• 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.

    Register now to access all the features of the forum.

In Despair!

S

Snowy

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
57
Location
Lot et Garonne
Hi, Have not posted for a long time, but now am at the end of my tether.

I am from the U.K. but now live in France. I am 70, and have lost quite a few teeth, mainly because I had some taken out when I was young due to overcrowding, plus extraction was normal in the past!
However I have developed an infection under a crown on the right top side of my mouth. My Dentist can’t see me until the 2nd December, so my Doctor prescribed Antibiotics, and I have 2 days left to take.

Well my anxiety levels are so high now, I am breaking out in a sweat at the thought of going to the Dentist, and am suffering from panic attacks.

My main problems are that my gag reflex is bad, and I am afraid I may have a panic attack in the chair and lose it completely! I feel I might be offered a root canal, and this really freaks me out, as I have never had one. I don’t know if I could tolerate the time it takes.

i am also concerned that once I finish the antibiotics will the infection return?

I feel I am backed into a corner and don’t know how to deal with it.

Can anyone else identify with what I am feeling please?
 
I can certainly identify with with what you are feeling! The panic, fear, and trapped feeling is horrible, I know. With the antibiotics, would you be able to get more from the doctor if you run out and then start to feel the infection is returning?

I feel with the gag reflex issue, it might help to tell the dentist about it as soon as you are in the chair, so they can be more careful around that area?
 
Hi there @Snowy.
First, you are so amazingly brave and strong. Second, I hope my experience can help you. I also have a horrible gag reflex, it is so bad I accidentally bit the dentist. She helped me by reminding me to breathe through my nose and out my nose. It sound obvious, I know, but in that moment, I totally forgot how to breathe.
Third, something you can work out with the dentist before hand is a signal to let them know you need to stop or you're in pain.
Fourth, I have a root canal this coming week. I've had one before, nearly 30 yrs ago. Dentistry has thankfully advanced in that time. Full disclosure: I still terrified of the procedure. It does take a while but as one of the dentists on this forum put it, better to do it right than a rush job.
Fifth: As scary as the procedure is named it is meant to preserve the tooth and keep it from infecting others or causing more problems in the future.
Sixth: my dentist went to school in France, she's very patient focused and I'd like to believe this is the norm now in dentistry.
 
Back
Top