• Dental Phobia Support

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My Journey

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Peace

Junior member
Joined
Jun 3, 2006
Messages
8
Just a note that comments are perfectly acceptable if you so choose :)

My story is similar to another poster's (willow). I am 25 years old, and my first dentist appointment in my life *ever* was in April. Now, I have a lot of anxiety in general, and especially socially (my teeth made this worse, but I would be socially anxious regardless), but naturally I have some for dental work too, especially having no idea what to expect. I went with my mother, it was basically something there was absolutely no use getting around anymore, I had very obvious cavities in my top front teeth (no pain anywhere whatsoever though), and I felt very, very disgusting. My teeth are very crowded (basically both the canines had grown over the other teeth). Suffice it to say, I have been completely and utterly disgusted with my smile, or lack thereof and I tried to keep my mouth closed as much as possible. Every day I would despair about my teeth albeit in my own personal silent prison. But my mother finally pushed me to go to the dentist, and thankfully took me to one that specialized in Gentle Dentistry (which kind of surprised me it existed, we live in a small town, and just have to go to a neighboring town). I had heard not particularly good stories about her and my dad's own dentist which freaked me out even more of ever going to a dentist, but I was at least glad my mother realizes I am highly anxious and highly sensitive and decided I better to go this one.

I was of course nervous, and was quite embarrassed and freaked out about how they'd take in the state of my teeth. We went and I was really surprised at how wonderful the staff there is. I didn't have to wait long, and then they took medical history and gave me a tour of the offices and such. They told me the names of some of the staff, although I was in such a nervous state I'm not honestly sure how much I took in. :redface: But then came the part where I needed bitewing x-rays, and they were explaining to me what the stuff they used was etc. And it was a little difficult to get the bitewings in place as I kept involuntarily fighting them with my tongue heh. But the lady was really nice about it, and we did relatively quick enough get that done.

Then the dentist came to physically look at my teeth, she was also really nice, asking if it was ok if she looked in my mouth and such which I thought was great that she let me be ready for it, and they started naming all this dental medical terms and numbers and I'm thinking "oh I'm doomed!"

I would need four fillings in my front teeth (darn Mountain Dew addiction :mad:, they just knew I had been drinking a lot of soda, I have since cut down though previous I had been at the point my teeth were utterly doomed anyway) and my top two wisdom teeth were decayed and would need to be out, but I would be referred to an oral surgeon. I was also referred to an orthodontist. I was nervous about all this, but I left feeling relatively good because no one had judged me or talked down on me (I do that enough to myself! And back in school I was made fun of constantly so my self esteem has suffered enough with out my teeth coming into play). I was in... I guess disbelief at how nice the staff and everyone was there, and tried to reassure me about the treatments and things I would need done.

Well, a double appointment was made for my fillings, and then I'd get a cleaning after that. This was some time in the beginning of May, the 9th I think. I was really freaked out, even more so because I had a new assistant I hadn't met now but she turned out to be as nice as the rest of them. Then the dentist that would be doing the fillings showed up, he was nice enough but he didn't talk a whole lot. I didn't even know his name or anything (though it is entirely possible it was said and I just was too much in an anxiety-funk to have heard it, I'm not even really sure, but I get so internally focused on my anxiety that I have trouble outwardly paying attention to things, and some of it is social, too so, this makes it extra difficult). I thought it was going to be the one I had met at my initial appointment, so my nerves were failing some with this new guy, though I had the distraction of a DVD of Golden Girls that they had playing. Then came the ever so dreaded injections (after some jelly stuff put on my gums) and... whoa! I only felt a prick and it was hardly anything! I had more than one but it totally wasn't a big deal! I was pleasantly surprised. Then I was left to watch the DVD some more as the Novocaine set in, and get used to this feeling of weirdness of the Novocaine and being unable to move my mouth, I felt pretty funny and was mildly amused at how weird it felt, at least at first (after awhile it slightly annoys me heh). And then he came back and it was time to roll. I didn't feel a single thing. A friend I had talked to had said that sometimes the pressure of the drill hurt or something so I was expecting pain, but it was no problem for me at all. It was over before I knew it. I waited for the hygentist to get me for the cleaning appointment feeling pretty good, albeit annoyingly numb, heh.

The cleaning I guess is just your standard cleaning, although the sharp pointy thing hurt me sometimes. That was over pretty quick though, and I was put on a home fluoride treatment.

Next was the Orthodontist consultation... they were as nice as the dentist (and conveniently right next door to it), it was no surprise I needed braces, so I am getting "speed braces" but now it was time to get re-freaked out, for my orthodontic work I'd need three teeth extracted. Eek. Fillings were one thing but... now you want to rip teeth out? Perfectly healthy ones at that? Unfortunately there was no way around it because there simply was no room in my mouth for all my teeth. (I've had two seperate comments by various dental people about how small my mouth was, yay, now you know why my teeth are so crowded :().

May 15 I went in for my extractions (two on top to make room for canines, one on bottom), different assistant but same guy who did my fillings. I at least was more or less comfortable with him now after a good appointment before, and as per usual the assisstant was really nice. What was a little unnerving is they put me in the room Where The Patients Who Take Longer Go that they showed me on the tour (and this time I had the movie The Little Rascals for distraction). I didn't fear the injections so much this time especially knowing this dentist does them virtually painlessly. Although at some point he did inject one in a different place than usual that DID hurt quite a bit, though I got by it ok. That being done, now begins the "fun" part of my teeth being pulled. This, unfortunately, was not painless, so he gave me more injections and waited a bit for that to kick in. He managed to get one out without much pain but the other still hurt, but I guess he decided to keep going anyway since he made sure it wasn't absolutely unbearable pain for me--which it wasn't. Certainly not pleasant, but I managed ok. The bottom one I didn't feel at all (it was already somewhat out of position so apparently was really easy anyway). The healing process went very smoothly. In about a week I was eating pretty normally again, virtually no pain.

Now I wait for June 13, which in the morning I get my braces on (they wanted one month for healing of the extractions), and then later that afternoon is my wisdom teeth consultation at an Oral Surgeon's. I am SCARED TO DEATH about the wisdom teeth removal and I'm rather afraid of what they'll tell me I have to do here. I fear getting an IV; I've never had one before. I don't know if that's what I'll get, but I read this tends to happen a lot with wisdom teeth. I'll freak out even more if I need general anesthesia. (Problem with the Internet, I read way too much, I'm always trying to not have any big surprises). I kind of have this phobia of swallowing pills too, unless they're on the smaller side, and even then I may have a bit of trouble. (I am scared of way, way too much...), so the act of possibly needing painkillers isn't something I'm very keen on. The only thing keeping me from going completely crazy as I wait for this to get straightened out is the motivation of wanting a healthy mouth and nice smile for once in my life. I have days where I feel I can even overcome the fear where I think that no matter what happens I'll get through, and I have days where I'm ready to freak out completely and I don't know if I can get through, though there's really no getting out of it as much as I want a way out. But I want that healthy mouth, too.

What is confusing is the Ortho claimed I have four wisdom teeth when far as I know only three grew in? He thinks I should have them all out, even though the one on the bottom is causing no problem and I don't even know what this fourth one is all about and I can only conclude it hasn't grown in at all if it's there... my regular dentist didn't say anything about the others and only seemed greatly concerned about the top two decayed ones.

So, in one week I'll have the official word on my wisdom teeth at any rate. I really wish those stupid teeth didn't grow in when you get older and simply didn't exist or the worst would be over now, I think. :cry: Most of the time they're just useless and a hinderance for most people it seems. ::sigh:: I do hope I don't have to wait as long for the surgery as I've had to for this consultation, because the anxiety can really get to me probably more than anything else can. :thumbsup: I admit it is on the unnerving side also that I'll have to meet more new people at the oral surgeon's now too, I really hate having to keep getting used to new people.

Although I am concerned how much pain the braces will give me too, but we shall see. This, however, has always been the lower end of my worries.

Wow, this is long :redface:
 
You've already accomplished so much! WAY TO GO!!!

You probably do have all four wisdom teeth, but one just failed to grow in for some reason. I have all four, but two of mine are SIDEWAYS! :o They have to come out later this year, too.

Sounds like you've got a great recovery rate, and you're handling it all great. Have faith the rest will go okay, too!

GOOD LUCK!
 
Hotrod said:
You've already accomplished so much! WAY TO GO!!!

You probably do have all four wisdom teeth, but one just failed to grow in for some reason. I have all four, but two of mine are SIDEWAYS! :o They have to come out later this year, too.

Sounds like you've got a great recovery rate, and you're handling it all great. Have faith the rest will go okay, too!

GOOD LUCK!

Thank you, Denise!

That stinks a couple of your wisdom treeth grew in sideways. Good luck with your surgery when you have that :thumbsup:. Seems wisdom teeth are just a pain really :sick:.

I have to wonder if this fourth one that didn't grow will have to be taken out, it hasn't caused me any problems but I don't know if it can in the future. Perhaps I will find out, though I really rather be told it's not an issue, heh. But my Ortho said I should look into having them all out... so I don't know.

But, thanks for your kind comments and support :XXLhug:
 
Hi.. I can help with information about the wisdom tooth thing, as i have a phobia that does not allow me to have IV sedation so I did a sideways impaction awake, and know exactly how it feels. I took homeopathic remedies to limit any nerve damage or swelling and they worked very well, if you go to a homeopathic website they will advise. the appointment it's self, i took written instructions about how best I could cope, and a walkman. It actually happens very quickly, they had to open my gum and divide the tooth with a drill then take the pieces out and stitch it back up. I can honestly say that the worst feeling was pressure, there was no pain at all, he gave me extra injections before I went home so I would be numb for longer. I put an ice pack on the side of my face in the car, and had so little swelling and no bruising that the denetist wrote down the homeopathic remedies so he could tell others. The whole thing from start to finish was about 25 mintues, I kept my eyes shut, tried to consentrate on the words of the story I was listening to, and was suprised at how little pain there was, I should imagine yours will be similar to the other teeth you had removed, just further back, and given a choice I would just jump in and do them all, that way you never have to worry about them again. If I can help in any way, just let me know, but HONESTLY it isn't anywhere near as bad as you imagine, and preperation is everything. GOOD LUCK x
 
Hi, Penny,

Thank you for the information, I will look into homeopathic remedies. Though I currently know absolutely nothing about that, but it does sound like something that works very well, but I have much research to do on it. Though if it is suggested I get IV sedation, part of me wants to go through with it just to face the fear. A lot of my fear with that is I simply never had an IV period before, and everyone I know is telling me it's virtually painless.Although another part of me is rather disgusted of getting a needle put in me like that which is probably the bigger issue here. And another part of me still doesn't quite want to know what's going on during the procedure while simultaneously I don't want to be like completely put asleep. So, I'm sort of torn. No matter what I'm going to be extremely anxious.

Glad to hear it didn't take long for you, and I'm hoping very much it won't be any worse than when I got my other teeth pulled. You are right, I probably should have them all pulled and get it over with and not have them to worry about anymore. Though your method of coping with it all is similar to mine; I also keep my eyes shut and try to focus on whatever I'm listening to. In my previous appointments there wasn't a whole lot of actual watching the DVDs, just listening. :) I really don't want to see the tools or anything and otherwise it's just easier to relax that way.

I'm hoping to have a story that I've seen around these boards: that the anxiety was the hardest part!

I appreciate your reassurances, and I am glad to hear a story that was a good one and not one of the many wisdom teeth horror stories that I've heard from others :o. I will update with what the oral surgeon says on the consultation on Tuesday.

:XXLhug:
 
Hi Peace. I will be having my lower wisdom teeth removed under IV sedation on 6/27. I can certainly relate to what you are going through. The oral surgery consult is nothing to be nervous about. Mine was go in, have x-rays, wait in the chair, then 3 seconds with the surgeon looking at my wizzies. Then he gave me a book and a consent form to read, and wrote my post-op prescription. That was it. The consult room was very sparingly furnished, just a chair and a table that moves over the chair. Obviously not much treatment is done in that room! I have been going back and forth on the IV sedation. Most of the posts on this site are favorable. I decided I would be more freaked out by being awake and aware of everything that was going on than by having the IV and sleeping through the entire thing. There is one post on this site that I have printed, read and re-read. It is getting me through these long days of waiting. [out-of-date link removed]

You might find it comforting. Please check back and let us know how your oral surgery consult went. We will get through this!
 
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Hi Kitty,

I wasn't per se nervous about the consult, just what they would tell me heh. If anything I wanted it to get here so I'd know what I'd be anxious about specifically before my teeth get pulled heh. I've known about it for like over a month and there is no doubt at least two of the teeth needed to be pulled. I just had that consult today FINALLY.

I am getting all four of mine removed on the 20th under IV sedation. The surgeon let me know of things that could happen post-op, but he says they're mostly rare and I really shouldn't have any issues. Although he didn't see an X-ray yet as they were going to have that forwarded from my Ortho. The Surgeon definitely agreed with the Ortho that they should all come out though nonetheless.

Thanks for pointing out that post, it is definitely reassuring! I will read that often when anxiety gets the best of me. It does sound rather ideal to basically not know what's going on during surgery, though the needle in the arm thing is just hard for me to take in, but I've resigned myself to what you said, that it'd be better to sleep through everything instead of know what's going on. I DO look forward to those teeth being gone.

I do appreciate the encouragement :) I would also like to wish you good luck for your own surgery! Yes we will get through this, and I hope I, too, will have a reassuring post such as the one that you linked that may help reassure you about your own surgery, and for anyone else who is going through this also.


In other news, my braces were put on this morning at least on my upper teeth. (They are delaying the bottom because the top needs more work, I assume because two teeth need to be pulled into my previous extraction sites first. I will be glad for those stupid gaps to be gone). It has been almost 6 hours and there isn't any pain. I was told I'd probably be rather sore from the work they did this morning. I'm hoping it remains painfree though! So far they are just mostly annoying for being in my mouth at all and I'm sort of nervous about what to eat. They gave a list of what not to eat and everything, but from what little I did try to eat I can tell it's going to be majorly hard to get used to as much as having the braces in general. There was some minor discomfort when they put them on, as there was some pressure and whatnot. But nothing horrific. But so far, so good, except my mouth feeling like there's way too much stuff in it. And this is only the upper teeth for now, so I'm sort of thankful I don't have bottoms on too at this time, but then, they will be on eventually. But overall I can't complain too much. July 25 I will be back for my first adjustment ever. I am told it is possible to forget you even have braces after awhile though I admit I find that hard to believe!
 
Peace, I'm glad you found the link to the other post reassuring. I have printed it out and read it most every day. "Just get to the chair and the rest will take care of itself". That is my mantra. I wish you the best on the 20th. Please do reply to this thread and let us know how it went. I'm sure it will be positive, at least what you remember of it. Ha Ha. :thumbsup:
 
IT'S OVER!! Such a weight is lifted off my shoulders.

It's very true, that mantra, "just get to the chair and the rest will take care of itself."

The night before I was in anxiety to the point I kept bursting out in tears, and I was generally a mess. But, my mother got me to the appointment the next morning and there wasn't much waiting time before I was brought in by a nurse type. There was a point my mother used the restroom there I was VERY tempted to bolt for the door while there'd be no one to hold me back, but I managed not to. But, I was called in pretty quickly.

First thing, I was hooked up to monitoring equipment for blood pressure and such. They put white sticky things on me, two on my chest area and one on my lower back, and a blood pressure thingy on my arm (yes I'm up with the technical terms here lol).

The surgeon came in, and asked me how I was doing and I said the understatement of the year: "nervous." He was truly wonderful and sympathetic though, he was great. So then was the particularly scary part for me, the IV. He started preparing my arm for that. He put a blue strap that was pretty tight on my upper arm, and had me ball my hand into a fist, but my vain was super easy to find. I closed my eyes and turned away not at all wanting to see this needle going in my arm, felt I don't know what sprinkled (or something?) over the area. Then the needle went in, wasn't too bad at all! Though I still refused to look at it heh.

He then said he would give me something to calm me down, the room started spinning a few seconds later, and even less seconds later I was out cold. I remember absolutely nothing. Not even the ride home (they said I wouldn't.) My mother told me I was put in a wheelchair and put in the vehicle. I have NO clue how I got in the house. By the time I was aware of anything even remotely again it was around 2 p.m. (my appt. was at 10:30 a.m.). Well there was a brief point while my mom went to pick up the painkiller perscription my dad had to come in and change my gauze, which was before 2 p.m., now that I think about it but I must have kind of went back out of it for a bit again because that was supposedly at around 12:15 or so. I'm not really sure what happened between then and around 2 p.m. heh.

I had to get a painkiller pill down before the novacaine wore off, which I managed to do without problems (surprisingly considering my history of having issues swallowing pills), but my mom was told I'd have a lot of pain in the impacted tooth (the one that didn't grow in). But you know what, I haven't had any pain yet (knock on wood), granted it hasn't even been exactly 24 hours yet, though it will be soon enough. I spent all day yesterday bed-resting, and had intervals of putting ice-packs on my face to keep any swelling down and I don't really seem to have much if any, and today will be doing much of the same thing far as bed-resting. Though I am STARVING. I couldn't eat/drink past midnight before the appointment (though the last time I actually ate was 6:30 p.m. that day) and didn't eat anything afterwards. Today I will carefully have some soft foods (I'm paranoid about dry socket and all that). I woke up with a rather gross taste in my mouth this morning, but other than that I can't complain too much.

To Kitty and anyone else fearing this, I can safely say based on my own experiences here, that the anxiety REALLY IS the worst part of it! Like the post that Kitty linked to in a previous response to me, I, too, had no choking on bloody gauze, there was no nausea whatsoever, no pain. You're asleep one moment, next moment you're waking up as if no time passed at all (even though plenty apparently did). You'll just be pretty groggy for a bit. Overall, for a dental experience, I'd have to say it was a great one. If you can get yourself to face up to those fears, get yourself to that chair, it WILL all take care of itself, and it helps to have a sympathetic surgeon, too. And the relief of it all being over is IMMENSE. Now it's just a matter of recovery.

I wish you all who are fearing this a good luck, and that you have an experience as good as mine. :grouphug:
 
:jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump:

Well done!! I had my first IV visit last week for extractions and doesnt it just feel great to know you actually did it!!! Well done again!! :XXLhug: :XXLhug:
 
Very well done Peace, both on going through with the procedure and with your wonderful post of how it went. I'm so glad it was a positive experience for you! All of my questions were answered. Thank you so much for taking the time to share!

Overall, I am feeling much better about next Tuesday. Nothing in particular is frightening me, I just now seem to have some mild to moderate constant anxiety. I'm taking my herbal anxiety remedies and that seems to be helping some. Unfortunately my best stress reducer, my treadmill, died on me this morning. I guess I will have to venture outside for my walks until I can get a new one. I really need the exercise to keep me calm right now. Thanks again for posting, Peace. Please everyone, check in periodically as I may need you in the coming days. I'm sure I will on Monday. Thanks for being here!
 
Thank you Nat and Kitty, I'm so glad it's over. I still can't believe I went through with it sometimes. :)

Had a bit of jaw stiffness on the impacted tooth side but moist heat helped that. Between my previous teeth being pulled for orthodontic work, having limited chewing with my braces, and these wisdom teeth extractions I've lost like 10 lbs. :o

You'll be all right Kitty, just keep doing what you can to control the anxiety, but it will be over before you know it and all done with! Hang in there! :XXLhug:
 
Thanks Peace. I was just thinking to myself how it seemed like yesterday that it was 3 weeks away. Now it is only 4 days and change. I'm taking lots of herbal remedies and just saying to myself, "All I have to think about is getting into that chair". My mind wanders into all the other stuff though. I can't say that there is anything inparticular that is scaring me, other than the unknown, and there should not be much of that after all of the reading I have done here. I do appreciate your support and am glad that you are doing so well. Take care.
 
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