Dental nightmare

[Mel1280]

Hi, I just wanted to find some support in here. It feels very lonely when dealing with dental issues. I had a 2 year old filling who on my last dental cleaning showed a little decay underneath. My dentist told me I needed to get another filling to fix it. I had no pain so I really doubted it doing it, but at the end I thought I should just do what I have to do before it gets worse.
A couple days after I started feeling weird, like my gum was receding a lil bit, I couldn’t floss properly (it looked like a bridge sticking with the other molar). Days after I started feeling a dull pain, it would come and go, but no pain when pressing down or biting just a weird sensation when I was not doing anything. My anxiety blew my mind. I wouldn’t sleep or eat or do anything, just, thinking about it. I went insane. Went to a different dentist for a second opinion, and the guy told me the filing had been horribly done and that my best shot was to do a root canal ( now I probably had other options) but I was so tired and so drained, he promised I would be fine and out of misery in no time. The rct was not painful, but the dentist kept telling me that the anatomy of my teeth were abnormal (red flag). The hours after I felt Terrible, with the days the pain got 10 times worse than the original pain. I felt like dying. I went back, he adjusted the bite and said I should be fine in a couple days to finish it with the permanent filling. This day never came, after two weeks of antibiotics and pain killers, I couldn’t take it no more. So he advised me to extract it and get a bone graft for an implant (great, after all this pain and this money I am gonna end up losing my tooth). After begging for a oral surgeon in the middle of the holidays, finally got one that seemed decent to remove it. I explained the whole situation, he didn’t show a single ray of empathy towards me and pulled my tooth in the worst and most painful way ever, then put the bone graft, some membrane and closed me up. I am here, over a month after the extraction and my gums still hurt, now my adjacent teeth to the bone graft is getting red, painful and sensitive. I am waiting to see him Monday to find out what’s going on. All this nightmare started October and it’s almost February. Does it come to and end? And I gonna need another failed root canal? Did he crack my adjacent teeth when pulling the other one? Am I the person with worst luck? Idk friends, this has put me in a dark place when I have panic attacks every 5 minutes and I am constantly losing sleep over and even considering my life a lost battle because I don’t feel strong enough to keep fighting. It’s just not possible that 3 different dentist messed me up one after other. I think I am also clenching my teeth after all this stress. It feels like never ending. Idk if the pain gives me anxiety or the anxiety causes or worsens my pain. I am just exhausted. Thank you for reading.

 

[Sunshines]

@Mel1280
Im.so sorry that your going through all this and are in so much pain. I can relate, I had an extraction at the end of October and then had to go to an oral surgeon because it was not healing. The other two teeth around it have been swelling as well. I was able to have a root canal on one of the teeth done the other day and now I'm waiting for it to calm down. I'm also having a lot of financial difficulties and can not afford all the treatments I need. I am going to make an appointment with a endodontist to look at the other tooth. I was told that sometimes infection can spread to nearby teeth and it looks like mine did. The only advice I can give is to have the teeth near the extraction site looked at and meantime rest, relax, meditation and take care of yourself. Dental pain is the worst kind of pain there is in my opinion. I have also been praying a lot and listening to relaxing music.

 

[Tryingtobebravebrooke]

Hi @Mel1280
How are you doing now? I hope things have started to improve. I’m curious what the outcome of the teeth next to your extracted teeth are doing and/ or if you had any more complications. I am in a very similar boat to where you were before your extraction. I made the mistake of going to a seemingly cheap/ affordable dentist I didn’t know, but looked to have good reviews at least in google. I was unaware companies can delete bad reviews until recently. Ended up not being cheap since they botched the filling and crown they said I needed after cracking a molar on popcorn. After being in a world of pain from the infection and taking longer than I should have to find and sort of trust a new dentist to properly fix it, I am now scheduled for an extraction and bone graft of the second to last molar on my lower right side next week, but at least with a dentist that is as highly recommended by people I know and use her. I am terrified it’s going to mess with my incisor teeth and K9 on my lower right side next to the tooth that will be extracted bc those teeth have been shifting around a lot already since the botched filling and infection and the gums don’t look great on my entire lower right side. Then I spiral about how if that happens I won’t be able to treat those in a timely manner and be in even more pain because I’m already having to finance this whole extraction graft and implant in the molar. Im concerned the dentist wanted me to get through this first extraction that is certainly the urgent priority before she tells me ok you know those other teeth you were worried about, well actually there is a lot more work we need to do too for those too. I’m really sorry you have been experiencing this and completely know how you feel about will this ever end or is this just all a lost cause and going to be one problem after another. I don’t even really care about the additional pain I’m about to feel from the extraction and graft healing process and am more worried/depressed that I’m potentially going to be having to continually treat teeth issues for the next few years and work more than two jobs to just be in dental debt forever. The only thing giving me any solace right now is that sadly I’m not alone in this and it’s not just the world sh$&ing on me alone, but then I get upset that anyone else has to deal with this too bc I wouldn’t wish it even on my worst enemy. Anyways, I hope you are doing as good as you can be and are finding ways to find some light at the end of the seemingly long tunnel. Truly wish you the best and hope things turn around for the better for you

 

[midwestGWOTvet]

Stinks. that you're going through this. but keep moving forward. you're a good person and you'll feel better in the long run. at least that's what i keep telling myself.

 

[Mel1280]

@Sunshines Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story. I am so sorry you are dealing with dental issues as welll. I hope you can get everything you need done and be stress free.

 

[Mel1280]

@Tryingtobebravebrooke Your reply really made me tear up. I feel you! This is exactly how I feel and I don’t feel like most people understand it. Feeling like eventually the teeth are gonna fall apart. But, it has really helped me reading other people’s stories of them unfortunately having to get them all removed and get either a denture or implants and they still living and thriving. It shouldn’t be that hard and
Expensive to be able to eat and smile. But realizing that you are not only your teeth, kind of gives me perspective. Thinking that ok, some work is gonna be needed but no everything at the same time, and the times we don’t deal with dental issues we can have a happy life.
My gums are better now, my adjacent teeth still a lil red but the doctor said it is my gum reacting to my bone graft. I am still healing and waiting for this long recovery to end and be back to life again.
I hope you can keep your peace while dealing with all these issues, that’s definitely the hardest part after the financial stress. Maybe see if they have payment options, discounts, or they can do one procedure at a time so you get time to save for it. Make sure they have warranty for the work you get done, so that you don’t have to have extra costs if something happens.

I have hope that one day I’ll get a break of all these issues and forget about them for at least a couple years with proper care.
Wishing you a speedy recovery and a lot of peace.

 

[Mel1280]

@midwestGWOTvet Thank you, it has definitely been a faith testing experience. I keep telling myself that it will get better. Thank you for your time and your kind words.

 

[smirked]

Expensive to be able to eat and smile. But realizing that you are not only your teeth, kind of gives me perspective. Thinking that ok, some work is gonna be needed but no everything at the same time, and the times we don’t deal with dental issues we can have a happy life.

That's the spirit! Your teeth are a huge part of your identity and, in some sense, losing teeth feels like losing a part of yourself. A part of what makes you, well.. you!

However, denture technicians are highly skilled in making new teeth for people. Mine looks just like my natural teeth did.

In the end, you said it perfectly. If we don't deal with the dental issues we face, the happiness can quickly drain from our lives. The pain and torment is unbelievable sometimes. Hang in there.

 

[Mel1280]

As an update for this hard and long journey that feel like never ends.
After 4 months of my extraction and bone graft I went in for an implant consultation, just for the dr to tell me I am not ready yet. My gum still red and painful, Also talked to him about my pain in my adjacent teeth in front of it and he said it was probably jaw muscle pain. So, I still don’t know how long I have to wait to finally get my tooth back, and I am dealing with a lot of dental anxiety, feeling like my old fillings are gonna fail or another tooth is gonna start hurting. I don’t know, I feel like my mental health makes everything harder and sometimes I just feel hopeless and tired. I am scared of many things and try to be brave but since everything that could go wrong went wrong I just feel like it’s the end like everything is gonna fall apart. I am just hating it right now.

 

[midwestGWOTvet]

I sympathize. I'm very self-conscious about my teeth. It will be okay. Sometimes I'll feel that way, then look around at people in the world. Some are overweight, too thin. Scarred, or otherwise disfigured. People are bald or balding. We all wish we were perfect, but most have some flaw. Some of that is unavoidable by way of our genes, some of it through bad habits not corrected in childhood. I try to have grace for the people around me, and I expect they have more for me than I think.

I'm just a work in progress.

keep your chin up, it will get better

 

[Mel1280]

@midwestGWOTvet Thank you for your kind words. They have helped me through the night to get some peace. It is absolutely a wild journey. I hoped these issues were normalized as much as people going bald and there was less judgement of people thinking one does drugs or just decided to never brush. It is not only the pain but the shame. Thank you for your support and beautiful message. I hope I can give a positive update soon, and I hope you can feel better soon as well. We all deserve to smile and eat with confidence.

 

[midwestGWOTvet]

@Mel1280 i think even if you used drugs or had poor hygiene habits you should have peace.

my parents didn't burn into me the need to brush and shoveled soda on me from a young age. it's hard to explain, some dentists warned me. but in my mind, I thought why would my parents give me soda if it's such a big deal.

now I pay for decades of poor hygiene and soda consumption.

at some point that became my problem not my parents failing. I can accept that.

wherever or why ever you wound up where you are. you're here, me too. all we can do is accept where we are and strive to do better.

I know I pay for it. dentist bills are steep. my mouth has hurt for years. most of that I accept as the cost of my choices. but when I look at the world and see folks working to improve, I dont mock them. I cheer that.

whats the other choice? I look at my kids and it encourages me to do better AND to help steer them away from this problem situation.

you got this! you deserve peace and happiness. you'll get there

 

[Mel1280]

@midwestGWOTvet absolutely! There are no more options than to keep going. I have a similar story like yours, I come from a neglectful family, who never brushed my teeth or took me to a dentist. I was from a early age covered in lice, cavities and parasites. The last 10 years I have tried to do better for myself and paid my first dentist with the first money I could save at 16 years old. Now it’s just a matter of keep fixing stuff when needed and keep preventing for more stuff to get bad. I have since a early age taken responsibility and care of myself. I have kids too that I don’t want to leave alone or seeing me in pain, I really don’t wish that on nobody. Thank you for sharing with me. Please, keep me updated. We all deserve to smile

 

[Mel1280]

As an update for my teeth nightmare, I just finished my dental implants surgery. I am very swollen and in pain, but hope this is for the best. I also got my impacted wisdom teeth taken out (all 4) and I am kinda nervous about the recovery. I gotta go back in a couple days for a filling change and a cleaning. I am so scared of a dry socket and I am so anxious about anything going wrong since I have had such a terrible experience in the past. I am hoping for the best, trusting the process and praying this is gonna be it at least for a couple years. Anyway, thank you for reading this.

 

[ScaredyCat22]

@Mel1280 Your story is so similar to mine except for the implant, it's scary. My dental nightmare started with a small chip in a filling. I was told it didn't have decay under it but they said it could be refilled. When they refilled they set a pin in it to hold the filling and lied to me about it. The pin they screwed into my tooth cracked my tooth all the way through to the root. when the numbing wore off I was in agony. It was October and it ruined my entire holiday season with being in unbearable pain unable to eat or sleep or function. That was the start of a year long dental nightmare for me that led to a crown that made the pain worse, a root canal that did not help, finally an extraction where I was told that it was cracked all the way to the root because of that pin, a bridge that did not fit at all, and I will spare you the rest of the details but I do understand dental pain and the lonliness of having nobody understand. I hope your implant heals quickly and you are pain free soon.

 

[Mel1280]

@ScaredyCat22 I am so sorry you have to deal with all that pain and trauma. I really think dentist should be held accountable for their bad work, but they make you sing so many forms to avoid you suing them for malpractice. The surgeon who extracted my tooth and did the bone graft had me sign a form saying that there were risks like breaking other teeth, leaving tools behind and similar stuff like that. It is really a nightmare. I hope you can find relief soon.

 

[Mel1280]

I feel so defeated today. I had two implants put in on both sides of my mouth and 4 impacted wisdom teeth extracted at the same time. Two weeks ago I felt like everything was going great, I was obsessed with my oral hygiene, I have been living on protein shakes and mashed potatoes for over a month and have avoid chewing at all. But the pain came back a couple days ago, a pain that goes to my ear and gives me panic attacks. My whole side of my mouth hurts and is sensitive and makes me feel like I am gonna lose more teeth or some roots are broken. The original pain that I got after the extraction and the bone graft came back and it’s driving me crazy. I thought it was over, I could just recover after so much pain and painful procedures, but no. I am very tired, friends and honestly I don’t know how to keep going.