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No pain whatsoever. Absolutely nil.

C

ciaranennis

Junior member
Joined
Nov 28, 2018
Messages
3
The headlines: No pain whatsoever. Absolutely nil.

Stress while dental work was taking place: None whatsoever. (3 hours of work in two sessions)

The most stressful part was getting in the taxi and walking up the stairs to the appointment.

Background: I am 59 and had not had any work done on my teeth since I was a young teenager. I had had one examination about 2 years ago but was insufficiently encouraged enough to proceed. At that time, I was told I would need two extractions and 9 or 10 fillings.

I have been fortunate in that I have had very little pain and just some serious sensitivity which meant that I had to avoid certain foods. The number of things to avoid was increasing all the time.

My teeth were very yellow and my attempts to make them look better had caused further damage.

After hours of research, I finally went for an appointment for an evaluation and they more or less confirmed the same as the previous dentist but assured me that I was not beyond help (yet) and that IV would mean I would have a painless experience. It helped that everyone was kind and understanding.

It was agreed I would have two major sessions, one for each side of my mouth and then a third session which was just to be a check-up.

I kept re-reading all of the positive experiences in this forum, highlighting all of the statement’s where people said there was no pain, stress or discomfort.

On the day I was extremely nervous. I had told no-one and only told my wife rather reluctantly. I was seriously worried I would duck out and then have to experience further humiliation and embarrassment and in truth I was never 100% certain that I would go through it.

In the taxi, I made a large list of positives; things that would be better if I had the treatment done.

I also made a similar list of negatives; the likely consequences of not having it done. In a way this was more persuasive though I focussed equally on both.

The dentist briefly discussed the treatment that I would have today and my only real question was “will it hurt and will I be aware”. He reassured me that once I had the “happy juice” I would be unaware of anything.

I took my seat and the assistant helped by asking me various things to distract me. They took my blood pressure and then inserted the needle. It was barely noticeable, rather like if you stepped on a tiny pebble in your bare feet.

Things got rather strange then. In my mind they were doing various preparatory things – and I admit I did feel some things. I had been really worried about this, that if I knew what was going on, I would panic, leap from the chair and run down the street in trauma and never return! (Embarrassing to say but really true!). Instead, I had this mild curiosity. This also applied to the sounds I was hearing. I thought that this would freak me out, but again I just had this mild curiosity. “Are they doing a filling, are they taking a tooth out, are they cleaning my teeth, are they still preparing?”. But it was the sort of curiosity when you hear a funny sound in your house and you think “is that the shower running” or “do we have enough milk for breakfast” or “is that rain I hear?”. Nothing stressful.

The next thing I heard was “Ciaran, you can wake up now, we are all done”. I opened my eyes. Had I heard him properly or was this wishful thinking? “Are you finished” I asked. Yes, all done. It all went well. I slowly sat up, feeling a little dizzy but not nauseous or feeling rough. It was now exactly 90 minutes since the drip had gone in. I felt fine, just a teeny bit dizzy, rather like getting out of bed on a Monday morning!

So, to repeat! I had not felt any pain at any time during the process.

From the time I had the IV inserted, I had no stress or anxiety in my mind from the sounds or in any of the procedures that took place.

In the first session I had had one extraction, 3 (or more) fillings and my teeth had been cleaned. No pain, lots of gain!

The following week I returned. My stress level had gone from 9 to 2. I won’t pretend it was a zero. It was now comparative to the stress I would feel if I was going to have a blood test. Again, 90 minutes work, another extraction, 5 or more fillings. Seemed like about 20 minutes. Zero pain. Zero stress from the time the IV went in. Got the bus home.

I’ve received a second chance and am making the most of it. No longer embarrassed about eating in front of people. Healthy teeth. Just need to learn from my mistakes. I will attend the hygienist regularly and look after my teeth from now on. If I had believed what I had read about IV treatment, I would have gone years ago.



Thank you to all who wrote truthful, encouraging accounts here – I could not have done it without these. I hope my story helps someone.
 
What a fantastic update! I’m so happy that it went so well for you. This post will surely help many feeling terrified at the thought of having work done. Thank you for posting.
 
:cheer2: :cheers: :jump: This is great! So glad it went well for you! Sounds like a lovely dental team and you did amazing too!
 
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