between the water pick and the metal pick for most of the appointment, then did a quick two-step polishing a basically two rounds of brushing, one with a gritty paste, one with a normal paste. Unlike a normal hygiene appointment, I was numb throughout, so I didn't have to worry about anything hurting during the cleaning. Unlike a normal cleaning, there was some bleeding, as my gums are inflamed. This is normal for this procedure. I was surprised at how little blood there is. I never tasted it, which I'd been concerned about, and I could see only a tiny bit at the gum line when the procedure was done. I'm still numb on that side, so I can't say for sure how I'll feel in a few hours, but it doesn't look terribly swollen; definitely nowhere near as bad as it was when I had my first appointment. I've been told to do salt water rinses and to take ibuprofen throughout the day to help with any pain, and I took two ibuprofen before the procedure, hoping it might help. I'll update this as I know more, but really, this was no big deal. Yet again, I got myself worked up over nothing.