Dental Appointment in Less than an Hour

[Trudy]

Oh, boy. The last time I had this happen, I ended up chickening out at the last moment. I've already read this site up and down and I'm prepared for a more sympathetic dentist visit than I had back in my junior high years, but my mind can't stop reeling with the 'what ifs'. What if the dentist lectures me about the state of my teeth? What if there's pain? What if I start crying? (The last part is almost certainly going to happen -- just reading the site was enough to turn on the waterworks).

I know I can get up and get out if I need to, but a part of me is absolutely terrified that if I leave, it'll be months or years before I work up the courage to talk to and find another dentist.

I'm getting ready to hop in the car now, so I'll update this post once I get home (with good news, I hope). Hopefully this visit won't leave me permanently traumatized.

 

[Trudy]

Well, I survived, but not without a few tears.

My mouth is about as bad as I thought. I managed to get through the ordeal without seeing pictures of my teeth, much to the disappointment of my dentist who thought it might be better for me to see it firsthand before making a decision as far as how to proceed.

I had a debridement which admittedly, was about as bad as I expected. Occasionally it hurt, but they managed to move from tooth to tooth quickly enough with that the pain wasn't concentrated in one place for a long time. And honestly, as far as the pain was concerned, I've had worse bruises. Still, it wasn't completely painfree. I had my mp3 player and headphones on so I managed to get through most of this by closing my eyes and listening to Ben Folds. Imagining myself playing the piano helped tremendously, too. I somehow find comfort in repetition, and there's a lot of repeated chords in Ben Folds songs.

The worst part, by far, was the scraping. Even with the headset on, I could still hear it, and the sensation is just awful. I started crying at this point and the hygienist asked if I wanted to stop. But since I had only ten minutes left, I had her go on. Better to get as much done as possible if I'm dishing out the money, y'know?

I have a follow-up appointment for a second cleaning, since apparently my mouth is Plaque Central and it's routine to have another cleaning after a debridement. I'm not looking forward to it in the least, but I know that if things are going to get any better, I need to keep trudging forward.

Looking at my game plan for fixing my mouth, I sure do wish I had dental insurance right now. Then again, waiting for dental insurance to fall into my lap coupled with an underprivileged childhood got me here in the first place.

 

[redridinghood]

No one will judge you for having a bad tooth or bad teeth. I have a large noticeable cavity on a front tooth and no one in the dentist's office said anything negative. I'm sure they're glad you have the courage to go see them so they can help you.