Five fillings tomorrow. Physically sick.

[glider3560]

I hadn't been to a dentist for about 12 years (last as a young teenager). I had to visit one recently becuase I had some pain (turned out to just be an ulcer, which was a relief). I was incredibly nervous, but a basic checkup seemed fine.

I got recommendations from people at work (my insurance has no limit on what it'll pay out for dental work so I could choose any dentist), so chose a local (about 5 miles away) dentist that looked relaxed (nice setting and waiting room) with good recommendations (5/5 on Facebook and 4.8 on Google).

Dentist seemed ok. I also went to see the hygienist last week, who was very nice. That appointment went well and I had little anxiety, but then she was only cleaning my teeth, so nothing to worry about.

Turns out I need five fillings, which I'm having all done tomorrow. All four second molars, plus one first molar. All are composite. Apparently a few are actual caries whilst the others are "preventative", whatever that means (I didn't think about asking last time). The cavities all look quite small.

I'm seriously worried about the anaesthetic - not the injection but the lack of feeling anywhere in my mouth. How would most dentists do this? Numb one side, do fillings, then numb the other side, or numb the whole thing at same time? My appointment is 90 minutes. Can I speak? Can I drink?

I haven't been eating well for a few days now. At work after lunchtime today, I was physically sick. Even worse, my appointment is at lunchtime tomorrow. So I won't eat well before and (after the anaesthetic) probably won't be able to eat anything until about 4 or 5pm

I know the issues are all in my head and they are totally irrational, but I'm making myself sick. Can anyone offer me any words of reassurance?

 

[Rls15]

I hadn't been to a dentist for about 12 years (last as a young teenager). I had to visit one recently becuase I had some pain (turned out to just be an ulcer, which was a relief). I was incredibly nervous, but a basic checkup seemed fine.

I got recommendations from people at work (my insurance has no limit on what it'll pay out for dental work so I could choose any dentist), so chose a local (about 5 miles away) dentist that looked relaxed (nice setting and waiting room) with good recommendations (5/5 on Facebook and 4.8 on Google).

Dentist seemed ok. I also went to see the hygienist last week, who was very nice. That appointment went well and I had little anxiety, but then she was only cleaning my teeth, so nothing to worry about.

Turns out I need five fillings, which I'm having all done tomorrow. All four second molars, plus one first molar. All are composite. Apparently a few are actual caries whilst the others are "preventative", whatever that means (I didn't think about asking last time). The cavities all look quite small.

I'm seriously worried about the anaesthetic - not the injection but the lack of feeling anywhere in my mouth. How would most dentists do this? Numb one side, do fillings, then numb the other side, or numb the whole thing at same time? My appointment is 90 minutes. Can I speak? Can I drink?

I haven't been eating well for a few days now. At work after lunchtime today, I was physically sick. Even worse, my appointment is at lunchtime tomorrow. So I won't eat well before and (after the anaesthetic) probably won't be able to eat anything until about 4 or 5pm

I know the issues are all in my head and they are totally irrational, but I'm making myself sick. Can anyone offer me any words of reassurance?

Hey.

I needed multiple fillings once. My dentist numbed one side at a time.

I had a root canal done on a top tooth and a small filling on the back molar. Around 3/4 of my mouth was numb. I could talk but you do sound a bit funny! The numb is the worst for me too but it wears off within a few hours and is fine. I drank through a straw maybe you could get a milkshake for lunch to have after your appointment to fill yourself up.

As a side note, having multiple fillings in one sitting is a doddle, just boring! You can always ask the dentist to stop at one side and make another appointment. Mine were done over 3 20 minute appointments

Good luck xx

 

[Jonnyctk]

Could you not divide into at least 2 appointments?.... If not then I would think they will numb one side at a time so as for it to last.

 

[glider3560]

I had the fillings today (all of them).

He numbed just the tooth and not the whole mouth (so tongue still had feeling). He did both the bottom, then both the top.

Had my mouth open for about two hours though. How soon would I expect the jaw to feel stiff, if this is going to happen?

 

[Rls15]

I had the fillings today (all of them).

He numbed just the tooth and not the whole mouth (so tongue still had feeling). He did both the bottom, then both the top.

Had my mouth open for about two hours though. How soon would I expect the jaw to feel stiff, if this is going to happen?

Good work, dentist!

I had my root canal and filling done last Wednesday. I would say yesterday/today are the only days my jaw hasn't bothered me completely since. Ibuprofen helped as it eases the inflammation to the point where I would only notice the ache when eating. The ache in my jaw started as soon as the anaesthetic wore off, so I would expect you might feel something by now if it were going to cause you an issue.

Hope you managed to eat at some point today!

EDIT: for the filling I had an injection right in the corner of my jaw so that probably didn't help, and hopefully your recovery time will be much quicker if anything does crop up!

 

[glider3560]

Thank you for your kind postings Rls15.

Having been worrying about this for over a week, I had a great sleep last night. Maybe because my alarm was set for 8am, instead of the usual 6:45am on a normal working day! I ate breakfast and managed a few pieces of fruit plus a yogurt before the appointment. Felt absolutely fine, even when in the waiting room. The reading material in the waiting room is great (they have science journals) so I felt relaxed there too.

The dentist was very calm too. He definitely noticed the smile on my face when he told me there would be no blocking injection. Even when he said it'd be 8 or 9 injections, I was still smiling.

Drinking after the filling (once I'd got home about 25 minutes later) was easy. Rinsing with mouthwash wasn't - went right down my front and jeans. Oh well, they're used to that.