Dental Debridement/Deep Cleaning Panic

[anon710]

Hey folks! A little background on my mouth before we dive in:

I’m a 20 y/o female from the US who, until this March, hadn’t been to the dentist in 15 years. My mother wasn’t too great at being a mom, and called it quits on taking me to the dentist after one or two appointments before the age of 5. My dental hygiene is pretty decent, but I have GI issues that cause vomiting and some less than stellar reflux often.

Worked up the courage to make my initial appointment in March after chipping what I now know was calculus from my bottom front teeth, thinking it was enamel. Doc took x-rays and lined up the ungodly amount of fillings I’ll need, plus one crown and a potential root canal (believe it or not? I’m in no pain whatsoever.) He said that the damage could’ve been so much worse for 15 years as I sat in front of him in hot tears, which made me feel a little better.

Now before we get to all that, I need a debridement/full cleaning tomorrow morning at 7:30. Besides my burning embarrassment at the sorry state of my mouth that these poor people will be forced to see, I am downright terrified that I’m gonna leave the chair with horrible gaps, or a disfigured mouth that I can’t show in public. I’m really uninformed on dentistry because of my gap in care, and that uncertainty creates a lot of fear for me.

I’m less afraid for pain, and more afraid for the way my teeth are gonna come out looking after this appointment. I feel like they’ll be loose to the point of falling out of my mouth, and this debridement is just gonna shuffle all of my problems to the surface so my teeth become unbearable before they can schedule me for some proper repairs. Can someone give me some knowledge on the procedure, what the steps look like, and what I should prepare for? Is there anything I can do to make my dentist’s life a little easier at this point, since my mouth is already botched? Any help whatsoever would be appreciated, I feel incredibly lost.

 

[Enarete]

Hi anon710,

what a brave thing to finally schedule an appointment. I am glad your dentist was supportive and tried to make you feel better.

I am a bit late for advices as your appointment was yesterday, but if you can, let us know how it went! In my experience people are usually really worried about a deep clean and then happy that it wasn't as bad as they thought, so hopefully this was your experience as well.

 

[Patterdalemum]

Hey folks! A little background on my mouth before we dive in:

I’m a 20 y/o female from the US who, until this March, hadn’t been to the dentist in 15 years. My mother wasn’t too great at being a mom, and called it quits on taking me to the dentist after one or two appointments before the age of 5. My dental hygiene is pretty decent, but I have GI issues that cause vomiting and some less than stellar reflux often.

Worked up the courage to make my initial appointment in March after chipping what I now know was calculus from my bottom front teeth, thinking it was enamel. Doc took x-rays and lined up the ungodly amount of fillings I’ll need, plus one crown and a potential root canal (believe it or not? I’m in no pain whatsoever.) He said that the damage could’ve been so much worse for 15 years as I sat in front of him in hot tears, which made me feel a little better.

Now before we get to all that, I need a debridement/full cleaning tomorrow morning at 7:30. Besides my burning embarrassment at the sorry state of my mouth that these poor people will be forced to see, I am downright terrified that I’m gonna leave the chair with horrible gaps, or a disfigured mouth that I can’t show in public. I’m really uninformed on dentistry because of my gap in care, and that uncertainty creates a lot of fear for me.

I’m less afraid for pain, and more afraid for the way my teeth are gonna come out looking after this appointment. I feel like they’ll be loose to the point of falling out of my mouth, and this debridement is just gonna shuffle all of my problems to the surface so my teeth become unbearable before they can schedule me for some proper repairs. Can someone give me some knowledge on the procedure, what the steps look like, and what I should prepare for? Is there anything I can do to make my dentist’s life a little easier at this point, since my mouth is already botched? Any help whatsoever would be appreciated, I feel incredibly lost.

Hi. I had a deep clean and root planing 2 weeks ago. I was terrified! The fear however was far worse than the procedure. Once I was numb my dentist talked me through everything he was doing and said that if I felt even the slightest twinge, to tap the chair arm and he would give me more local. I truly understand your fear as I was the same, but now I will happily have work done. ?