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Full dentures at 27 years old, terrified due to awful gag reflex and phobia of vomiting

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denturesat27

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Jun 18, 2014
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Full dentures at 27 years old, terrified due to awful gag reflex and phobia of vomiting

Hi...newbie here, just looking for reassurance and personal experience. Here's my story.

My teeth started rotting out of my head at 19. It started out as a little chip in my enamel of one tooth, and within 4 years I had to have 7 teeth (plus 4 impacted wisdom teeth, totalling 11) removed surgically. My enamel appears to be too soft but none of the dentists I've ever seen have been able to give me a solid answer on why this is happening. Pieces of my enamel break away, and the tooth quickly turns black. It has made eating an adventure in pain and discomfort and destroyed my already low self esteem.

So i went to the dentist today to talk about another surgery. My last visit was years ago so they needed new xrays. I have an incredibly strong gag reflex and i panic when i feel i am about to throw up, so i had a full blown panic attack today while they tried to get my xrays. Hyperventilating caused my lips and extremeties to go numb and i almost blacked out and did start crying. I am not an anxious woman -- in fact I have nursed my bipolar, combat veteran husband back from suicidal depression and crippling anxiety. This vomit phobia seems to be my Kryptonite, and mixed with the bad experiences in the past concerning dentistry, my phobia seems all the stronger at the dentist. Caine numbing products do not work on me, so as a child having fillings I had a dentist yell at me to stop squirming and told me to my face that I was lying and could not actually feel the drill. One dental staff treated me like a meth head.

For my last surgery I went under. I will be having all of my remaining teeth removed in this one so I assume I will be under as well, especially considering my immunity to caine numbing products. I have read a lot on dentures and some of it sounds okay....honestly I am worried most about the goop they put in your mouth for your permanent ones and anything else, like the top plate, touching the back of my mouth. Does anyone else have a severe gag reflex and dentures? What happened? I am so sick of being treated like I am overreacting...
 
Re: Full dentures at 27 years old, terrified due to awful gag reflex and phobia of vomiting

24 here, with full dentures, though don't have the permanent ones yet. The top upper triggered my gag reflex the first day I used it, but it was purely psychological. It didn't trigger me when they put it in at the dentist, it wasn't until later that night, when I kept thinking about how it was there, that it started to trigger it. It doesn't happen - unless I think hard about it, then it's like I start playing tricks on myself.

Upper dentures can trigger gag reflex in sensitive people, generally if the palate is quite far back. They can adjust that pretty easily though, and try to make it as comfortable for you as possible.

If it does trigger your gag reflex, you can take it out of your mouth until you recover, then try again. It'll feel different to being triggered when you're in the dentist chair - you have the control over it. It sounds like your phobia of vomiting is tied to your unpleasant childhood experience, and a loss of control, which is an understandable fear. No one likes losing control and feeling helpless. But you can practice with it at home.

Speak to your dentist about all of this, they might be able to talk you through your options and methods for overcoming a strong gag reflex (things like hypnotherapy and exposure therapy can help). It might not trigger you at all, we can't know yet.

Best wishes :)
 
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