new here, need help

[danneh3826]

Hi all,
I'm looking forward to being on this forum. It looks like I could get a lot of help from everyone.
I suppose it looks to you like I'm like everyone else. I probably am. I haven't been to a dentist in 5/6 years. My troubles started when I was in primary school. I must have been 8/9. I was walking on a wall and I tripped, chipping one of my front teeth. Wasn't too bad to start with, but the cap that the dentist put on kept falling off. The last time it fell out, I went to a different dentist who re-drilled and re-fitted another metal "post" to hold the cap in place. Fortunately, I haven't had any issues since. However, my first dentist was an arse to say the least. He was a miserable sod who didn't seem to care about how much pain you were in. Evidently circumstances in dental practices apparently have changed. And I've moved. And he retired. Typical.
Anyway, more recently I've started having teeth break. One of my back teeth has a whole quarter missing. Though it doesn't normally hurt, it does if I eat on that side (seems if there's food there and it's pressed into the gap, it touches the nerves or something). And I have 2 wisdom teeth come through. Both on the bottom. They're under the gum skin. One of them you can feel is there, and flares up red from time to time, but rarely bothers me. The other is more protruding. Half covered in skin, and pushing (quite hard) against the tooth in front of it. The wisdom tooth has been breaking apart over the last month or two, and now I'm in a state of constant pain on that side of my mouth.
I found a dentist down the road from my house, which I'm nervously trying to book an appointment for. I've read around that the embarrassment factor is brought on by not going to the dentist and being scared about what they'll think and say and do. And I hate pain. Absolutely loath it. Especially when it's inflicted by needles and the like. Injections in the mouth don't really do it for me.
I need some help/advise/support. I've not go an appt yet, but my mouth is killing me. Tried all the tricks in the book (within reason) for pain relief. Currently taking 2 Ibuprofen every 4-6 hours, and applying some liquid Anbesol to the area of pain (has some form of anaesthetic in it to ease the pain, however brief..45-60 mins it seems to last).

Please help

 

[Charity]

Hello,

As just about everyone here will tell you, it's all about finding the right dentist for you! Keep in mind ALWAYS that you are essentially a customer in this situation, and as such you have every right to be 100% satisfied with the service you receive.
A good dentist will have no reason to look down on you or try to make you feel bad about your teeth, no matter WHAT state they're currently in. He or she has been trained to help heal the problems, and can do so without causing you pain. Does anyone you know seem really happy with their dentist? Personal experience always beats anything you can find in the Yellow Pages! There's also quite a listing of good dentists on this site in the "Find a Dentist" section. If all else fails, schedule a visit with a dentist or two just to get a look around the place and see what you think of both the dentist and the environment. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do until you feel comfortable and ready to do so, and a good dentist is aware of that as well.
It it SO possible to get from where you are now to a healthy smile. It's one of those "if I can do it, anyone can" things. And I did. So you can. Hang in there!

 

[winterishrain]

Hi, I am in a similar situation. up until yesterday I was in constant, agonizing pain in the right side of my mouth. My wisdom teeth had come fully in and caused enough pressure for my back molar to crack and break, esposing the root. Becuase of my dental fear, I sucked it up and tried to ignore it, but it really made thingd bad. It took me a while to find a good oral surgeon, but after a while I found one taht I liked and learned to trust. after a lot of patients from him and a few appointments, I was able to get it extracted with only novacain, as I am pregnant and can't have any sedatives. You may want to find an office who carries the wand, an instrument that almost totally eliminates any injection pain. Also, skilled dentists pride themselves in painless dentistry, so if you can find a good one, they should be able to get you numb with very little pain in the process. They will also apply a numbing cream to the area the injection will go to help. About being embarrased, most of the time they tell you that they've seen much worse, and usually they have, they have to do some pretty tough stuff to get through dental school. You may have to be reffered to an oral surgeon for your wisdom teeth, and they can give you nitrous, iv sedation, or general anesthesia to help your nerves and the pain, if the needle is just too much for you. If the dentist does give you a lecture, then you can walk out, knowing he's not the one for you. Any dentist with a good bedside manner will focus on the future of your mouth and not the past, becuase they want to keep a customer and not scare them away. Trust me, I went in yesterday with constant pain that kept me awake, kept me from eating, and put me in a perpetual bad mood, and I got a tooth pulled, and it feels so much better, and I haven't even needed the pain meds they gave me!

 

[danneh3826]

hello again!
well, i finally plucked up the courage to go see a dentist. he was pretty nice, though my teeth are something quite different. just an exam this time. it was a good visit, because it got me a referral to an nhs dentist who use the sedation techniques, and i'll most likely get a referral to the hospital to be knocked out to have my wisdom teeth pulled.
still nervous as hell though, but things are looking up.