Intro & Timing Couldn't Be Worse

[justagirl]

Hello all!

I have to go see a dentist and I totally don't want too. I wish I could put it off, but I'm in so much pain there is no way I can delay it.

Ironically I never really had a problem with dentists until a few years ago. My childhood dentist was cheap, and did ok, but left some to be desired I suppose. I had a few cavities filled which didn't go as planned. I was only 10 or so, and the cavities didn't hurt at all...until after they were filled. Made me a little hesitant to go to back. My parents didn't do dental check ups every year, only when there was a problem. I don't remember seeing the dentist again until I was about 18 to get my wisdom teeth taken. They said I had other cavities that should be addressed, but set me up for my wisdom teeth removal. That happened through a different dentist, I was put under, and don't remember a thing. I didn't react great to the general anesthetic but once it wore off things were pretty easy.

Just a couple years later though I realized I had a hole in one of my back teeth. It was small, and didn't bother me much. We scheduled a dentist appointment, and the cheapest option was extraction so that is what we did. The tooth came out easily, wasn't very painful. Recovery was harder, I had some complications, maybe a dry socket. A year or so later the same tooth on the opposite side devleoped a hole, and then broke more. I put off going to the dentist for awhile, but it started aching so badly I had to go. It was the worst experience ever.

My dad and boyfriend were in the waiting room and I had to go back alone. It took quite awhile to numb the tooth, and the dentist seemed to have trouble believing it wasn't numb yet. It was the second tooth from the back on the bottom set of teeth. He started pulling and it hurt. Not my tooth, my jaw. I have a pretty good tolerance for pain, but as he pulled it quickly became downright unbearable. I started squirming and trying to cry out (as much as you can when hands are in your mouth!). I told him it was hurting my jaw, he sent the nurse to try to find something they use you bite down on? They didn't have any. He said he would just have to keep pulling because it was halfway out and he couldn't stop. He kept pulling and pulling, and the pain just got worse. I was crying and partly screaming before he finally got it out. He ended up giving me a script for vicodin and 1000 MG ibuprofen to take.

That was at least 5 years ago and I haven't gotten anywhere close to a dentist office since. Three years ago my very back tooth developed a hole, then broke partially broke off at the gumline. It ached pretty badly for about a week, but nothing pain relievers didn't help. Every 6 months or so it would ache, I'd take pain relievers, it'd improve and I'd go on about life. Well Sunday night it started aching quite badly, the pain relievers have hardly touched the pain, and I've still been hoping it'd go away on it's own. I've pretty much realized it's not going away, I am going to have to go to the dentist. Of course the timing couldn't be worse. I'm hosting a party Saturday that has been on the calendar for months, and I have no idea if I'll be able to still host after enduring whatever it is I'll have to endure at the dentists office.

I feel scared because of what I don't know. I don't know if I can have the tooth pulled, because the tooth right below and over one is also gone. I don't know how bad the rest of my teeth are. I know the one next to the one that is causing problems is missing enamel and just not looking good. Not to mention I have no idea how many other cavities I have. I know the dentist is going to judge me and my weight (I'm sadly overweight) I just can't imagine all this ending with a very low amount of pain, and my dignity intact.

Thanks everyone for listening...I feel a little better.

 

[nikki06]

I had a dentist like that who didn't believe I was numb, he kept giving me injections and acted like I was making it up or something, his voice just echoed sheer disbelief.. It's not something you'd lie about is it! He said twice 'just a little more' and because I was already in pain (with toothache) I figured I might as well sit it out and get it over with, it wasn't pleasant and only served to heighten my anxiety, it was white knuckle central for the whole time! Now it's acting up anyway (2 yrs ish since it was filled)! I haven't been back there since!
I went privately after that, he also tried to numb me but that didn't work.. Fortunately though he was far more understanding and didn't just carry on, he saw my discomfort and stopped. Sadly there are the odd dentist who aren't much good, but there are ones who are brilliant, it's just a case of finding the right one and sometimes it takes a while to do so. Don't put up with the pain though, as I say it only made it worse.

Try not to put too much pressure on yourself over the party, if it's a pain that can't be treated with painkillers then I doubt you'd make a good host anyway, and I'm sure your guests would rather you were happy and well. If you don't feel like you can call it off because of toothache then just make something up!

Just take it one step at a time, you can find a dentist you like and see what plan they draw up, it doesn't mean you have to go through with it, even if you feel it's not right you could get a second opinion.. Usually people find their teeth aren't in as bad a state as they feared.

I don't know what your weights got to do with anything (looks wise) but from the opposite end of the spectrum sadly I too have been judged and people have been known to ask me if I was anorexic! However, a dentist has never commented like that, they only asked about my blood pressure - which I had to mention because it's low (prone to fainting), no one has said anything mean so try not to worry about that