Going to dentist for first time... EVER!

[ManiacalPope]

Alright, well, i'm 16 and haven't ever been to the dentist. Not because my parents never tried to take me, they did. But I'd always run away at the mention of the word dentist. I remember at the age of 6 overhearing my mom telling my dad she was going to tell me that we're going to the store tomorrow to buy a toy and she'd sneak me to the dentist and make me go in.

Later on in the middle of the night I packed what I considered the 'essentials' into my power-rangers backpack and went and slept in the garage with my cat the next day. The essentials, of course, were action figures, juice, and candy.

But now I have a tooth in the upper back right part of my mouth that's well, infected or whatever you call it. I've been in extreme pain for the past 3 days nonstop and have only gotten in bout 5-6 hours of sleep in all that time, and my parents said i'm going to the dentist on monday and well frankly, this pain is making me want to go to get it done with.

Only, I have a few problems. I'm afraid the numbing stuff won't work cause I've went through a tube of that gunky numbing crap (20% benzocaine) and it doesnt numb my tooth at all. And i've tried something called 'red cross' which has 85% Eugenol and that doesn't do anything at all either. It's like that single tooth and the surrounding area can't be numbed at all, and frankly this frightens me to death.

I've been hoping I die from something fun and nice like angels coming down and taking me away into eternal happiness and love between now and monday so I won't have to face the dentist. But I'm pretty sure that won't happen so i'm crossing my fingers that i'll go into a coma during the operation and miraculously come out afterwards with a magical way to turn on and off whether I feel pain or not. But that won't happen either.

So, I need help with facing the fact that the numbness might not work or if it does it could wear off in the middle of the operation, and any reasons why it might not be working, my friend's mom (who happens to be a dentist) told me I might need antibiotics for a few days to take away some of the infection before doing anything. So yeah. I don't even know why I'm posting this, i'm just extremely scared of going, i'll probably end up hauling out of the room or murdering the dentist with his needles. =(

 

[letsconnect]

Hi there ,

it sounds as if you must have heard or otherwise gotten scary second-hand information about dentists when you were a little kid?

Your friend's mum is right - it can sometimes be difficult to numb a tooth when an acute infection is present (due to changes in the pH of infected tissue). Antibiotics can reduce or get rid of the infection so that the anesthetic will work.

Are you seeing your friend's mum or a different dentist?