I am absoloutley terrified cant eat and feel sick

[nads]

hey all. logged onto this for sum much needed help. i am 22 and take good care of my teeth. however i have 2 many teeth in mu lower jaw and its pushing the front ones out. my dentist is fantastic and very professional and refused to take out teeth as a child as i would have a gap. Those particular teeth and now troubling me. i cant bite into food and they bleed a lot. as i cant clean them properly for the akward angle they are at i have a build up tartar there which is nipping. my teeth are so sore and i hate feeling the sharpness of them at the root area.

So i have bitten the bullet and now have an appointment on monday and i am terrified. i am sick and feel faint at blood and anything to do with teeth. even thinking about it i feel ill so i dont know how i will be when i sit in that dreaded chair. My teeth are very sensitive and always have been so when he prods about its gonna be awful. i am going to beg him to take out my akward tooth and hope to hell he agrees. i will freak out when he grips onto it but hopefully it will be over really quick.

i cannot express how much i am dreading it but i know i have to go or it will be worse. i am gradually talking mself round to believing it will be ok but my mates rnt giving me much confidence.

any ideas of how to distract myself while i am there? please any ideas

 

[scaredstiff]

Re: I am absoloutley terrified cant eat and feel s

Welcome to this board. You have now got yourself a whole bunch of new friends and believe me, we know exactly what you're going through. It is such a shame that because of our fears we find it impossible even to talk to our closest of friends to whom we should be able to confide. What you have said about your mates goes to show just that. But, as I say, because we all share this same fear and dread of dentists we really appreciate what you are going through.
I'm sure you will find it a great help, just to post your messages, just to say how you're feeling, how scared you may be. It will help you too to read some of the success stories, some of the journals from people who have been so terrified they haven't been to a dentist for years and yet, through finding this site have found the strength to go and get treatment.
We're just like one big happy family and we support each other through thick and thin. So, though it's silly to say don't worry, don't be scared, you will get through it, a lot of us have, a lot of us are still undergoing treatment and lots more like you are just finding this site and on the point of starting out on their dental journey. You know the saying, united we stand etc. well, it really goes for us dental phobics. Together we can get all of us through anything we have to face. Just believe and it will happen. I would just say though, as one of the oldies on this board, at your age, don't be too anxious to have teeth out if something can be done about any of them which are hurting at the moment. I can appreciate only too well now how I would have longed to hang on to all my teeth. Sadly, that was not to be in my case, but as I said, I am an oldie.

 

[mikey]

Re: I am absoloutley terrified cant eat and feel s


Does your dentist offer sedation of any form?....   like nitrous oxide? That helps alot with anxiety.

It will be fine, I have not ever heard of an appointment going bad. On the topic of distractions, try bringing an ipod or mp3 playeror stress balls, thats what i bring for ordinary appoinments. Do you have a Girl friend? (please correct me if your a girl) I get my girlfriend to come with me to my appointments, that provides a great distraction .

best of wishes for your appointment

-mikey

 

[puppypusher]

Re: I am absoloutley terrified cant eat and feel s

Good for you making the appt.You're not alone in how you feel by a longshot!I think there are 2 sides to our brain.1 says everything will be ok because we've either had good experiences or we've read up on what we have to have done.Or we've been able to be reassured by our friends here.2 says we're going to experience massive amounts of pain and all hell is going to break loose I am some where between the 2.I guess what I'm trying to say is hang in there and remember your good experiences and try to concentrate on what you'll be like afterwards And somewhere between now and tomorrow at 10am I have a helluva lot of positive concentrating to do.Let us know how you make out.

 

[brit]

Re: I am absoloutley terrified cant eat and feel s

Hi Nads
You mention that your dentist 'is fantastic' so that's half the battle. How long is it since you had an appointment? It sounds like you are afraid of the unknown...as in you have never had much actual dental treatment and your friends who also haven't had much treatment aren't helping with their negative speculations.....try asking some older people whether having treatment now is better than when they were younger and you might get some more encouraging answers.
What exactly are you afraid of do you think? Modern dentistry can be completely painless so if pain is your main concern, it needn't be. Good luck...you probably don't need it though  

 

[letsconnect]

Re: I am absoloutley terrified cant eat and feel s

Hi Nads, it sounds like you really like your dentist and the main reason why you're scared is your mates conjuring up horror stories.

One of the most important things is that you share your concerns with your dentist. Together, the two of you can then work towards a solution.

You specifically asked for recommendations for distracting yourself during dental treatment - as Mikey said, bringing an iPod/mp3/CD-player works well for a lot of people. So does visualizing yourself in a pleasant place - an island with palm trees perhaps, where you can feel the gentle breeze and warmth of the sun on your face (easiest when you close your eyes). Directing attention to your body and identifying where you feel tension, and then consciously relaxing those muscles, can also be very useful. Or you may try stress balls which have been suggested here on the forum as helpful - I think they're sort of like squidgy balls that you can squeeze to release any tension you might feel.

All the best and let us know how you get on

 

[archaeodani2]

Re: I am absoloutley terrified cant eat and feel s

stress-balls are great *yep* .. I forgot mine the last appointment I had and had begun to convince myself all was lost.. till I bunched up a corner of the blanket they put over me (quite cold in the office) and squeezed that - it helped

You will be fine

 

[nads]

Re: I am absoloutley terrified cant eat and feel s

hi guys and thanks 4 ur support!

the main reason i am petrified is cos i need a tooth out and the last time i had one out it was very stubborn and refused to move and all i could taste was blood. the pain thing is a huge issue as i dont think i was properly numb.

thing is i am sick at blood and other things like that and i have no control over it. i know i wont sleep on sunday night! i am trying to calm myself down but im not convincing myself. i wont back out but i will be a bag of nerves and more than likely cry. my boyf is comin with me but i dnt think it will make a difference as i have had bad experiences at the detist.

my last check up was 2 years ago but i shouldve gone more regularly. can i request more numbing injections? ideally i would rther b asleep but everyone says they dont do that unless its necessary. feels like i am trapped and that my life is on hold til my appointment on monday. its nearly friday n i cant describe how terrified i am

 

[puppypusher]

Re: I am absoloutley terrified cant eat and feel s

Hi there,
I found the ideal wat to visit is with valium before the appt and nitrous during the appt.have your dentist use a numbing gel then you won't feel the shots.Above all communicate your feelings!Have things done at a pace you can keep up with.I had some cavities done yesterday and I could have stayed in the chair for another hour easily because of the comfort level.So it is possible to achieve painless dentistry.Best of luck to you

 

[brit]

Re: I am absoloutley terrified cant eat and feel s

the pain thing is a huge issue as i dont think i was properly numb. ......
can i request more numbing injections?

Hi Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I thought you said your dentist was fantastic....pulling a tooth when it is not properly numb is not my idea of how a fantastic dentist should behave .
I asked a question on the Dentistry Section here ages ago along the lines of an adult can feel that they are numb enough or can signal for things to stop if they are not, but what about a child and the answer I received from Gordon was that it was part of basic dental training to check a patient is numb before proceeding and there are about 3 stages of checking involved. I had a large filling a while back and my dentist prodded my gum before starting to check I couldn't feel anything sharp and told me to signal him to stop if I felt any discomfort whatsoever.

So yes, of course you can have more anaesthetic at any point. I think you'd best take your boyfriend in with you to hold your hand and get him to ask the dentist to keep checking that you are comfortable...or maybe even find a different dentist?

By the way, you are not a dentist , your tooth may be saveable and not need taking out. Sorry you had such a bad time...your fear is understandable but what happened shouldn't have done and I don't think I'd go back to a dentist who had done that to me.

 

[scaredstiff]

Re: I am absoloutley terrified cant eat and feel s

Now that the weekend is upon us, I imagine that nothing but your impending appointment on Monday is on your mind. I suppose it's rather silly to say try and forget about it for the moment and try to enjoy your weekend, because I know how hard it is to turn off your mind when it is so close. So rather than trying to ignore it, try to think further ahead to after the appointment. Think how wonderful you are going to feel and how happy that the problem has been dealt with and is now non-existent.
So, try to have as best a weekend as possible, get as much sleep as you can and here's to Tuesday morning when you will wake up a completely different person.