• 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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Intro and advice needed

1

1983clarelouise

Junior member
Joined
Aug 23, 2011
Messages
4
Hi there,

I came across this site while doing a google search for 'dental impressions'! I didn't even know there was any support forums for dental phobics.

Anyway, I am 28. Extremely dental phobic. To the point where I actually only have 5 back teeth, and 17 in total ie so all my main fronts remaining. I cannot do fillings....unless sedated. I can (obviously!) manage extractions because they don't take long. I am also emetophobic (fear of vomiting) so the issue with dental treatment to me is things being put in and out of my mouth and having that feeling of no control whilst being numb and not being able to just jump off the chair mid way through if it gets too much.

While most of my back teeth are missing, I also have two missing near the front which are very visible when I smile. While they have been missing for 5 years or so, I have now decided it REALLY bothers me....especially when I saw a recent picture someone had captured of me off guard, big cheesy smile with big MANKY gaps. I decided I want something doing about it rather than just having teeth break, go bad, then being extracted. I had my last extraction in February and the difference in just losing that one extra tooth has made eating even more difficult. Crisps are a nightmare.....constant stabs in the gums and chewing things like crusty bread is a mission. So, I decided I would like to have denture plates made to replace all my missing back teeth and of course my front visible gaps. BUT......

Although I do not have many teeth, I still need 6 fillings and one extraction before I can have a plate made. My problem is I have NOT had fillings done while 'not out of it' for years and years. I have had two mass dental procedures done under sedation in the last 5 years. Both have cost me a fortune. I am now with an NHS dentist where I can get all the work done for just £204 as opposed to £650 the 'Independant' dentist quoted but I cannot have sedation there - they don't do it.

So, needing a dental plate, means needing impressions......UGH. With my sick phobia, I am petrified of these with the thought of it making me gag (I have maybe stupidly watched videos on youtube and those plate things are HUGE). And, after being told to go to my GP and request some tablets for the actual fillings etc, the idiot prescribed me Beta-Blockers!!! I wanted like a one-off pill I could just take on the day to make me slightly out of it?? Beta-Blockers aren't what I was expecting!

Has anyone taken any tablets (besides BB's) to make them a bit out of it and if so what were they called and did they do the trick?? And what can I really expect from these god awful impressions?? How long will they be in my mouth?? And is it right that if you breathe slowly through your nose, you shouldn't gag?? My impression appointment is on Thursday. Procedures not booked in yet. Wish they did Midazolam as a tablet form! GREAT stuff!! I don't remember a thing about either of my two sedation sessions!!

Thanks for reading and help would be appreciated :)
 
Hi there....

I'd have to say I'm in the same boat with the same phobias... vomiting AND gagging are my worse two.

I haven't been to the dentist in 21 years, last time was for 4 wisdoms and 3 others under GA. Haven't been back since because I gag too much.

I'm gonna invest in a mouth guard and some throat numbing spray to try and desensitize my gag reflex. Mine is so severe the dentist I saw yesterday said it would be impossible for me to ever wear dentures.... :o If you think I'm gonna spend the next 40+ years of my life without teeth.... NOT gonna happen so the only thing I can do is try to fix the problem myself. It's not their fault... it's all mine... it's my own bodies fault for this sensitive trigger reflex and my own neglect for how bad my teeth got.

So... give it a try.. introduce your tongue to your toothbrush. I was told it would take a month or so to desensitize your gag reflex. But I suppose it could be different from everyone.

The drugs are sedatives... like a valium. They are suppose to calm you so you don't give a crap about anything. I was hoping for something like that but dentist I went to said I was to anxious and it wouldn't work on me. I wonder how he knows this? :mad:
 
Hey!

I don't know anything about medication, but I can relate to your post because I, too, have emetophobia and at 29 I'm still in the midst of my dental journey.

I look for information everywhere and a lot of people say that impressions really aren't bad at all. I think maybe it's two minutes tops that they stay in? Don't quote me on that.

Please let us know how it goes on Thursday!
 
Breathing through your nose. Distracting yourself with music or the dentist chatting to you, walking round the room...whatever it takes.
 
For some impressions such as:
Orthodontic
Mouthguards
Crowns
Bridges
Veneers
A dentist can use the itero which is a laser based scanner that eliminates tradtional impressions, allows patients to take a break in the middle of a scan, and best of all is more accurate. I have found that in the last three years all of the patients preferred scanning over traditional impressions.
Downside is that this technology is not widespread.
 
Thank you for the replies! It seems quite common for these two phobias to come together!

I managed the impressions. Bottom was fine to
Be honest. Top was much more uncomfortable.
Mu heart was pounding so much the dentist
Said afterwards she could actually feel it while
Holding the plate in my mouth!! And I reckon
It actually only took 30 seconds! I will have to
Have another set taken at some point though
Apparently. I'm booked in this thursday to have
The first side of my mouth done....3 fillings I think.
I have been naughty and got a friend to send
Me some diazapem/vallium. I'm going to take
One for a trial run tomorrow night as not sure
Whether to take one or two yet. I'm even nervous
About taking that due to nausea or vomiting side
Effects! But I've googled it loads and can't see
Those listed anywhere as common. Only for
Withdrawal of the drug after long term use. So
Hope I will be ok! I just hope it makes me not
Give a crap so I can go through with it! Will
Let you know how it goes!
 

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