In the middle of extensive dental work

[reb569]

While I was in the Air Force I had regular dental care and got the yearly chastising for not taking care of my teeth. I did try, but no matter what I did, it really didn't seem to do much good.

Just before I got out I had bone grafting done on one section of my upper front teeth. I was told that I should go do the dentist every 6 months and that would probably need to have deep cleaning done. Unfortunately, I got out of the Air Force and went to college and had no medical or dental insurance. When I heard how much a visit to the dentist would cost, I knew there was no way I could afford it. I did the best I could with my teeth, figuring once I got out of college and back into the work-force that I would be able to afford it then.

Bottom line, by the time I had a job that provided dental insurance, my teeth were too far gone and I knew that I would never be able to afford it even with the dental coverage ($1500 max per year). So I started saving up money to get the work done. That was impacted by hospitalizations of my daughter at 5 years old and then 10 years old to pay the out of pocket expense. Finally, this year I got to the point where I felt I had enough money to get the work done.

Of course I have a dental phobia. I had decided in January of 2015 that I needed to find a dentist and make that appointment. I finally managed to actually make the appointment in late September. I had my first visit just a few days later. I was a wreck because I knew the news wasn't going to be good. I walked in thinking that I would be horribly judged.

They took x-rays on my first visit, which clearly showed that the problem was worse then I expected. I was expecting to have to get a combination of partials and bridges. Due to bone loss, the only option for me was full upper and lower dentures. Also -- they were great and didn't chastise me or guilt trip me for not doing something earlier.

Rather than taking time to think about it I made the appointment for the first round of extractions, which happened this past Thursday. Six teeth pulled, upper and lower right side and one front bottom tooth that was bothering me badly. First day of recovery was not fun, but not horrible either.

Next appointment is supposed to be this coming Thursday, but I'm not sure I will be able to keep the appointment. I'm not sure the right side will be healed enough.

Anyway - after the second appointment, where the left upper and lower back left side (only three teeth) and a couple weeks of fittings ect, I go back to have the rest of my teeth pulled. 15 teeth pulled at once and then an immediate denture installed.

I am really concerned about this last appointment. Although the first appointment went ok, it was mentally challenging for me. The Dr was great, which made it much easier, but I doubting my ability to handle that many teeth pulled at once. Strangely, maybe, my panic is internalized and I don't think it's overly noticeable to everyone else. While the Dr. is telling me -- you are doing great -- I am screaming in my head. Then at the end I was thinking -- that wasn't so bad.

Anyway -- I found this forum this morning will searching for info on infections after getting teeth pulled and after reading up, I think I am over-reacting and my panic is getting the best of me, but to be sure I am going to connect with my dentist's office early next week. I'm already on Amoxicilin anyway. I've read a number of stories on here and it has been very helpful. I wish I had found it sooner -- I may have been able to make that first call a long time ago if I had

I just want to get through this, and then get my daughter in to the same dentist for work. She happens to have a dental phobia too.

 

[carole]

Hi to the forum.

The things we fear are very rarely as bad as we think they are going to be. The fear of the unknown is the worst thing for a lot of people. I found that things are explained in a phobic friendly way on this site and helps with a lot of the fear.

I do think that it is a wise decision you have made to get in contact with your dentist next week and have a conversation about the amount of work you feel you can handle in one appointment. I think your dentist sounds very good and has gone a long way to put your mind at ease. It is important that you don't take on more treatment than you can cope with.

A lot of people find that life takes over our plans as you have described. You are there now though and steaming on getting yourself back to oral health.

You can help your daughter a lot by introducing her to the dentist and take things really slowly with her and if she doesn't want to do anything then let it wait until next time. The dentist will be able to help you with this by taking their time with things and allowing your daughter to get used to seeing them.

I think you have done really well and you should be very proud of yourself for going and starting your treatment.

All the best to you for the rest of your treatment which I am sure will be fine

 

[reb569]

I think your recommendation about my daughter is a great one. I have already talked to her briefly about getting back to a dentist and her first comment was, "I don't want to go back to that guy". The dentist who had done her prior work, as it turns out, has a reputation for not being the most compassionate guy and we have found out that several of his patients have left and found other dentists.

Anyway -- the dental practice I am going to now has 5 dentists, one of which specializes in treating children, so I am feeling better about getting her in and continuing her dental care. She seemed very open to it so I am hopeful for her. I don't want her to end up with teeth like mine!

As for myself, my fear of infection I think was unfounded, but I am still going to call the office on Monday to see if they want me to stop in to check. As of right now, unless the Dr says I shouldn't, I am going forward with the next appointment this coming Thursday. I'm glad the next appointment is only for 3 extractions. I'll deal with the last round of extractions after I get through the next one.

 

[carole]

It is very nice to hear that your daughter is open to seeing a dentist. Could someone go in with her when she goes. Because of my childhood appointments which were terrible to say the least I never let my son go in by himself until he was about 15. I just didn't trust that they wouldn't be nasty or do work that wasn't needed.

That was a long time ago now and things are so much better but until I felt I could trust someone with my dentist I would be in there.

On to you, I am pleased that you are going to keep your appointment as I think you may be able to handle the three teeth being removed. It is the last round that you were worried about so I would advise you to speak to your dentist about it. You could suggest that they make a start for less but if you feel okay then you could carry on. You never know you might be fine having all the rest done when it comes to it. It makes a big difference to what we can handle if we don't feel over faced to begin with. I find I can agree to more if we start off planning on doing less and I often have.

All the best to you and your daughter I wish you both good luck

For you for Thursday

 

[reb569]

Well it's been awhile since I created this initial post. I had my second round of extractions done on October 15 as planned. One of those extractions was quite challenging and opened up a hole to my sinus. The extended the healing process before I could get the final extractions and immediate dentures about 3 weeks. That final extraction appointment occurred on December 18. I had Nitrous for that round and it did seem to help some. The first couple weeks was pretty bad, but not horrible. My dentist has been very good about doing adjustments any time that I need them. The only issue was that they were closed extra days over the Christmas and New Years holidays during that time frame where a lot of adjustments could be needed. I was given an emergency contact number and was urged to call if needed, but I didn't and was able to get in early each Monday after the holiday for adjustments. Anyway, tomorrow will be 60 days since I received my full upper and lower dentures. I have been doing pretty good. The dentures go in and come out easily. I do need to use adhesive have an appointment next week to see if a soft reline is in order. My biggest issue has been adjusting to eating more solid foods. Some days I do ok, others not so good. I don't like to push it when I am at work around other people and by the time I get home I don't have the energy to try some days. On the weekends it's a little different. I try to eat more solid foods earlier in the day. I do find when I do that by the end of the day I just can't wait to get them out. I've been trying to learn how to smile again and can't seem to do it. I had hidden my smile for several years. First because my teeth were very misaligned in the front and it was embarrassing, and then eventually because of the deteriorating condition of my teeth. I don't try strategically hide my mouth in meetings anymore and my teeth do look very good. They did a great job on them. On a side note, my daughter has had 4 visits to the dentist's office now. One for a toothache, xray and filling, then x-rays, then a cleaning, and one visit for fillings. She has two more coming up. She is handling it ok. She is seeing the same dentist that I see. I was on a denture board for awhile that I recently left. I was shocked to find many people who instead of contacting their dentists to address issues, where doing there own soft relines, making there own adjustments and people who haven't even gotten their dentures yet researching products from other countries based on the experiences of others. They haven't even gotten their final extractions yet and they are already buying do it yourself reline kits and ordering products from other countries. I also found that a lot of the newest members didn't seem to have a clue what the process was. Asking questions like, when can I use adhesive, when can I eat steak, my gums are sore what should I do. I'm not sure if their dentists didn't communicate with their patients about what to expect or if they just didn't listen. I know my dentist gave me a very good idea about what to expect. I feel lucky! Well that's it for an update on my part.

 

[carole]

Thank you for the update and congrats to you and your daughter. I am really pleased for you both that things are going so well.