Feeling scared and need help from people that have been there

[SheDaisy]

Okay, so it's been at least 10 plus years since I've been to a dentist. At least until I went last month. My husband is pretty much forcing me to get my teeth taken care of.

A little family history. My entire family has had to have dentures by the time they were 40. I'm the only holdout, pretty much because I'm the only chicken in my family. I've been terrified of the dentist for my entire life. When I finally get over the fear,it's hard to find a dentist that doesn't judge me because of the way my mouth looks. My husband even sent him an email letting him know about my fears.

Well, my husband had to call and make the appointment for me. I couldn't bring myself to even pick up the phone to call, much less speak once I dialed the phone number.

Fast forward to the first visit and low and behold by some miracle I got up enough nerve to make it to the dentists office.

Well, I was extremely nervous the second I walked into the door. Heck I was nervous from second I walked to my car. Needless to say, my husband drove me. LOL! He knew that I would have drove around the city for hours instead of going anywhere near the dentist.

So, they get me into the chair and I started crying from the second I sat down in the chair. Well, they took X-Rays and did all the preliminary stuff. They wouldn't let my husband into the room. Which freaked me out a bit,but there was a nice view of the trees and I could see the squirrels playing.

Well, the dentist came in and he put me at ease. He was the first dentist in years that didn't make me feel like I had done something wrong.

Fast forward to now. I wanted to do 2 titanium implants, but they are cost prohibitive, even with insurance. So, we are going with plan B. Which is full upper and lower dentures. Which means that they are going to be extracting 17 teeth.I will be sedated for the procedure. And my dentist doesn't believe in immediate dentures. I've talked to my sisters and they agree with this. One had them and hated them and the other one didn't and didn't regret it.

I'm scared, nervous and apprehensive. I'm worried that I won't be able to chew with the dentu

 

[Sevena]

Went through the same process basically, though with immediates - not that they made much of a difference because I got unlucky and mines were badly made and mostly unusable. Out of curiosity, why does your dentist "not believe" in immediates?

Anyway, on to the rest of it. It's easy to say "don't be scared, it's not that bad", but I know you will be scared. And it's okay to be scared. Pretty much anyone would be. But just trust me that it'll be fine, you'll get through it. For me, the tooth removal went without a hitch and so did the recovery period. It didn't even really hurt. Lots of swelling - because I had all my wisdom teeth removed at the same time, but no real pain, just tenderness. You'll have to take it easy for a few days afterwards.

The thought of trying to eat and speak with dentures is pretty daunting. And I won't lie, it is a bit hard at first. I couldn't stand the way I talked. I thought I sounded absurd. But no one else even really noticed, and you'd be surprised at how quickly your mouth and tongue learns to move around them as long as you practice. Same goes with chewing. It's a big adjustment, but humans are actually pretty good at adjusting

If you need have any questions at all, just ask. People on this forum are really friendly, kind, and supportive. Don't hesitate to come here if you're feeling down or struggling at all with any of the process. Guaranteed there will be someone who has gone through the same thing!

Best wishes x

 

[SheDaisy]

Thank you for the response.

It's not so much that he doesn't believe in immediate dentures as he doesn't believe that they provide the best fit.

He will do them, but my husband and I both talked about it, as well as talking to both of my sisters, and we decided that I will do without them.

I guess it's all about learning to adjust to dentures. It's pretty daunting and scary, but I'm excited at the same time.