Finally made first appointment

[ReginaPhalange]

I used to always shut my eyes tight for the duration of any treatment until I met my current dentist. Strangely, I don’t think I’ve ever closed my eyes with her but she’s always talked to me a lot more throughout appointments than other dentists so I guess it would just feel awkward to close my eyes.

Mine doesn't talk that much, but he is reassuring and checks I'm ok every so often. He gives me dark glasses to wear which sort of makes me feel like I'm in my own world and can't be seen!

 

[kitkat]

Mine doesn't talk that much, but he is reassuring and checks I'm ok every so often. He gives me dark glasses to wear which sort of makes me feel like I'm in my own world and can't be seen!

I do get protective eye wear and even though it’s clear, it sometimes makes me feel like they can’t see me...I don’t know why that is! Lol

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Mine doesn't talk that much, but he is reassuring and checks I'm ok every so often. He gives me dark glasses to wear which sort of makes me feel like I'm in my own world and can't be seen!

Mine is the same , not too much talking but checking in and the dark glasses . once I came home and found the pair in my purse .lol.. just what I need .. dental glasses.

 

[Travie87]

Regina,

Wow , sounds you did really well managing keeping open despite a sore jaw and through feeling a bit more. I hope you can get some good rest and reward yourself somehow for a job well done. I love taking naps after dental work when possible.. That is nice your dentist came and got you , very personal. . I've heard of that too for those who have mentioned anxiety.

I wished My last dentist would have picked Me up for My dentist appt. But nope. She was to mean to do such a act.

 

[Judythecat]

So pleased you got on okay today. I can’t nap (I always wake up feeling like I have a terrible hangover!) but after any dental treatment I always feel completely exhausted, even if it’s just a tiny filling. I wonder if it’s something to do with the adrenaline spike, then it wearing off, plus maybe a bad night’s sleep before an appointment?

 

[kitkat]

So pleased you got on okay today. I can’t nap (I always wake up feeling like I have a terrible hangover!) but after any dental treatment I always feel completely exhausted, even if it’s just a tiny filling. I wonder if it’s something to do with the adrenaline spike, then it wearing off, plus maybe a bad night’s sleep before an appointment?

I always sleep okay the night before and I am still exhausted after treatment. I think my nerves just get fried by the stress of the experience (even when it doesn't feel particularly stressful).

 

[Judythecat]

I always sleep okay the night before and I am still exhausted after treatment. I think my nerves just get fried by the stress of the experience (even when it doesn't feel particularly stressful).

Sorry, I was kind of thinking aloud there about myself - I really didn’t mean to imply that other people wouldn’t sleep well before an appointment. I am not particularly scared of the dentist and never have been, but I am really, really frightened of injections, so if I know one’s coming I will have several sleepless nights! (I haven’t fainted in a while, though, so am calling that a small needle victory.)

 

[kitkat]

Sorry, I was kind of thinking aloud there about myself - I really didn’t mean to imply that other people wouldn’t sleep well before an appointment. I am not particularly scared of the dentist and never have been, but I am really, really frightened of injections, so if I know one’s coming I will have several sleepless nights! (I haven’t fainted in a while, though, so am calling that a small needle victory.)

No worries! I was just pointing out that it may be more than just the sleepless nights contributing. I used to have sleepless nights and thought they may be the reason but nothing changed when I did start sleeping better so there must be other factors at work.

 

[Enarete]

Sounds like things are going great, Regina, so glad to read that. I love the part of you having your eyes open and watching what was going around and also realizing that you are not afraid of instruments anymore. I believe we get to know ourselves better during the journey and things change as we get on. I prefer to see instruments currently while at the beginning I didn't want to see anything. I also noticed to be more aware of the surgery and what is going on, while during the first visits my look was more narrow and I only focused on the dentist and the chair.

Lovely your dentist picked you up. You know, if a practice is really interested in treating nervous patients, then there are a lot of things and adjustments going on in the background which patients do not even are aware of. Your dentist picking you up personally might be one of them.

Look forward to read your updates, you are doing amazingly

 

[ReginaPhalange]

I also noticed to be more aware of the surgery and what is going on, while during the first visits my look was more narrow and I only focused on the dentist and the chair.

I actually looked around and said in my head yesterday, "Oh, there's a clock in here, that's useful". A really big clock that you can't miss, that I hadn't seen before. I did close my eyes for the injection, I'm not exactly scared but I'd still rather not see it, I think my mind would connect it to pain and I'd feel more than the "tiny wee pinch" as he calls it, which I can handle fine.

I think my next goal should be to relax enough to not grip my hands together or tense my muscles. I thought I was relaxed till I became aware of how tensed up I was, even though in my mind I didn't feel scared.

Lovely your dentist picked you up. You know, if a practice is really interested in treating nervous patients, then there are a lot of things and adjustments going on in the background which patients do not even are aware of. Your dentist picking you up personally might be one of them.

That is a nice thought. Nothing was ever acknowledged about me being nervous (I only said it in my email and the response didn't say anything). But I didn't mind not discussing it, and if he does come to get me for that reason, or do anything else I'm not aware of, I do appreciate it.

My jaw is still a bit sore. Not any more so than last week, so I'm sure it's got nothing to do with yesterday, and that him using a different anaesthetic helped. I can open my mouth a bit wider each day, but I still can't bring my jaw any further forward than for my front teeth to touch, and when I do bring it that far, the pain extends to my temple. I just hope there hasn't been any permanent damage Or maybe I'm subconsciously looking for things to worry about.

 

[ReginaPhalange]

My jaw hasn't really improved after 3 weeks, so I emailed them and the dentist is going to fit me in tomorrow afternoon to check it out. Hopefully it won't be too complicated to fix, and won't involve breaking my jaw back into place!

 

[letsconnect]

I'm not a doctor or dentist but as far as I'm aware, if your TMJ was dislocated, your jaw would be locked in an open position and you'd be unable to close your mouth. This would require moving the bone back into the correct position - there's no "breaking" involved though!

Yours sounds more like trismus . But I'm sure all will be revealed tomorrow! Hoping you'll be out of pain soon

 

[geos]

I remember watching an episode of BBC's "Bizarre ER" where a schoolgirl had yawn in class and ended up with a locked jaw. No one at her school could help her so she went at the ER. They stacked tongue depressors to stretch the muscles and after a few minutes, when they removed the stack, the ER nurse was able to close the girls jaw. Nothing too complicated. I would be highly surprised they would need to break your jaw.

 

[ReginaPhalange]

@letsconnect @geos yeah I was just being dramatic about breaking it. It just has that feeling of needing cracked. But I have no problem closing my mouth so it must not be the same.

I'm nervously interested to know what they'll do!

 

[ReginaPhalange]

https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/f...eek-after-rct-normal.26409/page-3#post-196971

I updated here (not sure if I did the link right). Some of the tips he gave me were to improve my posture, soft foods, a bath, lessen stress, hot and cold packs, things like that.

 

[ReginaPhalange]

Hi again,

I've just had Part 1 of the other two RCTs. I wasn't too nervous at all, just a little bit. And it went fine. He used what I think must be a bite block because of the previous jaw pain, so it was more relaxed, and said he thinks it's better to do shorter appointments rather than longer, for the sake of my jaw. He thinks we'll get it finished next week though.

Interestingly, at the end he asked me to bite and I could feel my front teeth coming together normally (from what i could tell despite the numb side), I was used to having an overbite before

Again, he was nice and friendly without saying too much, and so was the nurse, and they have a good rapport with each other.

So far, so good. My mouth is getting healthier! Now to wait to get feeling back in it and stop drooling

 

[kitkat]

Look at you! You are well on your way!

 

[letsconnect]

Fantastic news - great to hear that all went well! Congratulations !!

How is your jaw feeling now? Did the bite block help?

 

[ReginaPhalange]

Fantastic news - great to hear that all went well! Congratulations !!

How is your jaw feeling now? Did the bite block help?

It's so much better thanks. A bit stiff when I open it wide, but I can yawn without pain!

I think it must have helped, although it didn't feel like it was holding it open very wide, so i forgot to relax it a few times and was opening it wider myself. I was expecting at least some pain afterwards when the numbing wore off, but nothing at all. I bought soft foods in anticipation!
I think the main problem the first time might have been a reaction to the anaesthetic.

He recommended ibuprofen because of the inflammation, telling me not to wait till it got painful. So I took two straight away and before bed. And this morning and lunchtime I took some. I'm not sure if I should have kept taking it. Even though I'm in no pain, I don't know if it would still be worth taking to bring down inflammation, which I don't see or feel.

 

[Dg6300]

Well done!