A
Anne2023
Member
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2023
- Messages
- 41
- Location
- USA
I have a long-standing dental phobia that has cost me a lot of teeth. I was making progress getting fillings done and facing my fears. I had even built up some successes. Then in May I had a very small area of decay that was sensitive when I flossed. The dentist I had been working with was able to see me right way and offered to fill it on the spot. I went ahead with it since I was making such good progress. Then she messed up the filling. I went back in and she "repaired" it at no additional cost, but it's not right. The floss catches on it and I can see that the filling is really big compared to the tiny decay. Then at my check-up the next month, she diagnosed another tooth as having a big cavity close to the nerve. I went to two other dentists for second opinions. One didn't think it needed a filling and the other said it was very small. I had both dentists check her work on the filling that she did and the first one didn't want to say much, and the second one was cautious but was not impressed.
Then in September I was brushing my teeth - something that I am also phobic about - it just makes me very nervous - and I felt something in my mouth. It was a piece of a tooth that must have chipped when I had chewed a Tums the night before. It didn't dislodge until I brushed. This is exactly the kind of thing that I have always been afraid of happening when I brush my teeth. I stopped brushing then. It's gross and I can feel my teeth needing being brushed.
So then I switched to an ultra ultra soft toothbrush, but the bristles were kind of longer on the edges than the middle. I don't like it but was scared to brush with my old style toothbrush - irrational I know. One morning I took the risk and brushed and everything just bled more than I had ever seen before. It seemed like those bristles were just slipping into my gums and making everything bleed. I barely brush now. I haven't done the tops in a long time. I made myself do the bottom teeth that I have left one day last week. I am utterly terrified to touch them at all. Eating is scary too.
I think the filling in the tooth that chipped is breaking away and that one has a deep filling. I don't know what I'm going to do.
And now I think molar #14 on the upper left is dying or abscessed. I am having a lot of sinus pressure, but it's everywhere - both maxillary sinus and above my eyebrows - but when I feel a pulsating pressure it's at #14. It's got a 24 year old crown and was filled without removing the crown 2.5 years ago. It was sensitive to heat at that time, so I figured it would go some time. I'm scared to call the dentist and see what's going on. I'm scared they won't see anything on x-ray yet and won't know. I don't do root canals, but I don't want to pull it if it doesn't need to come out. I'm also super terrified of removing another upper molar, as I remember the palatal injection and the way it fills the soft tissue of the palate. I feel like I can't breathe. Just thinking about it is making me want to panic. It's also the last molar on the left side and I will need an upper partial denture now. I already have a lower partial. That's going to be awful, but it's the numbing that I can't stand thinking about. I have lost all the progress that I had made before.
Oh - and from previous x-rays - I think this molar extends into the sinus. I'm so scared.
Then in September I was brushing my teeth - something that I am also phobic about - it just makes me very nervous - and I felt something in my mouth. It was a piece of a tooth that must have chipped when I had chewed a Tums the night before. It didn't dislodge until I brushed. This is exactly the kind of thing that I have always been afraid of happening when I brush my teeth. I stopped brushing then. It's gross and I can feel my teeth needing being brushed.
So then I switched to an ultra ultra soft toothbrush, but the bristles were kind of longer on the edges than the middle. I don't like it but was scared to brush with my old style toothbrush - irrational I know. One morning I took the risk and brushed and everything just bled more than I had ever seen before. It seemed like those bristles were just slipping into my gums and making everything bleed. I barely brush now. I haven't done the tops in a long time. I made myself do the bottom teeth that I have left one day last week. I am utterly terrified to touch them at all. Eating is scary too.
I think the filling in the tooth that chipped is breaking away and that one has a deep filling. I don't know what I'm going to do.
And now I think molar #14 on the upper left is dying or abscessed. I am having a lot of sinus pressure, but it's everywhere - both maxillary sinus and above my eyebrows - but when I feel a pulsating pressure it's at #14. It's got a 24 year old crown and was filled without removing the crown 2.5 years ago. It was sensitive to heat at that time, so I figured it would go some time. I'm scared to call the dentist and see what's going on. I'm scared they won't see anything on x-ray yet and won't know. I don't do root canals, but I don't want to pull it if it doesn't need to come out. I'm also super terrified of removing another upper molar, as I remember the palatal injection and the way it fills the soft tissue of the palate. I feel like I can't breathe. Just thinking about it is making me want to panic. It's also the last molar on the left side and I will need an upper partial denture now. I already have a lower partial. That's going to be awful, but it's the numbing that I can't stand thinking about. I have lost all the progress that I had made before.
Oh - and from previous x-rays - I think this molar extends into the sinus. I'm so scared.
