• Dental Phobia Support

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first dentist visit EVER at age 39

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PurpleRain

Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2018
Messages
22
Location
Berkeley, CA
I've been lurking on this site since late last year and it's been a HUGE help and I've finally decided to share my "if I can do it you can do it too!" story. My parents NEVER took me to the dentist. My baby teeth rotted, my adult teeth came in severely overcrowded, and I remember my gums bleeding as young as 13. I brushed, but only in the morning and probably not very well, and I didn't know how terrible going to bed w/o brushing or flossing was. I didn't care either, because my teeth were so bad I had a "why bother" attitude. I also have a fear of vomiting, particularly vomiting in public, as well as a strong gag reflex, and that is a pretty good recipe for dental phobia, right?

As an adult, I had several toothaches that progressed into what I now know was abscess pain, and still I did nothing because I learned that if you wait long enough, the nerve dies and the pain goes away. (I know! Awful right?!) Then my two front bottom teeth became loose and I spent a year or two in denial and learned how to bite into things with the side of my mouth. Finally last year right before Thanksgiving one of them fell out when I accidentally tapped it while eating w/ a chopstick. I actually (briefly) thought about gluing it back in somehow. The other front bottom tooth now was also so loose I would bite into it while eating. Still, it took me another month before I made a dentist appointment. I was terrified of having tools and hands in my small mouth and that I would gag, and mortified that I'd have to admit I'd never been to a dentist.

At my very first dentist appointment (at 39 years old) right before Xmas I got my loose tooth pulled and diagnosed with advanced periodontitis. The dentist was sort of dismissive and recommended I get all-on-fours and referred me to a prosthodontist. The prosthodontist took the whole series of X-rays plus impressions, and yes I did gag, a lot, but I didn't die. She then referred me to a periodontist who did a deep clean of my whole mouth over 2 visits, and put me on a course of antibiotics b/c I had so much infection in my mouth.

After shuttling between my perio and prosthodontist, they determined that I needed 15(!) extractions: a couple of root tips, a wisdom tooth, teeth severely overcrowded or growing outside of where teeth should grow, teeth that were loose from bone loss, and teeth with decay/abscesses. They also determined that I needed to do the extractions all AT ONCE :scared: And I don't know if going from never being to the dentist in my life to suddenly having all these appointments back to back counts as immersion therapy (y'know that therapy where they overwhelm you with whatever you're scared of, with the idea that your body can only panic for so long and then you calm down?), or whether immersion therapy even works, but my periodontist who would do the extractions said I didn't need sedation because "you're not anxious" (WHAT).

Fast fwd to the first week of June, and I did indeed have 15 teeth extracted, the abscesses cleaned out, and bone grafts placed with NO sedation or even nitrous. It took 3 hours, and listening to the drill or feeling the suture thread slide across my face while they were stitching me up was NOT fun, but it was no where NEAR as bad as I thought it would be. The worst part was all the anticipation the night before/morning of; my imagination was definitely way worse than the actual procedure. My periodontist was so gentle and skilled that I never felt ANY pain, not even when the numbness wore off. All I took was ibuprofen afterward and I didn't need any the next day, and I had no swelling or bruising. I also got immediate partials from my very talented prosthodontist that look super cute and were easier to get used to than I thought they'd be.

I realize that I probably won the dentist lottery as far as how skilled and kind they are and how surprisingly painless this has all been, and I hope everyone is lucky enough to have dentists like mine. I don't love being a denture wearer at 40 (even though it's hopefully temporary--I go in at the end of September for a cone beam scan), and I'm still scared of going to the dentist and even after 17 appointments in less than a year I still have to force myself to go, but I can't describe how relieved I am that I jumped in and did it, and how worth it it all is. My teeth have been a thorn in my side for almost my entire life and losing a front tooth was such a low point and was finally the thing that was worse than my fear of going to the dentist. BTW, in the midst of all this I also got real good at brushing and flossing the teeth I still have, and when I went in for my perio maintenance cleaning last week, there was nothing for him to clean off :grin:

Anyway, huge thanks to the dentists that give advice here, and to the dental patients (or potential dental patients), I wish you tons of luck and strength.
 
Hooray! Bravo!

Enjoy that clean feeling.

You have earned it.

I don't know if you are a hero, but you are definitely my dental hero.
 
Congratulations. I'm so happy for you. It may be scary but it's better to go than to suffer long term pain and suffering. I didn't want to go but I went and I had a root canal treatment done.
 
Hooray! Bravo!

Enjoy that clean feeling.

You have earned it.

I don't know if you are a hero, but you are definitely my dental hero.

you are kind. i guess i'm just trying to be my own dental hero for now. :)
 
Congratulations. I'm so happy for you. It may be scary but it's better to go than to suffer long term pain and suffering. I didn't want to go but I went and I had a root canal treatment done.

i've been blessed (in this case maybe cursed) with a really high pain tolerance, so for decades even pain didn't make me go. congrats to you too on your root canal. enjoy the relief from pain and be proud of facing something scary.
 
You’re going to surprise us all, most of all yourself.

There will be some moments that really suck, let me tell you. But once you’ve experienced them you realize that you can handle it. And thrive.

I would wish you good luck, but you don’t need it.

Everything you need, you already have. It was within you, all along.

Now go out there and show Life what you’re made of.

Pretty soon dental fear fear will be afraid of you.

You got this.

Post here as much as you like.
 
Well done on your fantastic achievement! Wishing you continued success and happiness. From one survivor and thriver to another. Simon XX
 
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