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Fearful of Impressions

L

Lady with fear

Junior member
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
11
Hello there,
To cut a long story short I'm just about at the end of my dental implant journey, it's been a long 8mths so I'm excited it's finally nearly complete.
However this is where I'm starting to panic about having the impressions taken for my crowns to be made.
Probably sounds silly but this is by far the worst bit for me and what I fear the most!
My heart races just thing about it and the more I think about it the harder it becomes!
I literally feel like I can't breathe and am choking! The putty is just too much and the fact it has to be held in place for about 60 seconds is worrying me ( I had it done for my temporary flipper and I was choking to the point I had to pull it out )
I find the top tray the worst and I also have a strong gag reflex so even the slight touch on my palate sets it off.
I'm sure there will be others like me that also struggle with this, can anyone give any advise as to how to make this more bearable, I know you are ment to breathe through your nose and my dentist was saying the whole time to concentrate on breathing through your nose but all I could think about was all this putty in my mouth.
Please any advise would be gratefully received.
 
I really feel for you. Fear to the point of panic is debilitating. Try thinking that in 1 minute this will be over and tonight you will be making casserole/watching Netflix/seeing my family or whatever you have planned. This will help you realise that the discomfort is short -lived and in 2 minutes time you will be getting on with your life. By the time you have finished thinking of that the impression will be done. And always remember your in the hands of professionals, everything is ok you have faith and trust in them.
 
I have had major issues with gagging when impressions had to be made, and can offer two suggestions.

The first is to ask the dentist to use a smaller tray (one made for children), but I would hope that he would have tried that already.

The second worked for me when I had successfully used the children's tray to make my upper denture, but then couldn't even put the denture in because of my overly-strong gag reflex. I googled the issue and found many suggestions, and tried the one that made the most sense to me. It worked like a charm, and I've been wearing my denture really easily ever since. Perhaps if you try this for the week before your appointment, it will work for you too. What I did was: Twice a day I would brush my tongue crosswise for 15 seconds and do so as far back on the tongue as I could without gagging. I did that, twice a day for a week before trying the denture in again, and after that 7th day, I tried the denture in again. I couldn't believe that I went from not being able to even get it near my mouth, to getting it fully in with ease! One very important warning though - it is advised that you don't overdo this, or you'll lose your natural reflex to gag, which is obviously something that you need very much!
 
Thankyou both for your replies,
I'm not even sure what size tray the dentist used last time but it felt like it only just fit in so I will certainly mention if he can use a child's tray next time.
Also did you find that there was far too much putty used, it was spilling over the edges, surely they don't need to use that much do they?
I'm very conscious that the lab need a good impression to get a good result when making the crowns but just wish it didn't have to take so long to set.
Oh I do brush my tongue twice a day but that also makes me gag and I have to brush the adhesive off the roof of my mouth and that's a nightmare (but only thing that holds my temp flipper in) which is why I hate it so much!!
Luckily that doesn't make me gag though, my dentist made it short enough so that it dosen't hit my gag reflex.
Does anybody know if being numbed up first would stop the gag reflex? Actually considering this if it does, the needle I can just about cope with.
 
Have you seen the article about gagging in the common fears section? If not, here is the link, there are a lot of useful tips for dentists and patients:


Numbing the palate is also possible, it says, either with a spray or a gel.
 
Thankyou for that article, I'm defernatly going to get some of the throat spray, hopefully will help abit.
 
Hello there,
To cut a long story short I'm just about at the end of my dental implant journey, it's been a long 8mths so I'm excited it's finally nearly complete.
However this is where I'm starting to panic about having the impressions taken for my crowns to be made.
Probably sounds silly but this is by far the worst bit for me and what I fear the most!
My heart races just thing about it and the more I think about it the harder it becomes!
I literally feel like I can't breathe and am choking! The putty is just too much and the fact it has to be held in place for about 60 seconds is worrying me ( I had it done for my temporary flipper and I was choking to the point I had to pull it out )
I find the top tray the worst and I also have a strong gag reflex so even the slight touch on my palate sets it off.
I'm sure there will be others like me that also struggle with this, can anyone give any advise as to how to make this more bearable, I know you are ment to breathe through your nose and my dentist was saying the whole time to concentrate on breathing through your nose but all I could think about was all this putty in my mouth.
Please any advise would be gratefully received.

Congrats on getting to the end of your journey,8mths seems rather quick but prob not to you. Not sure I can be much help as i was supposed to do some last appointment but that didn't happen,was sprung on me+was told before that it wouldn't be happening that time. So now have to wait till april,interested to see what answers you get.
 
might be able to do a digital scan instead
 
Tazey, My appointment is in 3 wks so will let you know how i get on, when do you go for your impressions? Do you also find them difficult?

Comfortdentist, what is this digital scan you mentioned? I've had ct scans before but always had to have the tray moulds for the crowns to be made by the lab.
 
My next appointment is mid april yes it doesn't help that the last few ones have been wasted,this digital scan sounds way better.
 
I had a digital scan done instead of an impression tray because my dentist knew that I gagged easily. It is special equipment, that your dentist has to have in order to not have to use trays though, and I'm sure that it isn't cheap. What happened was that he used a wand-type instrument and pointed it all around the inside of my mouth, and it "took digital pictures" of every nook and cranny of my gums and other denture, and then the computer generated a perfect copy of my mouth. That image can then be used to fashion a denture (or partial, or crown) that fits perfectly. I wasn't told this, but my guess is that the details are then translated so that a 3D product is constructed.
 
Bet hardly anywhere has them tho.
 
I bet my dentist doesn't have one of those, shame cause that would be far better for me. I've brought some of the throat spray today so hopefully it numbs my mouth and helps a little.
 
Annoying Just found somewhere near me that does them but I doubt they'd do them for you when your registered somewhere else. :-\
 
I'm going to mention it to my dentist when I see him next, you never know.
I've been very lucky so far has my dentist has been fantastic with me and has carefully planned my dental implants without rushing them and it's gone smoothly (although lengthly) it's just these god dam impressions!
 
How many are you getting?
 
I've had 3 implants put in but had to wait 6months for them to fuse with my bone.
Also had to have bone grafting which didnt help.
 
I have had major issues with gagging when impressions had to be made, and can offer two suggestions.

The first is to ask the dentist to use a smaller tray (one made for children), but I would hope that he would have tried that already.

The second worked for me when I had successfully used the children's tray to make my upper denture, but then couldn't even put the denture in because of my overly-strong gag reflex. I googled the issue and found many suggestions, and tried the one that made the most sense to me. It worked like a charm, and I've been wearing my denture really easily ever since. Perhaps if you try this for the week before your appointment, it will work for you too. What I did was: Twice a day I would brush my tongue crosswise for 15 seconds and do so as far back on the tongue as I could without gagging. I did that, twice a day for a week before trying the denture in again, and after that 7th day, I tried the denture in again. I couldn't believe that I went from not being able to even get it near my mouth, to getting it fully in with ease! One very important warning though - it is advised that you don't overdo this, or you'll lose your natural reflex to gag, which is obviously something that you need very much!

These are really good tips!! Impressions were soemthing i definately used to be very afraid of having a small mouth and big gag reflux the panic of thinking the good would go down my throat and get stuck and fid myself unable to breath.. Well the last 2 impressions I've had changed this. i think a big part was asking for the child or smallset size. some of them don't llike to do this but realize once they do it works on us way better.. Then if your providers are in the room with you distracting you while you are wiating for it to harden.. Sometimes they stick this in your mouth and leave you hanging for a few minutes but if they stick around like my dentist and assistant did and tell jokes and trying to keep my mind off it. it was hard but made it!!

Wishing you the best!!
 
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