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Feeling shocked, need advice

M

mrcouperin

Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2014
Messages
20
Location
Cork, Ireland
I've been so worried about my teeth over the last week or two, it's been driving me crazy. I've been losing sleep at night, and even having spontaneous panic attacks. So, I decided to make an appointment with another dentist just to get a second opinion. I figured, she'd probably say exactly what my own dentist did, and I'd feel a great deal better.

She took a full panoramic x-ray, as well as taking several bitewing ones, and what she told me actually shocked me. Firstly, she found that the abscess in my back teeth was actually caused by the first molar, not the second, and that the first molar should have a root canal. Additionally, she recommended extracting the 2nd molar, especially considering the wisdom tooth behind it is still trying to erupt. And on top of all that, it seems that I need a total of 18 fillings, not counting the ten or something that I already have. That'll leave me with a filling in almost every tooth in my mouth. There was a small bit of good news, though, in that I evidently need fillings on my front teeth, rather than full-blown crowns.

I'm just shocked right now. Partially because of the awful state my mouth appears to be in, but also because it seems that I've had a near miss with several teeth.

I simply don't know what to do or think right now. I feel so thoroughly ashamed of myself. Has anyone got any advice for me? :cry:
 
First of all let me congratulate you on going to the dentist! That's a huge first step. There is absolutely nothing to feel embarrassed about concerning your teeth, you are taking charge of what needs to be done and that is what's important. It has been my experience that knowledge helps quell the anxiety and panic, and hopefully that will put an end to the panic attacks! I think oftentimes we fear the unknown, but it sounds like your dentist did a great job of giving you a step-by-step review of the procedures necessary.

Again...congratulations on your visit to the dentist...that's a major step in the right direction!:)
 
First of all let me congratulate you on going to the dentist! That's a huge first step. There is absolutely nothing to feel embarrassed about concerning your teeth, you are taking charge of what needs to be done and that is what's important. It has been my experience that knowledge helps quell the anxiety and panic, and hopefully that will put an end to the panic attacks! I think oftentimes we fear the unknown, but it sounds like your dentist did a great job of giving you a step-by-step review of the procedures necessary.

Again...congratulations on your visit to the dentist...that's a major step in the right direction!:)
Thanks for the reply! What I'm most concerned about is that two different dentists have told me two completely different things about my teeth. What's particularly concerning is that the dentist I've been with up to now seems to have missed rather a lot. :/
 
Did your first dentist use a panoramic x-ray? That could certainly make a huge difference. You might even consider going for a third opinion...it's always important to remember that we are the paying customer and they work for us!
 
Did your first dentist use a panoramic x-ray? That could certainly make a huge difference. You might even consider going for a third opinion...it's always important to remember that we are the paying customer and they work for us!
Yeah, he did: but not since November (2013, that is). I have to think quite hard about this, but I can't see myself ever getting past how I feel right now. I feel like such a failure as a person, for letting myself get to the stage where I have bad teeth. :(
 
You are not a failure, you are doing something about it now, and although you can look back and think you could have looked after yourself more, you have made a decision to help yourself and make a change now.

Dentists are not very nice places and a lot of people struggle to go, you are not alone and you have come to the right place here where there is support
 
I'm just a little annoyed, really. The dentist I had been going to for the last six or eight months missed rather a lot, and two of my front teeth in particular (a lateral incisor and the canine next to it) are in a bit of a state.

Not just that, but I need a total of 18 fillings or something in various places, with many teeth needing multiple fillings. I've already got something like 12 of the things. I'll end up with every tooth in my mouth except for maybe the four lower incisors having some level of filling in it, and I'm sure a lot of that could have been avoided had I gone to a different dentist. I really can't think of anyone else with 28 or 30 fillings before the age of 30!

It seems, too, that the abscess in my lower left-hand-side molars may well have been caused by the first, and not the second. And, it seems that both of those molars need root canals, not just the back one. The new dentist has suggested that I have the 2nd molar extracted, and the 1st root treated. With wisdom teeth possibly still trying to erupt, could one of these eventually replace the second molar if extracted?

I want nothing more right now than to have a healthy set of teeth, free from decay. I want my front teeth, in particular, to look as healthy as they did ten years ago or something. Is that feasible for me right now? I feel like I've overcome my fear of dentistry, only to have it replaced with a fear of losing my teeth. :(
 
If I were you, mrcouperin, I think I'd go to another dentist for a third opinion.

Your second dentist may be right but, personally, I'd want confirmation from a third party in case he/she is overtreating you.
 
If I were you, mrcouperin, I think I'd go to another dentist for a third opinion.

Your second dentist may be right but, personally, I'd want confirmation from a third party in case he/she is overtreating you.


Good advice

you you will get a third opinion which also will be different. Don't worry though. Go with the dentist that shows exactly what's going on and why you should have certain treatment done now rather than wait. Expect the dentist to explain to you why you have developed these problems and what all to do to prevent more from occurring.
 
Good advice

you you will get a third opinion which also will be different. Don't worry though. Go with the dentist that shows exactly what's going on and why you should have certain treatment done now rather than wait. Expect the dentist to explain to you why you have developed these problems and what all to do to prevent more from occurring.
Thanks for your reply! The second dentist did actually send me to an endodontist (effectively for a third opinion), and he advised me not to have the second molar extracted. The abscess was definitely caused by the first though, so I had a very narrow escape with that tooth. The second molar is actually in better shape than the first, though that's going to need root treatment too within a few months. The first premolar on the same side has quite a bit of decay in it too, and the endodontist said that a filling mightn't be enough there.

The second dentist (who looks set to become my new dentist) also seems to have found the reason why my teeth were decaying so rapidly. Even though I thought I had cut most sugary things out of my diet, I used to take a lot of cough sweets (Halls menthol and the like) for my throat, since I sing a lot. What I didn't know is that those are quite sugary, and the single pack I was having per week was more than enough to cause significant damage to my teeth because of the fact that they dissolve slowly in the mouth. The fact that I tended to suck them between my left cheek and teeth also explains why there's more decay on the left side of my mouth than on the right. She's put me on a high-fluoride toothpaste and mouthwash too, so hopefully that will slow down the rate of decay until she can get all of the fillings done.

I'm not as lucky as I could have been if I caught this a year ago, but much luckier than I would have been if I hadn't sought that second opinion. I'll never be free from periodic large dental bills as long as I live, but I stand a good chance of still having all of my teeth when I'm 70. I just wish I had gone to my new dentist in the first place: she's way more thorough, so I probably wouldn't have half of the fillings I'll end up with. :/
 
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Excellent, well done you :whirl::whirl: it sounds like your new dentist is a keeper and you both working on it so you are now on the path to a much better dental state in the not too distant future.

I know it's difficult but try not to be too hard on yourself about not going sooner, all that matters is that you are getting everything sorted rather than leaving things until they get worse plus you now know what has caused this so you will be able to work with your dentist to make sure that you can minimise any future treatment:)

It has taken me quite some time to find a great dentist who I trust, glad you are in a similar situation now.

Kind Regards
 
It's been nearly two weeks, so I guess I should post a bit of an update. :)

I've just had the root canal done on the first molar. I was nervous as hell going into it, because even though I've had a root canal done before, it was on a premolar, which is a much shorter procedure. It was certainly one of the more nerve-wracking periods of time I can remember, but I had almost no actual pain at all! Plus, the novocaine injection was quite literally the most painless I've ever had: and I've had a lot of the things. ;D

The back molar looks like it needs root canalling too, so the endodontist drilled the decay out of that one, and it's going to take about two weeks for the nerve to die off so I can have that one done.

The good news, though, is that I'm on my way to having a healthy set of teeth; I actually can't wait until I have a decay-free mouth again. From this side of the chasm, I can't really see what I was so worried about... :innocent:
 
Hi and :welldone: For getting that one sorted, it's always good once you are on the other side of the procedure I'm sure once everything is sorted you will feel amazing.

Please feel free to keep us updated, it's great to hear your success story!
 
Thank you for your post. I'm in a similar boat and it feels so good to know I'm not alone :cry:

After not receiving proper dental care for most of my life (no yearly cleanings during the later years and all that jazz because my father was stingy with money and I was afraid of dentists after much dental abuse) I got my mom to take me to the dentist because I knew of a bad cavity I had. You could see it and food kept getting stuck in it. I had full X-rays done because I wanted to know if I had wisdom teeth coming in (I was 17 at the time).

What was supposed to be me needing one filling turned out to be a nightmare...I needed thirteen fillings!!!

I could have cried. I felt so dead. It was like I had been shot. Well, the dentist seemed very friendly and caring, though, and I went in on October 14, 2013 to have the one cavity I originally knew about filled along with the two right beside it. He numbed me so much even my ears were numb. And when he began drilling.."Mr. Nice guy"...did the worst dental job ever. Cement was falling down my throat (they weren't even noticing until way through the procedure and I was too scared to say anything!), he poked a hole in my lip with the drill and tried to blame it on me even though I didn't move, he kept joking with his stupid dental assistant all while he was working on my teeth (who was a snarky young girl) and when he finished my teeth which had not hurt before now hurt.

He left almost immediately after he finished without much concern for me, and his dental assistant was not very nice to me at all but had an attitude for some reason. She gave me a super tiny thing of Chapstick and said to expect that hole in my lip to hurt and that was that.

i was so upset that I threw a fit when I got in the car like I was possessed.

The most expensive filling (one that was tooth colored) never stopped hurting. I ate on the other side of my mouth which had cavities also (two) because the three fillings didn't seem right and I couldn't eat properly with them. Because of that trauma and having to deal with school, I didn't go back to the dentist as I couldn't bare the thought. Well of course the cavities on the left side have gotten worse so I just started finally eating on the right side where my teeth had been worked on. I did okay at first but I ate some meat and next thing I know I'm in unbearable pain within the next day or so.

I had to make an emergency trip to a dentist this Friday. Most dentists are closed for some reason around here on Friday, and my mom and I have been to most of them anyway and they've all been crappy and done crappy work. Very little options, obviously. At last we got ahold of this one dentist office with a female dentist and guess what...she could see me, but she was affiliated with the horrible dentist that caused my pain!!

Well, regardless out of desperation I went. I was waiting forever even though they had us rush to get there. The staff was wonderful, however, I have to say. At least from what I experienced. I had to bite down for X-rays and such which was all we were there for since that was the most they could do for me that day on such short notice and my pain was reaching an all new level. As I thought I had an absses because of the tooth I had filled back in October and I need...a dreaded root canal. My appointment for that is Tuesday.

Can you believe it? The utter horror. It just isn't fair! Not to mention I discovered not long ago that the dentist sealed that tooth against another tooth when he filled it. Clearly he needed to refer me to someone else for the job but chose to fill it himself because he wanted money (the woman dentist I am now seeing charges way less than he does I might add). I am going to see if we can get him to at least refund us for that filling as he screwed up so badly.

The female dentist is not the nicest dentist I've met (although she seems ok) but if she can do a proper filling I'll take her. I've been referred to a root canal specialist, and she says he is good and very gentle. Let's hope so. I'm terrified. And I'm in horrible pain with my absses even though I was given antibiotics and even a prescription for Vicodin (which does not help at all).

Shes is worried the two cavities on the left will get to the same stage as the one I'm having a root canal on. I'm very scared of this too. I hope they can still be filled and won't need a root canal (which is crazy expensive as I'm sure you know).

Anyways, my point is that like you I have a lot of cavities to be filled, including my two front teeth and the outside of one tooth. I also need my wisdom teeth removed. I'm not overly confident or comfortable in the dentist I'm seeing but I think ill give her a try...unless something changes.

I really just want a healthy mouth without decay and don't ever, EVER want to get like this again...if only I could go back in time. I'm glad to hear that it sounds like things are turning around for you. I wish you the best in the world and hope your smile is soon bright and happy again. thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one having to go through a lot of dental work. I felt so alone and depressed by it all. I'm still very sensitive and upset over everything, but maybe I'll start to come to terms with it all and get everything worked on soon and finally be okay where my dental needs are concerned.
 

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