kinda new and REALLY scared!a little long, sorry. any help?

[lostdreams816]

ok, well, to begin with, i have been blessed with crappy teeth! lol. i am only 20 and am missing all or most of #6,#20 and #18. 20 is the only one where the whole tooth is missing. for the past few days now, my bottom left jaw has felt rather swollen, although i do not see it, and a great amount of pain. it has caused me for the past three days to not shut my mouth. i have felt extremely nauseous to the point i have not eaten either. the space where tooth 20 was located is vacant except for the roots. it had broken a few years ago. I have a really bad fear of going to the dentist in every aspect! novacaine does not work. the chairs, sounds smells, sight, EVERYTHING in a dentists gives me panic attacks. soi have not been to a dentist much. i know with this pain, possibly an abscess, i will have to go. i tend to get 1-2 abscesses a yr. Does anyone know what might have to be done so i can prepare myself as much as possible? Thank you to anyone who responds!!

 

[Stress Doc]

Hi lostdreams816:

Welcome to the forum.

I am sorry to hear you are in pain . Dental fear is quite common so you are not alone.

Before you work on the dental fear it would be good to get the pain under control. It sounds like you might have an infection. It would be wise to go to your family doctor or a walk in clinic and get the area checked. You might need some antibiotics and pain medication to clear the infection and get you some relief. It is very hard to think about anything when you are hurting so bad.

Dentistry has made huge progress in treatment and with helping people with dental fear. There are many many options for you.

You have made a huge step by coming to this forum. You will overcome this and beat the fear. You will get the smile you want and be free from pain. There are many people here that can help you.

Get to the doctor and get some relief. Then you can look at the next steps. You are going to be ok and will overcome this issue.

Blessings and peace to you

 

[brit]

novacaine does not work.

If that is the case, then you have my sympathy and no wonder you are afraid. Most everyone would be afraid if they felt the anaesthetic wasn't going to work. There's some info here on this: https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/fears/not-numb/

Obviously you need to make sure, you are sufficiently numb before allowing invasive treatment to proceed. Dentistry does not have to be painful at all but you do have to find a dentist with the right skills and attitudes to protect you from any similarly negative experiences in future.
Try looking on our Dentistfinder..are you anywhere near Jerry Gordon in Bensalem, he would be an excellent choice...
[website link removed - sadly, Jerry has passed away ]