• Dental Phobia Support

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FEAR GONE! (US) (very explicit)

G

Guest

Former Member
(this is a copy of a PM I sent a friend of mine who has not been to the dentist in 30 years.)

I took 3 ativan before I went in today, spaced a half hour in between doseages before the time of my appointment. Had no coffee or breakfast, just a yogurt smoothie in the morning. It was sunny and warm today in Boston, and I made sure to walk much of the way so the walking and the sunlight would make me feel a little more drowsy. I read my Alan Alda book for a few minutes in the sunniest chair. They came and got me and we headed into the treatment room.

The dentist asked if I was cool with novocaine, which I was, and he said he'd be giving me a novocaine 'block' - it makes half of your face and most of your tongue completely and UTTERLY numb. I didn't even feel the needle - he took my cheek in his hand and mooshed it around, kinda like making a meatball, while administering the shot and there wasn't even a pinch or prick.

While we chatted and I commented a few times on how I didn't really seem to NOT be feeling anything yet, he leaned me back and said 'do you feel this?'
(This sounds like the start of a dirty story, but it isn't ;) Especially since the guy's wife/receptionist is having a caesarian tomorrow to which I wished them both hearty mazel-tovs!

Anyway, I didn't feel that. Or anything. I felt like I 'wanted' to be nervous but I just wasn't, I felt sleepy. I guess it might be called 'relaxed.' So he put the various things in my mouth to keep it open and draining and started working...

This is exactly how it feels while the work is being done:
You are in a subway tunnel, leaning against the wall. On the other side of the wall there is much construction going on. You can hear little sounds of various tools and every so often you can feel on your side of the wall that they are working on the wall on their side - you can feel a bit of the pressure of their tools against the cinderblock. Two or three times there might be a high-pitched noise that makes you feel like it's hurt your ears, but it's over in a second. (That 'high pitched noise' being a spot in the tooth that needs an extra bit of novocaine, which is administered quickly and painlessly - that 'pinch' dentists are always talking about? In this instance, it does - it feels like a quick pinch.)

To anyone with an analytical mind you just have this overall wish to be able to SEE what the hell all this grinding and scraping and pushing and banging is doing - I mean, it's just a tiny little tooth and it feels like the big dig is going on in there. (the 'big dig' is a huge construction project that's been going on for 20 years plus here in Boston.)

BUT IT DOESN'T HURT - IT REALLY AND TRULY DOESN'T HURT. The 2 or 3 times that he got into the deeper spot and nicked a nerve, it was literally half a second and he quickly jammed in more novocaine. The tiny split-second pain made me make a surprised noise, but it was not enough to make me flinch or anything like that.

He even showed me the nerve that was causing me so much trouble, a tiny little bastard at the end of a pair of tweezers. I gave it the finger.

I didn't get the crown done today, I have to come back when the tooth has healed from the actual canalling. But when he told me I was done, I swear, I SWEAR, I asked 'is there anything else you can do today? Wanna drill some cavities or do the other tooth that's really bothering me of late?' I said it jokingly but I meant it - how about THAT???

Going back in 2 weeks for 2 tiny cavities and maybe the bigger one. I am LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!

I have to say, though, that the best part was when I said 'okay, when can I smoke, when can I drink something, and when can I eat,' and his reply was 'when the novocaine wears off'

Actually, the best part was that I had read the price estimate from the insurance company wrong and thought I had to pay the amount THEY'RE paying. About a $600. difference!

So on the way home I stopped at one of the last 'real' NY-style delicatessens here and came home with thirty dollars worth of corned beef, pastrami, knishes and cole slaw. I'm bringing lunch to work tomorrow - for everyone.

Two key concepts for anyone petrified reading this but resigned to go and get themselves fixed: Mild sedative for before the appointment, ask the dentist to prescribe you one, and a 'Novocaine Block' for anaesthetic. With those two things, anyone will be able to sail through this.

I hadn't been to the dentist since 1983. I had 22 years of time working on my fear. When the time came that I could no longer put it off, I went and talked to the dentist. I cried, I listened to his information, I discussed treatment plans, I cried, I even shook a little I think, but I left his office trusting that he would not hurt me. And today he proved me right, and cured a phobia I've had my entire life.

I'm looking forward to having a piece of gum now and again. Also, nuts, gooey cheese, steak, and crackers. Not tonight, however ;)
 
I had my second appointment today (second to have work performed, that is.) Today the dentist took care of a tooth that had broken 4 1/2 years ago, one that I'd 'spackled' myself to protect it until I would be able to have it taken care of. It's an upper back molar and the procedure was a bit different than my root canal of last month.

For the last visit, I'd taken 3 Ativan prior to going in (it's a mood relaxer.) This time, I thought I would try it without the meds but then reconsidered and took only 2. I was a little more nervous when the dentist reclined the chair all the way back - I thought I would be getting the crown for the tooth worked on last month, but no, today would be tackling that back tooth.

The novocaine shot hurt a bit more this time, I suppose because of the location, but it wasn't anything earth-shattering. When there's pain I make a quick little noise, and the dentist always asks 'did you feel some pain?' and I say yes and he either says that there won't be any more or that he will use a little more novocaine. I do remember saying 'Keep it coming!,' lol!

This tooth was very much gone - for the last 4 years it's felt like someone took a tiny melon-ball scooper and just took out most of it. No pain, but my tongue would always go to the 'little cave' up there to make sure nothing else had come off of it. Anyway, there was tooth missing below the gum line, so the dentist had to construct a 'matrix,' which is essentially a framework around the existing tooth that they then put the filling material into, then remove once it has set.

First he took off all the 'spackle' using a mixture of sonic and laser drills. No pain at all, but very loud and intense drill noise. Then a few x-rays, which showed that the nerve was actually very close to the top - if I had not gone when I did, this would have been very bad very soon, from a pain standpoint! Anyway, he debated whether to do a root canal on this one or not but decided to go with a filling & reconstruction and see how that works.

The worst part was the construction and placement of the matrix (framework.) No pain aside from one or two times when a little more novocaine was warranted (the feeling was similar to an ice cream pain on a sensitive tooth.) What was uncomfortable was the sensation of the metal framework being twisted and pushed around the tooth. There were a few times when I was worried that they were pushing so hard that my tooth would just break apart! Didn't happen, though. Also, there were a lot of pauses in the procedure, when the dentist would refer to the xrays and consult with his hygeinist - I wanted them to just keep going and sometimes I started to just get nervous lying there with nothing going on - one time my hand just started shaking from nerves. But I said to myself 'you're in a safe place, they are taking care of you, and letting yourself start to freak out is not going to do anything positive here, so you just need to stop doing that.' And I listened ;)

So about an hour later, my tongue finds this odd, tooth-shaped mass in the spot where my little 'cave' was. Quite a strange feeling. The dentist told me that there might be a little discomfort for a day or so (he didn't elaborate but I thought it might have to do with the filling material setting and settling.) Also, there is pain in my cheek from where the novocaine was administered - it feels like someone was kicking my cheek for a few hours, a 'bruised' pain.

So my two biggest tooth problems are now pretty much fixed. In a few weeks I will get the crown for the root canal tooth and then have two small cavities just below 'today's tooth' taken care of. They're tiny. That will likely be it until 2006 - I only have so much insurance per year and that should cover it for this one. Next year will see scaling (I've heard this is a nightmare to go through but I'm not scared) and wisdom teeth extraction (THAT one I'm not too thrilled about. But as long as Dr. Whiteman keeps that novocaine and Ativan coming, I'll be okay, I'm sure.)

I'm not sure who reads these aside from the very nice moderator, but I'm hoping it's helping someone out there. I can remember my lifelong fear and the tightening in my stomach whenever I thought about some day having to face it - it's amazing to think that I felt that way just 3 months ago. My two worst fears have always been flying and the dentist, for as long as I can remember (I used to fly a LOT, too!) - I never thought I'd be able to do what I've done except in a hospital emergency room, under restraint.

But I did, and I'm telling anyone who's reading this, take a first step and just go TALK to a dentist. Let him/her look inside your mouth and tell you how it looks. Have them explain what they could do to fix it when you're ready to have it done. You will be amazed at how much better you feel just having gone and spoken to one. This thing you're fearing stops being the complete scary mystery you've had years and years to build up in your mind, keeping you away, and starts to become something else entirely. If you don't believe me go look up my post(s) on the "Petrified?" thread and then come back to this one. This could be you, too!
 
I agree with everything you've said. I made myself just ill as could be before the visit and once it was over with I was kicking myself for being such a wussy! I have one root canal to go, which I don't look forward to, but I'm not afraid now. It will be so nice to have the peace of mind that all my teeth are good for now. And it will be so nice to be able to go every six months to get just a cleaning. It's taken me all these years to realize that it's really ok and not as bad as we let our minds lead us to believe.
 
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