My journey begins after a decade.

[donnylutz]

First of all, I'll start this, my first entry, off by saying that I have not been to a dentist since I was 15 years old, and I am now 25.

I have a dentist appointment tomorrow morning, 10 am. This one I have PROMISED myself that I will go to, unlike the last 3 at other places that I ended up making excuses to not go.

My teeth situation:

Thanks to my wisdom teeth still being in my mouth, the bottom row of my teeth are starting to bunch together.

Many of my teeth are quite discolored, thanks in large part to my addiction to caffeine.

I have one tooth that has completely fallen apart. About 2 years ago while eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch, the back half of the tooth just fell off. It doesn't hurt at all, as long as I only eat on the left side of my mouth....and I've honestly forgotten about it.

On the plus side, for the past 8 years or so I have been ADDICTED to both ACT and Listerine....for some odd reason I really like using them. My gums seem to be in good shape...they don't bleed, and they look relatively healthy.

So, the appointment is less then 11 hours away. Part of me is excited and looking forward to it...a larger part of me is feeling quite sick to my stomache. I don't know how I'm going to get any sleep tonight.

Between my wisdom teeth, the broken tooth....I'm sure plenty of cavities, possibly root-canals.....I'm looking at a long journey.

Wish me luck, I will update tomorrow on my first visit in a very long time.

Donnylutz

 

[takingflight]

First of all,   and a huge pat on the back for making an appt. after 10 years.  I know how hard that is (17 for me!) but you sound like you are handling it very well.  

Things may not be as bad as they seem.  Like you Listerine and Act II became my staples because I wanted to keep my mouth as healthy as I could just to avoid the dentist.  It paid off, the dentist said my gums were in pretty good shape.  Unfortunately I do need quite a bit of work on my teeth but finding out they weren't going to pull them all (a huge fear for me) and knowing that I've started on a path to a healthy mouth is helping to get me through my remaining visits.  I hope that you have a positive experience as well and get through your appt. with ease.

Best wishes to you....please be sure to keep us posted!!!

Pam (takingflight)

 

[donnylutz]

First off I apologize for taking so long to write about my appointment............

Ok. I was so nervous, but I walked into the dentist office, and felt quite "kapow" about it! I just wasn't going to let fear brother me. However, while sitting in the waiting room and filling out the forms, I started shaking something fierce. After turning in the forms I just sat in the chair with my eyes closed, trying to actually breathe, and hoping that my name just wouldn't ever be called....of course it was.

My dental hygenist was extremely nice.

The first thing she did was take x-rays of my teeth, about 12 different ones. I HATED this. This is the stuff I remember hating so much when I was younger....but I breathed through my nose and before I knew it, it was over.

At this point I was feeling quite strong and manly!....I was ready for anything.

The next step was the dental hygenist taking this pointy thing and figuring out if my gums were ok.......supposedly you want between 1-3, most of mine were, with the exception of two 5's.......so my gums are ok, just a little inflamed in some parts.....

Then the cleaning started. I was still feeling good at this point. I knew I wasn't going to like it...but I thought "It's worth it for a good smile, and this is what I get for waiting so long to go back to the dentist".........she started cleaning. She gave me the choice on what she was going to use.....the regular medal scrapy thing...so this spinny thing that shoots out water. I picked the spinny thing cause she said it would make her job a lot easier. I felt quite a bit of pain right away......so my nice hygenist offered me novacaine....I turned that down, but she gave me this gel stuff and the kind of sprays on. It numbs the area really well for about 20 minutes or so.....so she made it through my bottom teeth...it took all most an hour and a half! At that point my aggresssion to get my teeth cleaned was all but gone.....so we stopped. I'm going in next month to have the top cleaned.

Next, the dentist came in. He looked at my x-rays and checked out my teeth a little bit. Here's my dental plan for the road ahead.

1. Top teeth cleaned.
2. Go to oral surgeon to have 4 wisdom teeth removed
3. Have dentist fix my one fractured tooth
4. Get invialine braces to straighten my teeth

And that's it.......seems like a lot huh?

I'm not looking forward to any of it.

In closing for now I will say, it wasn't painful. It wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't really painful. To the other phobes out there I just want to say that it's WORTH it! I only have my bottom cleaned and I'm smiling A LOT more and feeling a lot better about myself.

The longer you put it off the more difficult it will be to go back. And total avoidance is a myth because if you just never go to the dentist, eventually you'll have to go because you'll be in so much pain you won't have a choice....it's much better to make the choice now and go.....

Good luck to all of you. My next appointment is in the middle of October, I will update on my dental crap!

Donnylutz

 

[kemmie777]

Congradulations on getting through your appointment. It appears to have gone really well.

I always hated cleaning the most. For some reason they bothered me more than having to get a root canal. For me, it's just so uncomfortable. My gums are sensitive on the bottom. Not inflammed or bleeding (thanks to flossing and mouthwash) just sensitive. I have to get a cleaning next month and I dread it. I've never had the novacaine or numbing gel/spray with it before so maybe I'll request it this time (new dentist).

Invisiline looks neat. I had braces growing up. The Traditional kind with the metal brackets and rubberbands. I would have loved Invisiline. Maybe I would have smiled in my high school senior pics .

Haven't had any fractured teeth except for a neglected root canalled tooth from when I was very young. My parents never took me to get a permanent filling/crown. It kinda just broke apart in piece by piece and eventually was completely removed. Not a bad experience..the extraction that is. Freaked out when the pieces kept falling out.

I hope the rest of your treatment goes well. And good for you for sticking with the appointment. Congradulations once again.

 

[Andria]

Well done, you should be really proud of yourself for what you've been through at your first appointment. Hope your next appointment goes just as well.

Take care
x

 

[Phil098342wq]

First let me say that I had similar situation as yours. I was put under to have my dumb I mean wisdom teeth out. I also use the gas each time they do anything on me combined with Valium. What will make it easier for you will make it easier for the dentist and crew. I was going to say when I first posted to see an orthodontist beacause even if they don't do braces, they can take some really nice photos, wish I would have had them in the begining. It would be nice to see how far I have come.

Keep at it, some days you may want to stay in bed, but be brave, face the world and find ways to make it easy on you. I use music, have people drive me and scheudle for the afternoon so I can crash or cry at home. Keep us posted-DJ