• Dental Phobia Support

    Welcome! This is an online support group for anyone who is has a severe fear of the dentist or dental treatment. Please note that this is NOT a general dental problems or health anxiety forum! You can find a list of them here.

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I actually did it today

I hope things went well for you and that your mind was put at rest, I look forward to hearing how you went on. :thumbsup:
 
Hi Carole,

Thank you for your support, I can't tell you how much it helps.


My appointment was at 8.45 this morning and I was on time only to find they had not opened yet, geeeeeze I was standing on the doorstep waiting for them to open, never thought I would ever do that.

The last dentist I saw has left and I saw a very nice guy this morning who was calm and gentle so that was a relief.

He examined my gums and said they look ok apart from just under the two loose teeth and he said it is only very slightly inflamed. He did say that my other teeth were not wonderful but he didn't say they were dreadful either so hopefully with the care I am taking they will last for a while yet.

He has advised me to have the loose teeth out and taken impressions to make a partial denture for me. There is really no other option at this stage, he did say I could wait to have this done as they are not that loose yet but I have faced this problem now and just want to get it all over with. I feel I have worried about this for long enough and finally found the courage to face getting it sorted out.

I am worried about getting used to a partial and concerned that the metal clips will show but I can't afford implants so there is really no choice. I am also a bit relieved that I have that appointment over as I had all the normal fears people have about embarrassment etc.

They have made an appointment for me for the extractions for a week on Friday but I am going to ring them to put it back another couple of weeks as then I will have a week off work and feel that a week off work will give me a breathing space to get used to things a bit more.

Thanks once again for all the support you have given me and I will keep you updated.

PS: I will still be quaking when I go next time but at least I did it today.
 
CONGRATULATIONS :jump::jump::jump: :jump::jump::jump::jump::jump: I am really pleased that things went well for you with the dentist and that you have confidence in him and that you feel comfortable seeing him. Not so good news that you have to have teeth out, but as you say, you won't have the constant worry and stress. I don't think the silver clip things show much, I hope not anyway as I am getting a single tooth made like this in June, I am supposed to be anyway. I will be really interested in how you go on now as it will give me some idea of what they do, and how the teeth will look and feel. I would want the appointment sooner rather than later, less time to worry about what next. Everybody is different though and we all have to move at a pace that suits us.

Having the teeth out you will be okay, it is so quick once you are numb, it is over before you know it.

I wish you all the luck in the world and am so glad you are happy with your dentist, :grouphug:and that dreaded first visit is over and done with, YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE :respect: :yay: :yay: :yay:
 
Well its two weeks now until I get three lower teeth removed and woke up this morning in a total panic and very edgy about it all. I have not been eating or sleeping very well since that first appointment when the dentist told me I needed three teeth removed from my lower jaw and a partial denture fitted. I have felt total fear in the pit of my stomach at all this going on in my life, will it be obvious, what will it look like etc etc etc.

But then I found out why I love my husband of almost 35 years he was so totally supportive of me and even offered to sell a family heirloom if I feel I need pvt dental care. I have always known why I love my husband but this morning he cried with me about the loss of my teeth and offered all the help and support he possibly could.

I have felt sick all day today with the emotion of all this but tonight I am feeling a little more positive and will make this journey, although I have always felt I am a strong person this has surprised me how bad I feel about having to have a denture. I have trawled the internet looking for pictures and answers and so many ppl are negative about this, especially bottom partials, but hopefully if I get a positive result I am going to let everyone know to encourage them to do what is necessary.

One thing I know for certain after this mornings emotions is that my hubby loves me whatever and that has made me feel so much better in myself.

God Bless each of you going through this awful journey
 
I know all about the swings of mood before treatment ! :cool:
It is lovely that your husband is so supportive, as it is a big help .
The extractions will not take long and the partial will fit very well, you will need to go back and have adjustments made after some weeks when the gums have settled down after the extractions.
I had 5 teeth removed in my upper gum about 3 weeks ago and I am just beginning to notice that my partial is a bit loose now.I have to go back soon and have it looked at,so it seems to be normal to the dentist to do these adjustments .

I am sure the clips will not show.It depends a bit where the teeth are removed, but things are very neat these days.The " wires "( clips ) on my partial have a sort of white coating on them,although they are not visible at all, so they do make things as natural looking as possible.

I hope the time until your appointment goes quickly ! Keep busy and we are here to chat to at any time.:)
 
Thanks for your support Pippa
 
Well its two weeks now until I get three lower teeth removed and woke up this morning in a total panic and very edgy about it all. I have not been eating or sleeping very well since that first appointment when the dentist told me I needed three teeth removed from my lower jaw and a partial denture fitted. I have felt total fear in the pit of my stomach at all this going on in my life, will it be obvious, what will it look like etc etc etc.

But then I found out why I love my husband of almost 35 years he was so totally supportive of me and even offered to sell a family heirloom if I feel I need pvt dental care. I have always known why I love my husband but this morning he cried with me about the loss of my teeth and offered all the help and support he possibly could.

I have felt sick all day today with the emotion of all this but tonight I am feeling a little more positive and will make this journey, although I have always felt I am a strong person this has surprised me how bad I feel about having to have a denture. I have trawled the internet looking for pictures and answers and so many ppl are negative about this, especially bottom partials, but hopefully if I get a positive result I am going to let everyone know to encourage them to do what is necessary.

One thing I know for certain after this mornings emotions is that my hubby loves me whatever and that has made me feel so much better in myself.

God Bless each of you going through this awful journey

Hi Barbara,

I just read your posts and i wanted to share briefly with you my experience of having 7 upper teeth extracted and a full upper denture, i like you was absolutely terrified at the prospect of having all the teeth extracted and how i was goingto live with an upper denture, the extractions themselves were far easier than i ever expected them to be, and i had them done with only locals after years of being sedated for just a filling in the past, after the injections which arent great, but my dentist was calm and gentle and after that it was over in about 20min and that was for 7 teeth, i was amazed at how painless it was. Im a week in to wearing the denture and its ok, it looks so much better than what was there before, my mouth feels clean and i now know i will never have anymore abcesses, toothache or filling to deal with. It fits pretty well and i will go back next week for any adjustments as well as being able to have it relined in a few weeks as my bones change and heal. My fear of what was going to happen was in reality far greater that the procedure itself.

Good luck !!
 
Thanks Missy for your support and I hope your recovery keeps going well for you. I bet you have a lovely smile now :)
 
Hi everyone,

Well its a week now since my extractions and I had the partial fitted, the extractions were ok as my dentist is very kind and was very concerned about me being completely numb and comfortable.

I really didn't want to post on the forum before now because I wanted to be able to give positive news and not get into all the negative bits of this last week. There were good days and bad days during my first week with my new partial denture one being I was surprised at how much discomfort it caused me until about Wednesday, I was really quite sore, so I wore it for a few hours and took it out for a few hours after the initial 24 I was told to keep it in. This has worked well as I felt I had had a little rest, I am really not sure if this is the correct way to go about things but it seems to have worked well for me.

I found eating really difficult at first but my husband is a real gem and said just take it out so you can eat what you feel like and I even managed cheese and biscuits with some grapes the third night and really enjoyed them. I am now learning to eat with the partial in as the soreness is going off quite a bit. I have used adult bonjela quite a bit and rinsed with cooled boiled salt water also which I think has helped with healing my gums.

Today, just one week on I actually wore the partial for 9 hours straight which is a first and I was really proud I had managed that amount of time.

So yes it is going to be a journey and I really cant wait until my three months are up and then I get to choose between a bridge or a permanent denture as the temporary feels huge at the moment but then its only one week and I am still learning to get used to it.

For anyone facing this it is certainly better than having problem teeth which you know for sure need sorting out. I would advise go ahead and get the work done which is needed and this is from a dental phobic.
 
Some brilliant advice here Barbara, for those who are facing similar work. It sounds like you have actually had a very successful week, and to hear someone say that 'yes, there are some negatives at first, but it is worth it', is practical, sensible and positive. Huge congratulations to you for coping with the situation !!!:jump:
 
Hi Carys,

I have obviously had some very negative moments but I want to encourage others who have similar fears as I have had and are maybe facing difficult decisions.

Oh and tonight I had a wonderful roast lamb dinner with my partial in, yipppeeeeeee :)
 
Well its now two weeks and two days since my extractions and I only have one slightly sore spot which isnt causing me any problems.

I can now eat with my partial in, its taken a bit of time to be able to do this but I am actually hungry again, wow yeahhhhhh. I did lose some weight as I had got myself so worked up about starting the treatment I couldn't eat or sleep very well.

At first I thought I would never ever get used to the partial in my mouth but after only two weeks I hardly notice it at all. It was sore at first and I had to force myself to wear it but two weeks isnt that long really to get to where I am now. No one has even noticed I have false teeth which is something I really worried about beforehand.

Its not been all plain sailing, I have had my tears and doubts and regrets of course but I really couldnt carry on as I was and I am now feeling relieved to have started my treatment and to have got over the first hurdle.

I have always been terrified of going to the dentist and I know many on here feel exactly as I feel but please believe me the actual treatment isnt as bad as what you put yourself through beforehand. I was physically sick and shaking with fear before I had to go it was that bad but I am feeling proud of myself now and feel I can move forward and finish the dental treatment i need.
 
I am so pleased that things are going so well for you in such a short space of time. I had 11 teeth extracted on Friday and will be getting complete dentures at some stage. I didn't sleep too well last night, and have been up for a while and feeling pretty 'down' so far today. It will hopefully get better, probably because I am tired and sore :redface:

Never mind, it will be worth it in the end, and I am so pleased you are doing well.

Kim
 
Hi Kim,

Well done on getting the teeth extracted but I am so sorry to hear you are feeling a bit down.

I felt a bit like that the first week also, you will start to feel brighter once your gums have started to heal. Try to take it easy and look after yourself and I am hoping next time you post you are feeling a lot, lot better.
 
Hi BarbaraM! I will soon be in your shoes! I have an appointment on June 12th to have 21 teeth extracted! I will have partial dentures on the top and bottom. A year ago, I wouldn't have been able to even type this without bursting in tears! With the help of this forum, I have made great strides! Your post has helped me alot! Thank you! From what you said and also what has been posted on this forum, the anticipation and waiting is far worse than the actual procedure (I hope!). Good luck to you and way to go!
 
Hi Dianne,

Good luck for the 12th and I am sure you will find everything will go smoothly. I know my dentist was very kind when I had my extractions and I didnt feel a thing, not even the injections.

This site also helped me before my treatment just reading that other people felt the same as me helped. As you have probably read through this post I was an absolute nervous wreck beforehand and I really had to force myself to go but now I really wonder why I put myself through that.

As my post says I actually did it today. In fact I have now done it three times, the initial check up the actual E day and then yesterday I went for another check up and to have my partial slightly adjusted. It now feels a little bit tight but they do seem to slacken after a few wears so I am sure it will settle down again in a few days. It just feels a bit tighter now.

I do know the kind words of people on here helped me beforehand and if my words have helped you even a little I am so glad.

God Bless, Barbara
 
Update - Re: I actually did it today

Well its been almost two months now since I had my bottom three teeth removed and a partial denture. I have remained positive with some severe moments of grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

All in all I have been managing very well and eating better now with the partial in but I have a problem looming this coming weekend i have people coming to stay and i am really worried about having to keep the partial in for so long with visitors staying.

I admit i have been managing by keeping it in from about 8am until 6pm but then take it out to have a rest from it during the evening. With visitors staying i will need to keep it in until early morning until late at night and i am really not sure I am going to be able to manage this with any degree of comfort.

Panic, panic as this is still a temporary partial and not the best as it is an nhs one, wish me luck but I dont feel ready as yet for this level of wearing it.

:(
 
Just thought I would post an update on progress lol.

Well my last post I was worried when friends were coming to visit and I would have to keep my partial denture in for a lot longer than I was used to. Well guess what it was absolutely fine, I kept it in from early morning to late at night and managed to eat everything I wanted to all weekend yeahhhhhhhhhhhh.

I am currently saving up for either a bridge, which my dentist says might not work or a better permanent partial which obviously will be better than my temp partial. As both will cost approximately £400 I am still wondering which to go for. I did enquire about having implants but at £4000 I think I will need to win the lottery before I can even think about that one.

I just wished to tell anyone who is possibly facing having teeth out and needing any type of denture that it really isnt that bad. You will need some time to adjust, for your gums to heal so any soreness goes and time to gain confidence to go out and actually realise nobody notices you have false teeth in your mouth.

Barbara x
 
I know someone who might be needing dentures themselves. Keep us informed!
 
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