T
tjeffrey
Junior member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2014
- Messages
- 2
Horrible Experience at dentist and need advice, tips and suggestions for my upcoming appointment!
Hi everyone! I ended up finding out about this helpful website due to hours and days of googling how to get rid of my dentist fears and anxiety that have sky-rocketed due to a horrible experience recently.
However, it does seem I have stumbled along the right place.
I will give the background and be as brief as I possible, but there is a story that needs to be told so those who read this can understand where I am coming from. I am no stranger to dental work as I have had almost all of my molars filled with silver fillings when I was young (I am now a 30/f), as well as 4 years of braces. I had grown a tolerance for most dental procedures and never had a bad experience until last month!
I chose to see another dentist other than who I had been going to for several years because my insurance had changed with my new job. This dentist came highly recommended by my cousin and I was excited to find someone close by to our house. I went in and had a cleaning and was impressed with the staff, the hygienists, and the professionalism of the office. He had told me I had 3 teeth that had old fillings and that would need crowns in the near future. Honestly, none of them were bothering me and as we all know, crowns are expensive, so I thought I would wait at least a few months before I needed to ‘cross that bridge.’ Well, over the Memorial Day weekend, I had a tiny piece of the silver filling of one my top molars fall out and knew it was time to go in and get the problem taken care of. It was tiny and I was luckily in no pain. He was on vacation that entire next week, so I drove to the store and bought that DenTek temporary filling material to hold me over when I saw him. When I made the appointment to see him again, I asked for a consultation visit to see if he would consider filling the tooth with a permanent filling instead of a crown (more cost effective for our family). When I went in to meet with him and ask about options, he told me I could 'get by' with a permanent filling but it would eventually need a crown. Then, without asking, placed numbing gel inside my cheek. I had not been expecting dental work this day and was immediately turned off that he didn’t ask nor say anything about have a procedure. I actually had to ask him if I was having this done today and he casually said yes and it wouldn’t take too long, that I would be out in 15 minutes. I calmed down and relaxed and bit thinking it was just better to get it over with and tried not to worry.
He started drilling and removing the decay and also failed to tell me (and I failed to ask and now I know better) that they were a clinic that did NOT practice any type of sedation or nitrous oxide. When I felt a sharp twinge of the vibrations – I instinctively jerked! I know that is a dentist chair ‘no-no’ as the drill could go clamoring into your other healthy teeth, but I couldn’t help it and he was not talking, communicating or giving any instructions on what to do if I felt pain! He grabbed my shoulders (yes grabbed them), shoved me back into place in my chair and actually said “I am not that good at this, so you are going to have to remain still.” I was shocked and now terrified -who says that?! The hygienist looked shocked too! I felt my pulse quicken and tried to calm down and thought maybe he was trying to be funny, but either way, you DON’T say that to your patients. And now I was extremely nervous and scared. The vibrations were so strong and I couldn’t handle it so I made a face again, but trying not to move. He leaned down and said “I Am not trying to be an ass, but you are really going to have to muscle through this.” At that point, I knew no matter what I needed to get out of that place because of how unprofessional he was acting to me, his patient, and how he was making me feel. He asked if I could feel anything or any pain, and I said yes, and he shot me up with more anesthetic. 20 minutes later after leaving me in the chair, I demanded he fill the rest of my tooth with a temporary filling and that I had to leave (It had almost been 2 hours and I had missed my work appointments). He claimed he didn’t have much decay left, but I didn’t care and didn’t want to be around him anymore as I was past being uncomfortable and scared. He quickly filled it with a temporary filling and I was on my way without even looking back. Safe to say, they received a letter from me about his preposterous behavior and I will never be going back. I have a friend who is an endodontist and recommended someone close to his office that was also on our insurance plan and a couple of weeks ago I visited him and recounted my horror story. The dentist I now have is wonderful, compassionate and caring and assured me nothing of this sort would ever happen at his clinic and I trust that he is telling the truth.
Having said that, there is still a temporary filling in my tooth that needs to be replaced with a crown and I am having my appointment next week to get the first step of the crown put on and I am BESIDE myself with fear and worry. I am already being treated for GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and I have been prescribed Xanax in .25mg tablets to take on an ‘as needed’ basis for doctor’s appointments, etc. I am afraid the time has come for me to do this, however, I am skeptical and wondering if I am able to take a .25 mg tablet of Xanax as well as receive the laughing gas when I go in for this appointment? I don’t want it to be overkill, but I want to be as completely out of it as possible.
Sorry for the long-winded story, but I have been through enough and I want to ensure I am doing all I can on my end of things to make sure I have a somewhat pleasant and pain-free experience at my next dentist visit.
Any help, thoughts, advice would be GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Hi everyone! I ended up finding out about this helpful website due to hours and days of googling how to get rid of my dentist fears and anxiety that have sky-rocketed due to a horrible experience recently.
However, it does seem I have stumbled along the right place.
I will give the background and be as brief as I possible, but there is a story that needs to be told so those who read this can understand where I am coming from. I am no stranger to dental work as I have had almost all of my molars filled with silver fillings when I was young (I am now a 30/f), as well as 4 years of braces. I had grown a tolerance for most dental procedures and never had a bad experience until last month!
I chose to see another dentist other than who I had been going to for several years because my insurance had changed with my new job. This dentist came highly recommended by my cousin and I was excited to find someone close by to our house. I went in and had a cleaning and was impressed with the staff, the hygienists, and the professionalism of the office. He had told me I had 3 teeth that had old fillings and that would need crowns in the near future. Honestly, none of them were bothering me and as we all know, crowns are expensive, so I thought I would wait at least a few months before I needed to ‘cross that bridge.’ Well, over the Memorial Day weekend, I had a tiny piece of the silver filling of one my top molars fall out and knew it was time to go in and get the problem taken care of. It was tiny and I was luckily in no pain. He was on vacation that entire next week, so I drove to the store and bought that DenTek temporary filling material to hold me over when I saw him. When I made the appointment to see him again, I asked for a consultation visit to see if he would consider filling the tooth with a permanent filling instead of a crown (more cost effective for our family). When I went in to meet with him and ask about options, he told me I could 'get by' with a permanent filling but it would eventually need a crown. Then, without asking, placed numbing gel inside my cheek. I had not been expecting dental work this day and was immediately turned off that he didn’t ask nor say anything about have a procedure. I actually had to ask him if I was having this done today and he casually said yes and it wouldn’t take too long, that I would be out in 15 minutes. I calmed down and relaxed and bit thinking it was just better to get it over with and tried not to worry.
He started drilling and removing the decay and also failed to tell me (and I failed to ask and now I know better) that they were a clinic that did NOT practice any type of sedation or nitrous oxide. When I felt a sharp twinge of the vibrations – I instinctively jerked! I know that is a dentist chair ‘no-no’ as the drill could go clamoring into your other healthy teeth, but I couldn’t help it and he was not talking, communicating or giving any instructions on what to do if I felt pain! He grabbed my shoulders (yes grabbed them), shoved me back into place in my chair and actually said “I am not that good at this, so you are going to have to remain still.” I was shocked and now terrified -who says that?! The hygienist looked shocked too! I felt my pulse quicken and tried to calm down and thought maybe he was trying to be funny, but either way, you DON’T say that to your patients. And now I was extremely nervous and scared. The vibrations were so strong and I couldn’t handle it so I made a face again, but trying not to move. He leaned down and said “I Am not trying to be an ass, but you are really going to have to muscle through this.” At that point, I knew no matter what I needed to get out of that place because of how unprofessional he was acting to me, his patient, and how he was making me feel. He asked if I could feel anything or any pain, and I said yes, and he shot me up with more anesthetic. 20 minutes later after leaving me in the chair, I demanded he fill the rest of my tooth with a temporary filling and that I had to leave (It had almost been 2 hours and I had missed my work appointments). He claimed he didn’t have much decay left, but I didn’t care and didn’t want to be around him anymore as I was past being uncomfortable and scared. He quickly filled it with a temporary filling and I was on my way without even looking back. Safe to say, they received a letter from me about his preposterous behavior and I will never be going back. I have a friend who is an endodontist and recommended someone close to his office that was also on our insurance plan and a couple of weeks ago I visited him and recounted my horror story. The dentist I now have is wonderful, compassionate and caring and assured me nothing of this sort would ever happen at his clinic and I trust that he is telling the truth.
Having said that, there is still a temporary filling in my tooth that needs to be replaced with a crown and I am having my appointment next week to get the first step of the crown put on and I am BESIDE myself with fear and worry. I am already being treated for GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and I have been prescribed Xanax in .25mg tablets to take on an ‘as needed’ basis for doctor’s appointments, etc. I am afraid the time has come for me to do this, however, I am skeptical and wondering if I am able to take a .25 mg tablet of Xanax as well as receive the laughing gas when I go in for this appointment? I don’t want it to be overkill, but I want to be as completely out of it as possible.
Sorry for the long-winded story, but I have been through enough and I want to ensure I am doing all I can on my end of things to make sure I have a somewhat pleasant and pain-free experience at my next dentist visit.
Any help, thoughts, advice would be GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
