badluckbek
Junior member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2023
- Messages
- 3
- Location
- Little Rock
Hello friends!
I am a young adult with very terrible dental fears. They began in childhood, when I was in the chair about once a week for sometimes months at a time. I've never had good hygiene practices and it has long been a struggle to care for my teeth. Over the years I've had 3 teeth pulled, 2 abcesses, many cavities, and many cracked/ one broken tooth. I have also been, as I'm sure many others here have, mistreated by professionals in past dental visits, which has made me very hesitant to go to the dentist for several years despite many MANY painful complications. Recently, I've been having some unbearable pain. It got to the point where I was contemplating suicide. It was on my top right jaw, radiating around to the bottom, and I knew it was from a rotten, cracked tooth that's been bothering me for years. Firstly, I just recently got dental insurance through my new job and as it's the base plan, I was scared of the costs associated. Secondly, as someone who cries just going into the clinic, I was very anxious about making a fool of myself and making everyone's job harder. After lurking on this forum for a while, and taking notes about how to face my first visit, I built up my confidence to do so and made it in. Well guys.... it went so very well. They had to remove my tooth, which was ideal since I don't want to sit back in the chair for several more procedures that are expensive. My dentist was very kind and told me he's very experienced with fearful patients. He informed me of his system for alerting him when there's pain (raising my hand) and we practiced it together. He examined my teeth and although he was clear about the damage on my teeth, he was not judgmental. "You have staining here, some fractures, and the tooth that's bothering you has an infection." He Also took the time to walk me through the procedure before. He put me on the gas, which relieved some level of my fear, and after I was numbed, he tested to make sure I was numb enough. I expressed to him, using the signals, that I was not. He took care of that, giving me extra numbing shots until he was confident I was numb. The procedure was quick, but he still talked me through the whole thing, which was necessary for me to feel in control in my appointment. At one point I had to use the signal, which led him to switch his tool so that there was less pressure on a specific spot. My procedure was done in maybe 15-30 minutes. AND as the cherry on top, it was only ~150 USD! He prescribed me some pain meds and some antibiotics to help with the infection I had and I was charged and left. The meds totaled to be around 15$! thank God for my good state job insurance haha. So anyways, to anyone here who NEEDS a procedure due to acute pain, please take the leap. Be honest and open. Ask for what you need and please please don't settle for less. I am so grateful to not be crying my eyes out with pain right now and I feel more confident about future dental visits.
I am a young adult with very terrible dental fears. They began in childhood, when I was in the chair about once a week for sometimes months at a time. I've never had good hygiene practices and it has long been a struggle to care for my teeth. Over the years I've had 3 teeth pulled, 2 abcesses, many cavities, and many cracked/ one broken tooth. I have also been, as I'm sure many others here have, mistreated by professionals in past dental visits, which has made me very hesitant to go to the dentist for several years despite many MANY painful complications. Recently, I've been having some unbearable pain. It got to the point where I was contemplating suicide. It was on my top right jaw, radiating around to the bottom, and I knew it was from a rotten, cracked tooth that's been bothering me for years. Firstly, I just recently got dental insurance through my new job and as it's the base plan, I was scared of the costs associated. Secondly, as someone who cries just going into the clinic, I was very anxious about making a fool of myself and making everyone's job harder. After lurking on this forum for a while, and taking notes about how to face my first visit, I built up my confidence to do so and made it in. Well guys.... it went so very well. They had to remove my tooth, which was ideal since I don't want to sit back in the chair for several more procedures that are expensive. My dentist was very kind and told me he's very experienced with fearful patients. He informed me of his system for alerting him when there's pain (raising my hand) and we practiced it together. He examined my teeth and although he was clear about the damage on my teeth, he was not judgmental. "You have staining here, some fractures, and the tooth that's bothering you has an infection." He Also took the time to walk me through the procedure before. He put me on the gas, which relieved some level of my fear, and after I was numbed, he tested to make sure I was numb enough. I expressed to him, using the signals, that I was not. He took care of that, giving me extra numbing shots until he was confident I was numb. The procedure was quick, but he still talked me through the whole thing, which was necessary for me to feel in control in my appointment. At one point I had to use the signal, which led him to switch his tool so that there was less pressure on a specific spot. My procedure was done in maybe 15-30 minutes. AND as the cherry on top, it was only ~150 USD! He prescribed me some pain meds and some antibiotics to help with the infection I had and I was charged and left. The meds totaled to be around 15$! thank God for my good state job insurance haha. So anyways, to anyone here who NEEDS a procedure due to acute pain, please take the leap. Be honest and open. Ask for what you need and please please don't settle for less. I am so grateful to not be crying my eyes out with pain right now and I feel more confident about future dental visits.
