S
Speedbump
0
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2017
- Messages
- 8
I guess I'll start at the beginning with this rant. I'm no stranger to dentists, but now I'm terrified and excited at the same time. When I was young, I managed to grow an entire set of adult teeth behind the first set. These were all removed and my jaw was broken to make room for possible extra wisdoms (all of which came in). I had 4 years worth of braces and still managed to play my saxophone, even through all the work.
A few years ago, I got really sick and that illness totally killed my teeth. I had six removed, including wisdoms two years ago. Many are broken right to the gum line, and others are on the verge. I finally managed to get health care in order and go and have all of this taken care of.
My dentist was extremely kind and gentle. He was honest in telling me that all of my teeth need to go, and that I wouldn't have a huge recovery time because I don't have many roots left. I have a very small and narrow mouth, but he saw no reason why I could not have immediate dentures. I can't be knocked out due to a medical condition, but I was given a prescription for a sedative to use when my new teeth are ready and I have an appointment for extraction. At this point I was actually excited to be out of pain, to smile again, to finally feel self confident once more.
The denture clinic was a whole other story. Upon arrival I pulled the wrong card out of my wallet by mistake when asked for my benefits card. The receptionist literally threw it at me and barked "wrong one! Now I need you dentist's name!" I gave it to her and was barked at again "never heard of him! Give me a number!" I looked it up and all was more or less well...I put it down to grumpy temp help or something until...I saw the denturist.
He took one look in my mouth and said "I'm not doing impressions until you have THOSE removed! You are poisoning yourself!!" I replied that I am aware of this and am on antibiotics for that, and that my dentist will remove them as soon as my new teeth come in.
The man shoved a mirror in my face and insisted that I look at the state my teeth were in and then, told me, complete with hand movements of the "horrible extraction" I would be having and the "pain for ten days" involved. He then proceeded to inform me that I would have impressions after those ten days, and then wait 2-3 weeks for dentures.
By this time I was shaking and terrified and dejected. He didn't seem to notice this and took it for me being non-compliant, so he brought another person in, who looked in my mouth, scowled, and said ewwwww. I was humiliated. At that point I left the office in tears and came home.
Once I calmed down, I asked a few friends for help finding someone else and bingo! I called them. Completely different experience. They know my dentist well, and I told them the story above. They were horrified and calming and reassuring that my dentist is one of the best in the business. If he says extraction won't be difficult, it won't be. I also found out that I can have immediate dentures and my impressions are being done on Monday. They called the dentist to confirm. Shortly after this call, I received a call from my dentist office asking if everything was ok. I told them the story. As it turns out, the new denture place had already told them about what happened to me, and my dentist wanted to reassure me that that experience was not right, and that this is not going to involve any of the scary things the denturist mentioned. He also urged me to report them and is happy to work with the new place.
This should now not scare me but I'm terrified to go on Monday, afraid I'll be blindsided again or be told I have to be weeks without teeth.
Eeek!
A few years ago, I got really sick and that illness totally killed my teeth. I had six removed, including wisdoms two years ago. Many are broken right to the gum line, and others are on the verge. I finally managed to get health care in order and go and have all of this taken care of.
My dentist was extremely kind and gentle. He was honest in telling me that all of my teeth need to go, and that I wouldn't have a huge recovery time because I don't have many roots left. I have a very small and narrow mouth, but he saw no reason why I could not have immediate dentures. I can't be knocked out due to a medical condition, but I was given a prescription for a sedative to use when my new teeth are ready and I have an appointment for extraction. At this point I was actually excited to be out of pain, to smile again, to finally feel self confident once more.
The denture clinic was a whole other story. Upon arrival I pulled the wrong card out of my wallet by mistake when asked for my benefits card. The receptionist literally threw it at me and barked "wrong one! Now I need you dentist's name!" I gave it to her and was barked at again "never heard of him! Give me a number!" I looked it up and all was more or less well...I put it down to grumpy temp help or something until...I saw the denturist.
He took one look in my mouth and said "I'm not doing impressions until you have THOSE removed! You are poisoning yourself!!" I replied that I am aware of this and am on antibiotics for that, and that my dentist will remove them as soon as my new teeth come in.
The man shoved a mirror in my face and insisted that I look at the state my teeth were in and then, told me, complete with hand movements of the "horrible extraction" I would be having and the "pain for ten days" involved. He then proceeded to inform me that I would have impressions after those ten days, and then wait 2-3 weeks for dentures.
By this time I was shaking and terrified and dejected. He didn't seem to notice this and took it for me being non-compliant, so he brought another person in, who looked in my mouth, scowled, and said ewwwww. I was humiliated. At that point I left the office in tears and came home.
Once I calmed down, I asked a few friends for help finding someone else and bingo! I called them. Completely different experience. They know my dentist well, and I told them the story above. They were horrified and calming and reassuring that my dentist is one of the best in the business. If he says extraction won't be difficult, it won't be. I also found out that I can have immediate dentures and my impressions are being done on Monday. They called the dentist to confirm. Shortly after this call, I received a call from my dentist office asking if everything was ok. I told them the story. As it turns out, the new denture place had already told them about what happened to me, and my dentist wanted to reassure me that that experience was not right, and that this is not going to involve any of the scary things the denturist mentioned. He also urged me to report them and is happy to work with the new place.
This should now not scare me but I'm terrified to go on Monday, afraid I'll be blindsided again or be told I have to be weeks without teeth.
Eeek!
Haha, he wasn't a bad dentist really, in fact he was fairly kind, and I think that was just a routine thing to show you that there's a problem with your gums but...I could do without it! On two occasions after that I said "I would rather not" when The Mirror was brought out, including the colour picking appointment. I didn't need to see my teeth to know that I wanted a nicer colour than they were. 
So you're definitely not alone. Getting through the dentist appointments is trial enough without being made to look at your teeth.
