Punkerpants
Member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2018
- Messages
- 47
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
After 20 years of living in fear and avoiding dentists, I finally went at the beginning of this year. I was super proud of myself. The reason I finally decided to go is because when I was around 10 years old (the last appointment that I went to until now), the dentist had given me a filling and ever since that day, that tooth has been bothering me. It finally got to the point where the pain was so severe I couldn't take it anymore.
I had a friend go with me for support. I even had to ask her to call to make the appointment for me. By some miracle, I did make it there but started bawling as soon as I sat in the chair. The dentist freaked out (even though my friend told them it would happen) and said I should go to a sedation dentist. I declined because one of my issues is trust, and I'm even more terrified of not being aware of what they do to me. He said fine, but I need medical clearance before he could look at my teeth because my blood pressure and heart rate were through the roof. My heart rate was 156 when it's normally around 75.
So I had to leave and make an appointment with a doctor to sign a paper saying I'm healthy enough for a dental cleaning and check-up. Then I had to wait some more and dread some more for ANOTHER dentist appointment. The whole thing was so traumatic for me because not only did I have to make two dentist appointments, I also have a phobia of all doctors and having to make a doctor's appointment just for a stupid signature on top of that was just too much for me.
The pain had gone down by that point, and I could have just decided not to go. But again, by some miracle I was able to make it to the second appointment. I survived it. I was told that I have severe TMJ problems and all 4 of my wisdom teeth are severely impacted and need to come out ASAP and was recommended braces (all of which I was expecting to hear so wasn't surprised about). But aside from those things, he said my teeth look healthy. No cavities, no gingivitis. I was beyond shocked because it had been 20 years since I had a professional cleaning done.
I went home over the moon, not even caring that the tooth that caused me to go in the first place was never addressed (I assumed there was nothing wrong with it despite the recurring pain). Then, a few days later, I got an email saying my medical chart had been updated so I logged in to take a look. They had logged the dental visit. I was shocked when I read the results section, which said "chronic gingivitis, dental caries, and abnormal findings." I have no idea why the dentist did not mention the gingivitis and cavities to me. I asked my friend why he didn't tell me, and she said maybe he could see how stressed I was and didn't want to freak me out even more. But that doesn't make sense to me, since he told me about my wisdom teeth.
Now I don't know what to do. It's now been almost a year, and I still have not done anything with my referral for wisdom teeth removal or the TMJ specialist and braces. And I haven't been back to talk about those mysterious "dental caries" that the dentist never told me about. I feel like I'll probably just go back to avoiding again until another issue comes up 20 years from now. I can't talk to anyone about this, because everyone I know just tells me to suck it up and do it.
I had a friend go with me for support. I even had to ask her to call to make the appointment for me. By some miracle, I did make it there but started bawling as soon as I sat in the chair. The dentist freaked out (even though my friend told them it would happen) and said I should go to a sedation dentist. I declined because one of my issues is trust, and I'm even more terrified of not being aware of what they do to me. He said fine, but I need medical clearance before he could look at my teeth because my blood pressure and heart rate were through the roof. My heart rate was 156 when it's normally around 75.
So I had to leave and make an appointment with a doctor to sign a paper saying I'm healthy enough for a dental cleaning and check-up. Then I had to wait some more and dread some more for ANOTHER dentist appointment. The whole thing was so traumatic for me because not only did I have to make two dentist appointments, I also have a phobia of all doctors and having to make a doctor's appointment just for a stupid signature on top of that was just too much for me.
The pain had gone down by that point, and I could have just decided not to go. But again, by some miracle I was able to make it to the second appointment. I survived it. I was told that I have severe TMJ problems and all 4 of my wisdom teeth are severely impacted and need to come out ASAP and was recommended braces (all of which I was expecting to hear so wasn't surprised about). But aside from those things, he said my teeth look healthy. No cavities, no gingivitis. I was beyond shocked because it had been 20 years since I had a professional cleaning done.
I went home over the moon, not even caring that the tooth that caused me to go in the first place was never addressed (I assumed there was nothing wrong with it despite the recurring pain). Then, a few days later, I got an email saying my medical chart had been updated so I logged in to take a look. They had logged the dental visit. I was shocked when I read the results section, which said "chronic gingivitis, dental caries, and abnormal findings." I have no idea why the dentist did not mention the gingivitis and cavities to me. I asked my friend why he didn't tell me, and she said maybe he could see how stressed I was and didn't want to freak me out even more. But that doesn't make sense to me, since he told me about my wisdom teeth.
Now I don't know what to do. It's now been almost a year, and I still have not done anything with my referral for wisdom teeth removal or the TMJ specialist and braces. And I haven't been back to talk about those mysterious "dental caries" that the dentist never told me about. I feel like I'll probably just go back to avoiding again until another issue comes up 20 years from now. I can't talk to anyone about this, because everyone I know just tells me to suck it up and do it.