Going back to the dentist after decades and in a panic

[Jen615]

Hi!
I am in my late forties and literally haven't been to the dentist in decades. I had a horrible dentist when I was a kid. When I was in my twenties I made very little money and didn't have dental insurance. Once I finally got dental insurance I was too scared to go back and worried that I wouldn't have the funds to have the needed work done.
Well, fast forward to the present time. I DO try to take care of my teeth as much as possible-brush at least three times a day, fluoride rinse...I confess I don't floss enough., but I do use Plaquers. I really haven't had any problems. I am not thrilled with the way my teeth look, but none of them are loose, I am not in pain, and I eat crunchy foods with no problem. My gums do not generally bleed.
About a month ago I ended up with an impacted, infected wisdom tooth. I was in such pain I made an emergency dental appointment and was referred to an oral surgeon. I had two wisdom teeth removed and will have the other two out down the road. The oral surgeon was great and the dentist seems very nice. The dentist took panoramic x-rays and said I had recession and bone loss and should come back for a deep cleaning, so I am booked for the 15th.
I am now having a complete panic attack that they will tell me all of my teeth need to be pulled and I MUST have dentures due to the bone loss. I do not want dentures and I do have some amount of money I can spend on my mouth. I am also freaking out that my teeth will fall out due to the deep cleaning (again, no teeth are loose or painful). I do have some dental calculus, but again I do try to clean my teeth-it isn't like those videos you see where these loose teeth are just held in place by calculus.
How can I calm my fears down and go do what I need to do? The dentist is super sweet, and I took the whole day off work so I don't have to panic about that.
I SHOULD add the wisdom tooth extraction was super easy and has healed really quickly. (I had sedation for the procedure.)
Thanks!

 

[kitkat]

Hi!
First I must say well done for making it through the wisdom tooth ordeal! I am glad that you found a kind dentist and oral surgeon in the process. I can assure you that if your teeth were in such a state, they would not have even recommended a deep cleaning. They either would have recommended extractions or sent you on to a specialist (such as a periodontist). If they are recommending a deep cleaning, they are probably expecting some degree of recovery and reversal. To my knowledge, while you can’t reverse bone loss, you can reverse gum recession and halt bone loss where things can be maintained. If your teeth are not moving or in pain that’s a really good sign! The deep cleaning should only help the gums to heal and enable you to keep your teeth much longer. Hope this helps!

 

[Jen615]

Thank you Kitkat! This helps a lot. I will post again after the appointment. I've asked the office to call in some Valium for me, so hopefully that will calm me down.

 

[kitkat]

That’s great that they are willing to accommodate you with sedation. You may find over time, as you have more positive experiences and build up some trust with the dental team that you may no longer need it at some point.

 

[CourageAndBraveryASAP]

Very similar situation to yours and I have my deep cleaning tomorrow. I’m nervous - I also have absolutely no loose teeth and of course worry they’ll all fall out due to the deep cleaning! Kitkat’s words here have also made me feel better. Congrats on taking these awesome steps!

 

[Jen615]

Thank you for the support, and I am glad I'm not the only one! Please let us know how it goes-I wish you the best! Time to start the dental journey!

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Jen615.

It does sound like you are really doing well on this as scary as it is, you are hugely courageous as are you, courage and braveryasap... ahhh. I'm just remembering how scared I was my first deep cleaning and imagining more teeth just falling out, which I couldn't take.. I had never had deep cleaning and. I had googled and youtubed the night before.. not a good idea.. so. the morning of I emailed my dental office saying how scared I was and how I wanted to cancel. They encouraged me that my hygentist would take the best care and told me to stop the youtube videos.. in a nice friendly sweet way. I went in and spewed all of my fears out on the sweet hygenist and she reassured me the whole way it would be nothing like I had imagined. The whole experience really was not bad at all and she was great company as we talked about our children and laughed and in the end my teeth felt much better. I only needed on one quadrant and I almost wanted to go back for other quadrants it felt just different . it didn't feel loose like I was so afraid of.. I know I wasn't the worst case scenario but the deep cleaning wasn't near as bad as I imagined.. I hope yours all goes well!! I also agree with kitkat that they probably woudln't even have suggested if they thought there wasn't hope . I hope all goes well for both. Look forward to hearing how it goes. I'm really glad you have kind care too!! That makes all the difference in facing it!

 

[Jen615]

Thank you! The dentist is really kind and caring, and everyone in the office seems to be as well.

 

[CourageAndBraveryASAP]

Hi @Jen615 - I just wanted to tell you that I had my full mouth deep cleaning (scaling and root planing) today and it was a great experience. I had it with IV sedation because I needed four hours of work done. I wrote about it in a lot of detail thinking of you in case it might help. That post is in the section where you can ask a dentist for nervous patients.

I really really like how my teeth look. I can't believe I thought they looked good previously - I mean, all the hardened gunk is gone now! I thought huge spaces would remain because I had so much buildup on my bottom front teeth, but the spaces are so small, no one would even notice. You know what else they won't notice? That yucky gunk.

So far I've had a root canal over separate sessions with some "quasi" oral sedation (my doctor gave me xanax and benadryl) and practically nothing (half the xanax dose, but I was fully alert and still very anxious for the shots, observant of everything going for the whole session, etc) for the second one and both were great. Truly great, pain-free. Today same, great, pain-free, with IV sedation.

I have been so scared - I have lost sleep for days before each procedure - and on the other side, I wish I hadn't, because it was so great.

Good luck, we're in together, you're going to be great!

 

[Jen615]

Thank you for taking time to write this-I will check out your report. I am trying to think of the deep cleaning as a much-needed "spa day" for my teeth.
So glad it went for you! I will try to report on mine next Friday after the appointment.
We are doing what we need to do to get our teeth healthy!

 

[Cj626]

My mom recently had a deep cleaning with standard numbing and she felt nothing. Not a thing. It took about two hours and one of her gums measured a 7, which is pretty deep. They gave her a tool for her to use at home to massage her gums to make them more healthy... Hopefully this will be your case too. I think we go in with the WORST thoughts and usually leave pleasantly surprised! Best of luck to you and please update

 

[Jen615]

Thank you! This made me feel a lot better too! I will for sure update Friday night when I get home from the appointment!

 

[Jen615]

Hi @Jen615 - I just wanted to tell you that I had my full mouth deep cleaning (scaling and root planing) today and it was a great experience. I had it with IV sedation because I needed four hours of work done. I wrote about it in a lot of detail thinking of you in case it might help. That post is in the section where you can ask a dentist for nervous patients.

I really really like how my teeth look. I can't believe I thought they looked good previously - I mean, all the hardened gunk is gone now! I thought huge spaces would remain because I had so much buildup on my bottom front teeth, but the spaces are so small, no one would even notice. You know what else they won't notice? That yucky gunk.

So far I've had a root canal over separate sessions with some "quasi" oral sedation (my doctor gave me xanax and benadryl) and practically nothing (half the xanax dose, but I was fully alert and still very anxious for the shots, observant of everything going for the whole session, etc) for the second one and both were great. Truly great, pain-free. Today same, great, pain-free, with IV sedation.

I have been so scared - I have lost sleep for days before each procedure - and on the other side, I wish I hadn't, because it was so great.

Good luck, we're in together, you're going to be great!

I am so glad this went well for you! Feeling a little more confident about mine now!

 

[Jen615]

Hi all! I just got back from my new dentist-just love her! I had some x-rays and a comprehensive exam. Then they did one quadrant of my deep cleaning. No teeth fell out or even feel loose-the hygienist was super gentle. And the best part? No root canals, no severe decay! I will need a couple of crowns and a couple of minor cavities filled, plus the deep cleaning finished. Then I will get veneers on my front teeth and hopefully whitening. After that just normal regular cleaning! I am so happy I went and wish I had done this years ago! I really appreciate everyone's support! And I DID notice how much whiter and cleaner my teeth look on the deep cleaned quadrant! Yay!

 

[CourageAndBraveryASAP]

That’s amazing!!! So happy for you!

 

[krlovesherkids777]

So glad to hear this Jen!! You will keep gaining positive momentum w a kind dentist it sounds!!congratuations!!

 

[Scared all the time]

Hi!
First I must say well done for making it through the wisdom tooth ordeal! I am glad that you found a kind dentist and oral surgeon in the process. I can assure you that if your teeth were in such a state, they would not have even recommended a deep cleaning. They either would have recommended extractions or sent you on to a specialist (such as a periodontist). If they are recommending a deep cleaning, they are probably expecting some degree of recovery and reversal. To my knowledge, while you can’t reverse bone loss, you can reverse gum recession and halt bone loss where things can be maintained. If your teeth are not moving or in pain that’s a really good sign! The deep cleaning should only help the gums to heal and enable you to keep your teeth much longer. Hope this helps!

Gum recession is reversible?

 

[kitkat]

Gum recession is reversible?

The sources that I have read about it are a bit ambiguous. It is my understanding that it is actually more of a maintenance and halting of recession than an actual “reversal.” Apologies as I misspoke before. It seems that once the gums recede, they do not grow back but there are surgical options to replace lost gum tissue.

 

[Scared all the time]

The sources that I have read about it are a bit ambiguous. It is my understanding that it is actually more of a maintenance and halting of recession than an actual “reversal.” Apologies as I misspoke before. It seems that once the gums recede, they do not grow back but there are surgical options to replace lost gum tissue.

?wouldn’t it be awesome if they did though ?. That you for clarifying it.