H
Hellywoo
Junior member
- Joined
- May 7, 2019
- Messages
- 1
- Location
- Manchester
Hi all,
I just wanted to share my experience and hopefully inspire somebody else to take that first tentative steps into a healthier mouth.
I'm 33, I've smoked for 20 years (have given up for 4 months now) and I could count on one hand the number of times I'd been to the dentist.
As you can imagine by the time I'd mentally prepared myself (about a year) my mouth was in pretty rough shape. I had teeth broken at the gum line, one old dental bridge where the wing had come loose and was sticking out above my tooth, pain everywhere and horrible breath that I was very aware of.
I'd searched for dentists within 50 miles, specialist dentists for nervous patients, spent hours and hours reading reviews and finally found a good reviewed (NHS) dentist. I just had to wait for him to have some space.
I finally got the go ahead to join his patient list in November last year and once I was part of the practice, the fun began! Before my first appointment I spoke to the receptionist at great length and she invited me to come in and just have a look around at the end of the day when there were no patients so I would be comfortable and not freak out on the day of my appointment. Genuinely, this was super helpful and she answered my questions in a really calm manner.
The day of the appointment I was an absolute mess, sweating, close to tears, not knowing if I was going to throw up. When my name was called I swallowed the fear, knowing that he wasnt going to do anything apart from look and if I felt like he was judgemental or mean I could just never come back and pat myself on the back that I'd tried. When I did walk into his room, he shook my hand and asked me how I was and when I blurted out 'scared' he immediately ushered me to the chair next to THE CHAIR and asked me why. I explained I was terrified of the dentist, I'd had some horrible experiences and i didnt really know how to brush my teeth properly and ultimately i was embarrassed in general and I was already mortified that he was going to judge me. He just smiled!
He said the first step was walking through his door and that together we would go on a journey, at whatever pace I was comfortable with until we reached our end goal: Healthy mouth. That day he had a good look and I needed the following: 6 teeth removed from root level, 8 fillings, one bridge replacement, a scale and polish and later down the line a partial denture (for cosmetic reasons).
He explained every single thing he would do, timescales, which procedures he could do at the same time to reduce my visits and assured me that at any given point I was scared he would stop and explain what he was doing, why he was doing it, how long it would take him and if I was desperate, at which stage he could safely stop if he was part way through.
My appointments were as follows:
Visit one: One tooth removed, 3 fillings
Visit two: 3 fillings
Visit three: two teeth removed, 2 fillings
Visit four: x Ray's and impressions taken for new bridge
Visit five: teeth prepped and temporary bridge put in place
Visit 6: three teeth removed and proper bridge put in place.
I just finished visit 6 approx an hour ago. I still need to go back for impressions for my partial denture but without sounding like the most dramatic person it has changed my life.
I'm so grateful for my dentist and the care he has shown me. He let's me bring in music and earphones to lessen the stress, he sat and showed me how to brush my teeth properly and showed me how to take my first tentative steps towards flossing!
It's been a long road, but as each appointment got me a little closer to being able to smile properly without worrying I became a little more confident and here I am, writing this post with 3 extraction sites in my mouth and my brand new bridge and I cant stop smiling. Well, I say smiling but half my mouth is still numb so half smiling!
I just wanted to share my experience and hopefully inspire somebody else to take that first tentative steps into a healthier mouth.
I'm 33, I've smoked for 20 years (have given up for 4 months now) and I could count on one hand the number of times I'd been to the dentist.
As you can imagine by the time I'd mentally prepared myself (about a year) my mouth was in pretty rough shape. I had teeth broken at the gum line, one old dental bridge where the wing had come loose and was sticking out above my tooth, pain everywhere and horrible breath that I was very aware of.
I'd searched for dentists within 50 miles, specialist dentists for nervous patients, spent hours and hours reading reviews and finally found a good reviewed (NHS) dentist. I just had to wait for him to have some space.
I finally got the go ahead to join his patient list in November last year and once I was part of the practice, the fun began! Before my first appointment I spoke to the receptionist at great length and she invited me to come in and just have a look around at the end of the day when there were no patients so I would be comfortable and not freak out on the day of my appointment. Genuinely, this was super helpful and she answered my questions in a really calm manner.
The day of the appointment I was an absolute mess, sweating, close to tears, not knowing if I was going to throw up. When my name was called I swallowed the fear, knowing that he wasnt going to do anything apart from look and if I felt like he was judgemental or mean I could just never come back and pat myself on the back that I'd tried. When I did walk into his room, he shook my hand and asked me how I was and when I blurted out 'scared' he immediately ushered me to the chair next to THE CHAIR and asked me why. I explained I was terrified of the dentist, I'd had some horrible experiences and i didnt really know how to brush my teeth properly and ultimately i was embarrassed in general and I was already mortified that he was going to judge me. He just smiled!
He said the first step was walking through his door and that together we would go on a journey, at whatever pace I was comfortable with until we reached our end goal: Healthy mouth. That day he had a good look and I needed the following: 6 teeth removed from root level, 8 fillings, one bridge replacement, a scale and polish and later down the line a partial denture (for cosmetic reasons).
He explained every single thing he would do, timescales, which procedures he could do at the same time to reduce my visits and assured me that at any given point I was scared he would stop and explain what he was doing, why he was doing it, how long it would take him and if I was desperate, at which stage he could safely stop if he was part way through.
My appointments were as follows:
Visit one: One tooth removed, 3 fillings
Visit two: 3 fillings
Visit three: two teeth removed, 2 fillings
Visit four: x Ray's and impressions taken for new bridge
Visit five: teeth prepped and temporary bridge put in place
Visit 6: three teeth removed and proper bridge put in place.
I just finished visit 6 approx an hour ago. I still need to go back for impressions for my partial denture but without sounding like the most dramatic person it has changed my life.
I'm so grateful for my dentist and the care he has shown me. He let's me bring in music and earphones to lessen the stress, he sat and showed me how to brush my teeth properly and showed me how to take my first tentative steps towards flossing!
It's been a long road, but as each appointment got me a little closer to being able to smile properly without worrying I became a little more confident and here I am, writing this post with 3 extraction sites in my mouth and my brand new bridge and I cant stop smiling. Well, I say smiling but half my mouth is still numb so half smiling!
Last edited:
