I've allowed this Phobia to rule me for too long

[Cielo]

Great job! You've made remarkable progress and should be proud of yourself!

I'm glad you've found a dentist you can trust. That's half the battle right there.

Don't worry so much about a possible extraction or getting that retained root out. You've made it through a filling, an extraction isn't that much different for the patient while in the chair. You'd be numb, just like you were yesterday, so you won't feel any pain. Aftercare is different, and you'll have an extraction site that will need to heal, but it's not a big deal. You can do it and be in control of the whole process.

 

[robotguy]

Thanks Cielo, I'm sure I will be able to get through an extraction, but it is the one thing that I am most scared of at the moment.

Still it looks like I've got another slight set-back now, I have just lost one of the tempoary dressings that was put on my worst teeth, in fact it just happens to be the one with the open hole in it that traps food and causes the most pain .It felt different last week, the top edge had worn off so it no longer wrapped over the top of the tooth, tonight the rest of it came off. I've got to be careful to keep it clean otherwise its going to hurt. On the plus side I do have an appointment next Wednesday for fillings, perhaps she can reapply the dressing while we wait for the LA to take effect. Its been on there nearly two months so it has done well I suppose.

Being free of pain when eating has been wonderful the past couple of weeks, I no longer had to worry about keeping food in certain parts of my mouth when eating, no worring about open holes trapping stuff. Occasionally I would notice I had food in a previously 'no-go' area when eating and knowing there was going to be no pain made me smile. I want that feeling back dammit.

I just feel like swearing!

Its daft, I put up with painful teeth for years, I ignored the state of my mouth for a quarter of a century, now I'm panicking because I've got to wait four and a half days before I can get this sorted again.

 

[robotguy]

Back from another appointment this morning, talk about a packed half-hour!

I first asked about the filling I had done last week, if it was a temporary or permament job, she said it was a semi-permament fix. Although it was a bit too far gone for a proper repair, the fact that it is right at the back of my mouth and there is no tooth below it that chews food against it, I shouldn't have to worry about that for 8 or 9 years at least as she has used some fairly hard filler in it. I'm happy with that.

I then told her that I had lost one of the temporary dressings, the one on the tooth with a hole. She said 'oh the one we are going to take out'... OK.... first I've heard about an extraction, but not totally a surprise after seeing her computer screen last week. I decided to ask about getting the retained root out as well, its not doing any good being left in there. She reassured me that she could get it out without any bother very quickly. For some reason I wasn't freaked out. This is me, talking to a dentist, about having teeth extracted and I'm almost calm about it, not totally, but close. I needed to know the plan eventually but by going slowly I am able to deal with everything, one step at a time. She then pointed to the x-ray at the tooth that had the abscess, "this one will come out fine as the infection has loosened the roots from the bone already" she says. So thats three to come out, well two and a root, better than I thought originally when I was convinced that I needed about a dozen out.

Time to get started on todays treatment. I'm in the chair and the numbing gel gets applied to my gum, followed soon after by the LA. Once again I feel nothing. I'm having two teeth filled today at the bottom front on the right, the pointy one and the one behind it. The next one back is the one that I need the dressing re-applied. So while we wait for the LA to take effect she cleans the tooth up to help the dressing stick better and covers it back up. Once again I have the taste of cloves.

I can feel the LA taking effect, my lip and chin are going numb, by the time the dressing has been re-applied I'm ready to do the main event.

I always feared having the bottom front edge of a tooth filled. In my mind its like a lumberjack cutting a notch out of the bottom of a tree to make it fall over, cut the bottom of the tooth away and it will snap off. But the bottom of the tooth has already gone anyway, the dentist is going to fill the gap with strong material and make it much less likely to snap.

Well the preperations on the two teeth went well, much quieter in my head this time than last week. A few times I felt a slight tingle but no pain, the closest I can describe it is 'warmth' but thats not right either. Its not enough to get her to stop and its only fleeting anyway. Prep work done she fills each tooth in turn, setting it with the blue light today. Then I'm done, a rinse out is awkward because of the numbness.

I'm told to expect a bit of sensitivity but that it will die down in a few days. I take a look in the mirror. Oh wow! she has re-built a tooth almost completly and the filling is just about invisible. I see some blood around the bottom of the rebuilt tooth but she has had to go slightly below the gumline to do it. The gum should re-attach itself to the tooth in a few days time. I can't believe how natural it looks.

Next week I'm having two more teeth on the other side filled, both of them are decayed at the gumline. I'm not worried about this being done, having the front teeth filled so far has been OK and is bearable. The worst part is holding my mouth open, it starts to shake after a while and I just can't seem to relax it and stop.

I'm also going in alone next week as I can't get a Wednesday slot unless I wanted to wait three weeks, nope, I want these fixed ASAP, so I'm doing a Tuesday when my wife will be at work. Up to now my wife has always come with me but my experiences with this dentist are changing my expectations from those that were ingrained in the past, so I feel able to do a front filling alone now, the extractions are going to be another matter, but that is another day in the future.

The numbness is almost gone now, almost three hours later, I have no ache or pain from todays work. I couldn't even think about getting treated a year ago I feel so happy that I feel like I'm beating this phobia at last.

 

[robotguy]

Not so good today.

No pain or aching but the conversation I had with the dentist two days ago is really getting me down. I thought I was doing so well, even managing to ask about getting that retained root out but the talk of further extractions has put me in a bad state.

I think what is scaring me is that we have had no discussion over any extractions up to now and then the dentist was talking like its all been agreed. I've said on more than one occasion that if I knew I was to have an extraction, I would leave it to last and probably not go in to have it done. Thats a bad thing to say I know but its the truth on how I feel. I did feel the same about that retained root but I'm just about worked through having it taken out. I know its not doing any good in there and it looks nasty, even more so now I'm getting some nicer looking teeth in there. I know a crown can't be put on it and as the dentist says it will pop out easy, I'm just about OK with the idea of it going.

I'm down to the last 8 teeth to be sorted out (I think); two at the front will be filled on Tuesday, the retained root to go, that leaves 5. One at the top with a big hole, currently filled up with temporary stuff, and the two rear ones each side, also covered up/sealed with tempoary filler, only one of those has caused me pain in the past. I'm not looking to have perfect teeth, why can't the temporary coverings be made permament with a material a bit harder or more durable?

When I had a crown fitted I had less of a tooth then than any of the ones left to look at now, why can't I have a post fitted in and a crown put on top?
I'm not ready to give up on these last 5 teeth yet, I don't feel I've tried to save them. Yes the root can go, I saved that for a number of years until the crown came off, (because I wasn't looking after my teeth at all back then), if I had gone to the dentist straight away then it would have been fited back on, but I couldn't do that back then, so its my fault that its gone now, I'm OK with the root being taken out. I just want to have a go at saving the others, even if its only for a year, at least I'll know I tried everything possible.

I worry about having gaps at the back each side. Chewing on a stump of a tooth is still easier than chewing directly on a gum. There has been no talk of replacing these teeth with anything. Will I be left with a hole in the top row, will that cause the teeth either side to break because they are not supported?

I'm worring about the unknown future again.

I know I need to talk this through with my dentist, I just feel that its getting away from me and I'm not having a say in my treatment.

I want to go the distance on getting sorted, I want to hear those words "nothing more to do Mr Robotguy, come back in six months for a check-up", not bail out near the end and go back to my old ways of avoidance.

 

[RP]

It is a roller coaster robotguy, I know just how you feel. So have the conversation, make sure she knows you want to save the teeth if at all possible. Before I had the retreatment done on one of my molars, my old dentist sent me an email (isn't that just lovely) saying I should just get it extracted, not worth the time and money. I told him "No Thank you," not interested in losing another tooth-I'm getting another opinion, that was the last conversation we ever had. Well he was dead wrong, there was another canal in there. I still have my tooth.

I'm not suggesting you change dentists, you have a relationship of trust with her, I didn't and I had plenty of other issues with him, that was the icing on the cake but.......

Even if it comes down to losing a few, you need to understand and accept that there is no other choice and it will be in the best interest of your oral health and all the rest of your teeth. Once you accept, the extraction part is easy.

Rhonda

 

[robotguy]

Yeah I know I need to talk to my dentist, she is the only one that can give me the answers, I just needed to write down my feelings to vent it out safely.

I know exactly why she didn't mention anything about taking teeth out earlier, its because she didn't want to scare me away. There was a lot she could do for me before any teeth need to come out. What freaked me out was she was talking like this was all decided. I am as yet unconvinced that this is the only course of action I can take.

When I think back to my first examinations, I lay in the chair unable to even open my mouth, yet she had already seen my teeth at that point. This week I was able to get in and not even have to think about opening my mouth, it just happened. I've come such a long way with her, I'm sure that she only now feels safe to bring the subject of more 'extreme' treatments without sending me running for the hills. She is right too, I was able to talk about it, I was in shock a bit, but I didn't clam up, although I did turn the conversation around to the root which I was ready to talk about getting removed, rather than the other teeth.

I really would like to try and keep the teeth, even if they dont look 100% like teeth. The temporary dressings I have now, a couple look nothing like teeth, but they are stable and don't hurt or cause me any problems, I'd like to look into the possibility of doing something similar but with more resistant material.

I am not going to change dentists, I am really happy with her, I cannot fault her work, it is amazing. Her manner with me is calm and not patronising at all. She is patient with me, never too pushey and takes time to explain what she is going to do. It was just this one time when she surprised me by saying what she did. I find that I often come away from the surgery not fully taking on board what we have talked about until the adrenaline has worn off, I'm still amazed that I'm there at all.

 

[Cielo]

I've been exactly where you are, RG.

Dentists will usually try everything realistically possible to save a tooth. Extraction is usually the very last option, but is often preferable to leaving a diseased and/or decaying tooth in place.

Around this time two years ago, I had a broken lower molar. I let it go until it started to ache. Dentist said it needed either a root canal or extraction. My past track record with root canals was NOT good. I'd had two and both had failed, leaving me with one extracted and the other I was ignoring as a low-grade infection in my jaw for months.

Just the word "extraction" terrified me, but I didn't want to pay $700+ for a RC only to have to have it extracted a year later.

I somehow whined and pouted my way into a temporary filling. My dentist didn't want to do it, he said it was just postponing the inevitable, but gave in when I promised I'd make a permanent decision before the filling gave up.

I made that filling last a year and a half by not EVER chewing on that side of my mouth. Unfortunately, chewing on the other side only caused my bridge to break off, and I lost a few teeth with it. Consequently, I now sport my full upper and lower dentures.

Moral to the story? Don't try to put things off due to fear. Temporary fixes, while they make you comfortable for now, may cause more damage in the long run.

I was SO terrified of extractions. I can't even begin to explain. But I had 27 extractions done in two appointments. Fifteen the first time, 12 the second. I wish there was some way to assure you that it's not as bad as you're letting yourself believe, but I can't think of a way to convince you.

Other than more LA injections at the start, the procedure itself is no more traumatic than the fillings you've already had. It doesn't even take as long in the chair. There is healing time involved, but for just a couple teeth, it's no big deal at all.

In fact, looking back, having a tooth extracted was less of an ordeal than a full cleaning. It was scarier for me because I LET it be that way. But I swear to you it's not nearly as awful as you're imagining.

If you can keep those teeth, fantastic. That's the best anybody can hope for. But if it's time they go, please don't put it off. You'll wonder what the big deal was afterward, and you won't have to worry about them ever again.

Good luck, RG. You've got friends in your corner that understand and have been there.

 

[robotguy]

Thanks again for the support folks, it really does help, I'm glad to say I'm in a much happier state now.

Went to the dentist this morning by myself, I was 'only' having two fillings today and as I seem to be coping with them OK I decided that I wanted them done sooner, rather than wait three weeks for an appointment where my wife could come with me. I sat in the waiting room by myself and was a lot more nervous than I have been is the past few visits, but this was because I wanted to know what else was in store for me, not what I was having done today, fear of the unknown was feeding my phobia with all sorts of scarey stories. In fact I have hardly slept the past two nights. It didn't help that the dentist was running a bit late with the previous paitent so I had to wait well past my slot either.

Finally I went in and said that I hadn't had a good week due to what she said the week before about taking a tooth out. I explained that I was fine with the root being removed, I could see no reason for keeping that in there any longer, but I didn't understand the need for other extractions. Well she went through all my teeth that are left to do, explaining what each one needed and what the options were. She also said that as there was no other infections the need to remove them wasn't urgent, with the exception of the rear molar that had the original abcess that started me off.

The reason that there can be no long-term solution on some teeth is that there is decay below the gumline, so any repair will not have anything solid to hold onto. Now I understand a bit more I can start to come to terms with this. After all the time I ignored my teeth I was expecting to loose a lot more anyway, now I know why some can be saved and some have to go, I'm able to get my head around it better. So far she has rebuilt a couple of teeth that I though were too far gone and yet she wanted to remove a tooth that didn't look too bad to me. I have full height on each tooth against my tounge so it wasn't making sense to me why some were worse than others, they all feel the same to my tounge.

I also found out that the top rear leftside tooth needs a filling too, this sadens me a bit as it wasn't as comfortable having the opposite one on the right filled, compared to the front teeth being done. I know its only the noise in my head that makes it worse though so I will be able to get through it when I need to.

Looking at my x-ray she showed me the teeth that need to come out. The one on the top with a big temporary filling needs to come out as there isn't enough of a tooth left, the one under this is the infected tooth, so that is a biting pair to come out. The one on the other side at the bottom with a hole has decayed below the gumline so there is no way of doing anything that will last longterm, thats number three out. The only other one is the root, making a total of four extractions. I was worried about leaving a single tooth on the bottom rear left with no tooth beside it to support it, but she says that its not gettting support now so will be fine. We can look into crowning it later if I want to.

Feeling happier its time to get on with todays fillings, so I get in the chair. The shaking jaw that I get really bothers me and ask if she will stop for just a few seconds for me to get it under control when it happens. She offers me a bite-block but I decline in horror, I had that as a child on so many occasions, too much of a flashback. I also ask her hot to try and hold my jaw as that will get me panicing too, just stop for about 10 seconds to allow me to stop it myself. She agrees that if I want to stop for a shaking jaw then thats fine.

The LA injections are totally painless again, I feel nothing at all. Very soon she starts work on todays two teeth. Somehow I manage to 'zone out' for most of the time, its only when she changes to a different drill that I realise that she is almost ready to fill them back up again. What? How did that happen? I'm in shock that I could be worked on without being super aware of what was happening. Strangely the shaking jaw didn't happen once, after all that fuss I made over it.

After finishing on todays fillings, more blue light. She then takes a look at the temporary filling in the top tooth for me, as I said earlier that it feels like a mint imperial in there, plus its a bit rough on the inside of my cheek. This only takes her a minuite or so to polish into a much more pleasing shape and now feels much better, even if the taste of cloves is back again.

I wanted to know if the infection from the abscess was likely to look worse in the x-ray that it is now, afterall that x-ray was taken right after the abscess was active, surely it could be much better now, (me grasping at straws). She told me that although it was low-level at the moment that it was still there and activly draining through a small hole in my gum. She tole me to look in a mirror and I would be able to see this. This has made it much easier to accept the tooth comming out, especially if I can SEE something that is wrong.

She offered me sedation for the extractions if I wanted to, but that is too much a backwards step to my childhood extraction experiences for me, I'm determined that I'm going to do this awake and aware. There are so many positive experiences on here of extractions that you can't all be telling fibs. To get through an extraction will really put my fears to rest, that test will be in three weeks time when the retained root comes out, I'm very tempted to ask her to get rid of the infected tooth at the same time while that side is numb, or at least give me the option of doing it straight afterwards as I now want it gone.

That was it, done. I got through an appointment by myself! OK, the next one is an extraction (or two) and I definatly won't be on my own, but I am so proud of myself at the moment.

 

[RP]

Hi RG,

I have to tell you reading your journal is liking watching you climb a mountain. You analyze the situation, taking note of the perils, come up with a plan, secure your life line and then find your footing. Slowly and carefully you keep rising to the top, ascending crag by crag. I don't think it's going to be too long before we see you reach the summit and come to the realization of what you have done. Do you realize how high you have climbed already? Bravo!

Rhonda

 

[robotguy]

Thanks Rhonda, originally when my therapist said that I needed to know and understand my treament I didn't believe her, I wanted nothing to do with teeth, I didn't want to know, I was happy to ignore them, but she has turned out to be correct. If I know the reasons why then I can accept them. For instance I understand that relaxing during the LA being given makes it better and painless, now I know why I should relax for this, (don't tense the muscles, makes the pain receptors less alert allowing a slow delivery of the stuff means I don't feel it), so I no longer fear it being given. Perhaps I analsye things too much though.

This three week wait since my last appointment has been the longest I've been away from the dentist since November last year and I'm finding that more of a stress than actually going. I seem to have regular bouts of panic/depression every Sunday night. I end up laying awake for hours in the dark, on the plus side I haven't woken up grinding my teeth which would be worse. Last night was the lowest I've been in a long time, I actually considered not going on Wednesday.

I'm due to have the retained root taken out and I want the infected tooth out too, as its almost the next one along, might as well have one side of my mouth of healing once rather than doing it twice. An extraction though is my biggest fear, there is no way I can consider sedation for it, I need to feel aware and like I am in control, (although I know there is nothing I can do once I've agreed to have it done), but I do think that the final extraction I had as a child was the one that really set the phobia off in me, so an extraction is the one thing I wanted to avoid. I know in reality though, that ignoring your teeth for 26 years and expecting not have any extractions was pushing it.

My wife has exams this week, the first one is Monday afternoon, so I didn't want to wake her up last night to comfort me, even though I've done that the past two weeks and felt so much better for it. She needed her sleep last night more. On Wednesday she has another exam and may not be able to take me to the dentist, although she will be there when I finish. Unfortunatly that will mean taking two cars and me having to drive home alone, something I'm not sure I am going to feel up to afterwards. Also I'm not sure I could walk in alone this time. I keep thinking that I'll freeze sitting in the car around the corner from the surgery, I have a back-up plan though, (see me planning again), if that happens I'm going to ring the surgery from my car and ask for help for the last 300 yards, I know they would. I'm just so unsure about this appointment.

I really have had too long to think about this appointment, I'm more nervous than I have been in a long time. In some ways I found the momentum of going every week comforting.

I've also had some pain on the lower left side where the work is to be done this week, I really want it to stop and know that this is the only long term answer I have open to me. Just two more days to go.

 

[robotguy]

Finally, the waiting is almost over.

Feeling much better today, although still nervous. The good news is my wife will be able to take me, (yeah I know I'm a bloke of 45, I should be able to go on my own, but I do need her there for this).

I think I'm more worried about aftercare rather than the actual procedure today, which I can only see as a good place to be. I really want that infected tooth out, I will see that as a huge step forward, I just hope that I can convince my dentist to do it.

 

[GummyMummy17]

Hi Robotguy, just wanted to add my support as you have really helped me with your encouragement in the past(thanks for that). I can empathise with the having to wait thing it is indeed tortuous and yes you do build up a kind of momentum going regulary and for me certainly it helped to make me feel a little stronger and like I could just about cope For today, I'm so pleased your wife will be able to go with you as that will make you feel so much better I can tell. I hope you are able to talk everything through with your dentist and that your time in the chair is something you can cope with for you, even if it's only just coping. It takes so much out of us I know even to get to the point of sitting in that chair, I hope you get on o.k and will be looking out for your update

 

[robotguy]

Thanks GM, support is always welcome, even though I managed to beat so much, I'm still really scared at times, today being no exception. The big news though is.....

.....I did it!

Both are out. I'm happy, releived and a bit upset too.

Today I've been trying to keep busy to keep my mind off the upcomming appointment, yeah right, little chance of that.

Just before I went I took a couple of Ibruprofen, just in case. I was rather quiet on the way there, I was half hoping she was going to say that she would only have time to do the root and half hoping that she would agree to do both, I think I would have been happy with either answer by the time we got there.

I went in and we talked a bit, I explained that I found the long wait harder than comming each week, I also thanked her for explaining things at the last session and how it had allowed me to come to terms with what needs to be done. I then told her that now I knew the infected tooth was never going to be better and that the only option for it was to come out, that I wanted it out sonner rather than later, today if we had time. She looked at the x-ray and said that the infection around the root had been quite big so the bone support there would have been softened by it. She agreed to have a look in my mouth and if she could see no problems then we would do it.

I got on the chair and she had a look at the back tooth, yup no problems to be seen, did I want just that out or the root too? I opted for both.

Numbing gel go on the gums and then she give the local. For the first time I felt the local being given, only the one at the back, but it was deeper and more was given because its a big tooth, It wasn't painful just felt like being pinched really but it was a bit uncomfortable. She explained that the edge of my toungue would go numb as well, which it did. After waiting for the LA to take effect she just pressed the gums to see how I was going. The root was fine, no feeling there but the back one felt like a pencil being pressed flat on your arm, most of it was just pressure of the shaft but the tip felt sharper, so she added more LA, this I didn't feel at all.

She asked if I was ready to get rid of the root, which I was. As everyone else says there was a feeling of pressure and then it was over. It was very quick although it wasn't plesant.

I had a few minutes to calm down before I was able to let her try the back tooth, she remarked just how far I had come, she can remember just how much a trial it was for me to even open my mouth back when we started. I almost didn't want to go through with it, but I was there and numb, I would only be putting off the enevitable, I also thought about how I wanted this infection gone. I took a breath and said lets do it.

Pressure, lots of it, pushing, she told me not to worry about any sounds, strangely there wasn't any sounds. Then I started to feel unconfortable and she said its moving. More pressure and just as I was about to say stop when she said it was out.

She put some gauze on the sockets and told me to bite on them. I didn't want to bite too hard as I had no knowing just how hard I was biting. I sat there with tears waiting for the bleeding to stop. Tears from relief I think. She went through some after extraction care and gave me some extra gauze pads and a printed instruction leaflet. She then took the gauze out and said that everything was fine and it was clotting up OK.

We talked about what to do next, there are two more teeth that she can do nothing with so they are to come out on the next two visits, which I have now booked, the first in two weeks, then a week later the second one. I have the option on which tooth to do next, one on the same side at the top that gives me no pain or one on the bottom the other side that does nag me with pain at times, I have no idea which to do next. She says there is no need to decide yet, we can do that on the day of the appointment, so I'll see how I heal from these two first.

I felt quite down when we got home. I have now lost two teeth. Up to now we have been able to repair the damage I've caused by my neglect, this really has brought home what I've done to myself. I know I should look at how much healthier my mouth is now, the fact that I've faced my biggest fear and beat it should have me feeling great, perhaps I will later, at the moment I just feel like crying...


...oh and hungry

 

[RP]

Aww robot guy, Big hugs......

thinking about you all and trying to keep up with the forum reading but that's about all I can do right now. I started a new assignment this week for work so I am really busy, but wanted to let you know I'm still rooting for you!

Rhonda

 

[robotguy]

Thanks Rhonda. I may not have as much done as some people on here but the fear is no less for me. I honestly should be grateful for how little damage I got away with.

I was not in any pain at all after the LA wore off but still very hungry so I had some pasta, which I waas able to eat OK. Unfortunatly it started the bleeding off again. I re-read the aftercare instructions and applied the gauze pads I'd been supplied with and bit on them for 20 mins like it said. Upon taking the pads out it looked like one of the clots had come out. It also started bleeding worse.

Tried again with the pads, made them smaller this time and got them in a better position. Took them out again with the same result, anothr jellyfied lump and still bleeding.

Couldn't find any more pads to put on but then noticed that the bleeding was slowing if I didn't move my jaw, so just sat without opening my mouth. Eventually the bleeding slowed right down. I was bleeding for 4 hours after eating.

Decided to sleep sitting up as I was scared of laying down, turning onto the side in my sleep and starting to bleed again. I slept in 2 hour blocks, each time I awoke my mouth was dry but not bleeding. I can remember as a child after each set of extractions I would wake up in my bed covered in blood, I really didn't want to do that again.

This morning I've only had a quick peek in there, looks like the sockets have re-filled and scabbed over? so I think I'm going to be OK. Still no pain, a very light ache like a bruse but nothing I need pain killers for. Still very down though, I seem to be teary and shakey still, this is all very real at the moment.

Having an extraction was my biggest fear, it still is, although I know its not as bad as I thought it was going to be, I still have two more to get through.

 

[robotguy]

Another 24 hours gone, and its getting better.

Yesterday I was in a very bad way mentaly although my mouth didn't hurt at all. I was really depressed and knowing that I've got to have two more out was really getting to me. How you others cope with multiple extractions I just don't know, I salute you all.

Managed to eat pasta again last night. I was scared to eat again after it started me bleeding the night before, but I was so hungry I had to have something. I ate so slowly and carefully it was unreal, but there was no repeat of the bleeding of the previous night.

I had a massive headache last night which I put down to no caffeine, i'm a big coffee drinker, so I sipped a big mug of strong coffee and it did seem to ease. I suppose a couple of caffeine enegry pills would have been easier and quicker.

This morning I feel loads better, managed to brush my teeth again, although kept well away from the extraction site. Even so, I could see a tiny bit of bleeding from the very back of my mouth which I think was caused by opening my mouth. Started with the salt-water rinses too, ugh!

As I said I'm feeling much better in my mind today, I've even started to decide which tooth is next for the chop, , at the moment the other side lower one is favourite, as that has given me pain and is aching even now. I couldn't contemplate doing this again yesterday, I think that having two out in one go was a bit too big a step for me to take easily, I want to go back to small steps, I can cope with that. Having both out was sensible in my mind though, I was prepared mentally for it to be done, just not the aftermath.

Right, enough rambling from me, time for the salt water again.

 

[robotguy]

Just managed to post a couple of photos of my teeth in another thread where someone was asking about gumline filings, well I thought I'd add them here too.

I took the photos a few weeks ago but haven't been able to look at them since. Really wish I had a proper before photo of my whole mouth but there was no way I could have done that, still I managed to get some showing how bad some of my teeth were.

So here is a before and after photo of two of my gumline fillings, sorry about the grey blob but you really don't want to see behind that .

The decay had already been filled in with some temporary dressing in the before photo, but I think you will get the idea. I think you will see why I was pleased with what she had managed to to for me.

 

[bumpthumper]

Looking Good RobotGuy!!!!

 

[GummyMummy17]

You are doing so well robotguy, your teeth are definately looking better I'd say, I'd be pleased too.I would have gone with the tooth giving me jip (pain) too.Small steps is fine if that is how you cope, just remember, you are getting there.Just think back on how you were and what you have had done, you are doing tremendously well .

 

[robotguy]

Thanks folks, its now the fourth morning after the two were taken out and it looks like the hole where the root came out of is healing up very fast, there is hardly anything there in the way of a blood clot or scab. The back one is a bit behind in healing but going very well too. Eating is getting much easier. I am very surprised how quick my mouth has recovered, but I am very thankful that there has been no pain afterwards.

I have managed to have a look at the photos of my teeth again this morning, I can see the other one on the bottom thats got to come out in a few of them, that has really helped me make up my mind that that is next to be removed, it has a very large hole in it

I also sorted out a couple of photos of the other lower fillings I had, (again please ignore the grey blob hiding a horrible sight ). The tooth next to the grey has a temporary dressing over the bad bit, you can see its full height of the tooth. The one next to it has a bit of decay right on the gumline which is also temporarly dressed too, its also quite stained from coffee. In the after photo you can see that both teeth look 'nornal' now. I was absolutely amazed when I saw the reconstruction that she had done. (I'll let you see the tooth next to it now as its got a dressing on so dosen't look as bad).