Dentist sent me home again...

[ilostmysoul]

Hello everyone,
I'm 18 and about 3 months ago I was feeling some pain in a tooth of mine and decided to go to my dentist to check it out. After some drilling she told me it was an infection and she had to do a root canal treatment, and because I was already numb (and it usually take a bit of Novocaine to make me numb) she wanted to do the part one of the treatment on that day. But as soon as I heard the word "nerve" all that numbness went away in a blink and I was feeling everything again, even the slightest thing. She covered the tooth up in some temporary paste and sent me home for a month on antibiotics, but then college started so we had to postpone it again, for today. In the meantime I talked to friends, I googled, and I ended up in this forum where I got some golden information about the procedure.

And here I go today, a bit nervous but telling myself that it was gonna be like always, just a bit longer. I sit down on the chair, she starts to numb my gum, and then I lost it. Literally all the control over my mind and breath in a way I didn't even know it was possible. All that information and tips I kept repeating to myself, all gone and replaced by past experiences and friend's stories. The dentist told me to calm down and take a few deep breaths, and I really really tried to, but I would just cough or run out of breath midway through.

Needless to say that the gum didn't even get numb. Do you know that part where you just feel a very little pinch that almost nobody complains about? Well I didn't feel a little pinch; it was much bigger and real this time. She told me I was way too nervous for this to work, that I would start panicking badly if she moved on, and sent me home for another month. The thing is, I'm not sure if in a month I can handle it, because most likely I see it as a repetition of today.
And as a side effect you feel really really terrible because you know they had to refuse any other appointments for today's afternoon (even tho they managed to call a few of them back) so that I could sit there for 5 minutes and go home again. Self-esteem suffers a lot too, especially when my mom keeps telling me that I'm way too old for having this kind of fears and way too young for having this kind of reaction.

So anyways I know I'm not at all an active member of this forum (I truly hate dentists you have no idea of how much I would trade if that would avoid going for a single appointment, so I don't have much experience in this area) but here I stand yet again asking for help, if not for me then for my dentist and all the other poor patients who had to miss their appointment today :S
Thanks in advance

 

[zombiegroupie]

I know what it's like to have that out of control feeling, it happened to me at a dentist last year and I thought I'd never go back. What helped was just telling myself repeatedly, during all waking hours that I could do this, I needed to do it, a bad tooth could make me really sick, etc. and finding a dentist who was truly kind and patient.

Until you can re-train your brain the phobia will always overpower you. Since June I've had 3 teeth extracted and 7 fillings, plus some flouride treatments and even some tooth shaping without novocaine.


I feel so much better knowing that the bad teeth are gone. Once you can get through an appt, the sense of accomplishment you feel after is amazing

 

[carole]

Hi I also had an appointment where any form of treatment just could not happen, what helped me was the fact that the dentist just stopped everything and talked to me and made another appointment as if it was normal. No judgement and no being annoyed with me, it worked wonders for me as I thought if he is prepared to give me time and do nothing he is willing to make sure I don't have pain when having treatment and will stop if it becomes too much. I think your dentist did the right thing and seems very understanding.

Could you be prescribed something by the dentist or your doctor to help you feel calmer before the appointment, they can give you something to take the night before and then in the morning before your appointment. If the dentist cannot give you something then if you explain to your doctor they may be able to. A lot of people on here find doing this helps them. If you have a successful and calmer appointment you might not need to take anything again, but if they help then you can have them again at future appointments.

Good luck

 

[ilostmysoul]

Thank you both for sharing your experiences and tips

 

[Tink]

And as a side effect you feel really really terrible because you know they had to refuse any other appointments for today's afternoon (even tho they managed to call a few of them back) so that I could sit there for 5 minutes and go home again. Self-esteem suffers a lot too, especially when my mom keeps telling me that I'm way too old for having this kind of fears and way too young for having this kind of reaction.

So anyways I know I'm not at all an active member of this forum (I truly hate dentists you have no idea of how much I would trade if that would avoid going for a single appointment, so I don't have much experience in this area) but here I stand yet again asking for help, if not for me then for my dentist and all the other poor patients who had to miss their appointment today :S
Thanks in advance

Hi ilostmysoul (have you tried looking down the back of the sofa?)

Just to add to what the others have said - don't worry about your dentist and the other patients, what matters right now are your needs, and it sounds pretty clear that your needs are the dentist's main concern. This is not your fault at all, whatever your Mum might say. It's ok to have needs, and it's completely ok to ask for help when you need it, both from us and from your dentist

I agree with the others, your dentist sounds great and did the right thing by stopping. It would have been cruel to force you through it in that state.

There is hope for your next appointment though, as Carole says you may be able to ask your doctor to prescribe something to calm you down just enough to help you through it. Longer term, it might be worth looking into something like hypnosis or systematic desensitisation to help you with your fears - I'm working through a process of desensitisation with my dentist at the moment and it's very helpful.

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Hi,
It sounds as if your main issue is pain, especially when talking about root canal treatment.
We are surrounded with too much information, it can be overwhelming and not helpful. When it comes to avoiding pain, the most important thing is finding a dentist with whom you can have a trustful relationship.
Our modern life style causes many dental issues, it is impossible to avoid dental problems (even I as a dentist have some dental issues) so I really recommend putting an effort in finding the right dentist for you.
You can find many useful tips on that subject in this website.

 

[skylah]

I cannot get myself to the door of the dentist , why can I not be put out completely, you have this option for day procedure ops so why not the teeth. I am now blending my food, I desperately need a dentist who will help me, I would rather have them all out and that would be that.

 

[ilostmysoul]

Updating this to say that I did my RCT last Thursday and to talk about that w/o needing to start a thread, and I want to ask a quick question.

But first, uff. It's finished.

Okay so it was nothing special. I'm not going to lie, there WAS pain. There was a peak of pain when she numbed me directly on the nerve, but it was not that big of a peak I've had worse. At least after 2 minutes I was reassured I would feel no more pain since there wasn't a nerve anymore. One less tooth to worry about.

Also the only reason the peak existed in the 1st place was because the effect from the antibiotics she had given me 3 months earlier had already passed (since I missed 1 appointment). But looking back it's gone it's finished I need to go back in January so that she can fill the tooth back up inside and then life goes on.

Now here's the thing: 5 days after the therapy, the filling fell. I now have a hole in my tooth (it was there before the surgery too except now it came back). I'm probably gonna call the dentist tomorrow's night (I have college classes all day long) but to be fair I'm a little bit worried. Do you think this is serious? I mean she cleaned the tooth inside there isn't even a nerve so it can't cause pain or get infected now can it?
Besides is this a sign of a bad job? Was the filling supposed to hold on for longer if she was a "better" dentist? Because if I give up on this dentist I have nobody else to turn to in my town, and I'm starting to trust her... Everyone else gave me an hard time.

 

[carole]

Hi I am glad you managed to get it done

You need to go straight back to your dentist and get the tooth filled again. You can get an infection if you leave it as the tooth is now open and that will hurt.

For the health of the tooth go back. The filling will have been a temp one, they do this to make sure that things settle down and stay settled. Your dentist would not want you to wait.

Good luck