Dental "deep cleaning" aka- root scaling/planing

[renaep86]

I would like to share my experience for anyone who may be going through this right now. I would like to share because before my procedure, I was looking any and everywhere for someone who had been through it...someone to say "its not so bad" or " you'll be just fine!" I must say I didnt find a whole lot to ease my mind, but I knew I had to go. To give a little background info...i hadnt been to the dentist in about 7 years.....I have never liked going because I have extremely sensitive teeth and gums...any little nick or scratch is terribly painful for me.....so staying away from the dentist was perfectly fine as far as I was concerned! My mother on the other hand, felt very strongly that I had gingivitis because my gums randomly bleed. So I took the plunge and made an appt to get a routine cleaning. I went in, got my x-rays done and waited for the hygienist to come in. She came in, looked at my x-rays, and handed down the news......."you have periodontal disease". I immediately was terrified as I had never heard of this before....what does this mean....how did this happen....what is it??? Thoughts of course are racing through my mind because this sounds serious! So anyway long story short, because I hadnt been to the dentist, and gotten regular cleanings, i had tartar build up....extreme tartar build up under my gums....which is toxic, and is causing bone loss. If not fixed, she told me, i could lose so much bone that my teeth could fall out. I had to schedule to have a "deep cleaning" done to get rid of all that build up under the gums. So that day i had a routine cleaning and made an appt for 1 week later to get my deep cleaning done. I went looking all over the internet for videos or stories of others who had been through this... I needed to know that i would be ok!! lol as you see im a big chicken in the dental chair. So I had my appt yesterday. they do deep cleaning in halves...they did my right side yesterday and this friday they will do the left side. First thing the hygenist did was put a topical numbing gel on my gums and cheek. That sat for a few minutes, then the dentist came in to do the actual numbing. Ive never had this done before....and hate needles! so i was a little nervous...he grabbed my cheek and went in to start numbing......I barely felt a thing! the worst part was him pinching my cheek! Im thinking he did that to distract me, because it definitely did! lol so now im good and numb and the hygenist starts cleaning. I felt a few pricks, and scratching along the teeth in some spots.....and on the bottoms, i felt some sensitivity in the front.....but other than that it was not bad at all! Definitely would not describe it as painful at all. You unfortunatley still hear all the tools and the scraping of the teeth.....and at times i thought my teeth were being pulled out because she was pulling so hard at the plaque....but I made it through with out a single scream! I was numb for about 4 hours after the procedure, so i couldnt eat anything, but once the numbing was gone, i was able to eat and it barely felt like i had anything done! i could chew just fine, like i would have any other day. I hope my experience will help someone else who may be terriefied of the dentist. You can do it!

 

[bamafan]

Re: Dental "deep cleaning" also know and root scaling/planing

Thank you so much for this! Made an appointment with a Periodontist for Thursday. I am sure this will be their first recommendation! Thanks for helping calm my nerves a bit. Glad to know it will basically be like a hyped up cleaning with my lips feeling fat for a couple hours!