A
Ascherose
Junior member
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2015
- Messages
- 8
Physically disabled and phobic--switching to a more modern dentist and worried about "diagnosis"
Hi:
I've lurked on this forum for a long time now. As someone who did not even go to a dentist until I was 18 years old (I'm 21 3/4 now), this was one of the sites that helped calm me down a bit. Some history:
I have cerebral palsy and use a wheelchair, so it's hard for me to leave the house (Unless I need to leave for a medical appointment, I'm pretty much homebound.) Brushing my teeth is also hard because I have a severe gag reflex due to the condition, and I lack the coordination to do it. The feeling of an electric toothbrush against my teeth scares me, but I'm not strong enough to get calculus off my teeth and am constantly worrying, perhaps unjustifiably, about damaging the enamel. Because of this I did not brush for years at a time. The first time I went, I had such a big tartar deposit on my lower front teeth that I mistook it for enamel wear.
When I was 15-16 years old, I cracked the upper right molar right next to my wisdom tooth while chewing on some hard school food. This later came out in pieces and there was nothing left of the tooth at all except the roots. Being phobic, I told no one and let it sit for 3 or so years, until it started to hurt, which was what got me in for my first exam. I live in Colorado in the middle of nowhere, and the dentist was 87 years old--experienced but a little absent minded.
I wound up having a cleaning, and four cavities were found. Two of those were in my "vampire teeth" that are above my other teeth. I was actually adamant about keeping these teeth in, even though they are hard to brush, and the dentist said it would be better to leave them in because removing them at this point would leave too much space. All of the cavities were filled with composite and the dentist also performed oral surgery to remove the root mentioned above. I was very apprehensive about having a hole in my mouth, but minded it less after my wisdom tooth came in. After he was done cleaning, polishing, and filling my teeth, the dentist said that despite having red inflamed gums (but no shrinkage), I had very good teeth for someone who had never been to a dentist in 18 years and seldom brushed. HOWEVER, due to the severity of my gag reflex, I was unable to have x-rays because I kept gagging on the film.
Since that first series of visits, I've gone every 6 months for a cleaning. Two more cavities were found and filled with composite instead of amalgam at my request. The dentist has said my teeth look much better than when I first came in, and my gums, while still swollen in spots, are no longer red: they're dark pink instead. The only really sensitive spot is at the bottom of my front teeth, which remains red because I'm a mouthbreather. There are also gaps where calculus tends to accumulate. In spite of this, my dentist said I have no more gum disease.
Now we get to the current problem. Six months ago I was told a cavity could be starting again, but they left it alone. When I went in for a cleaning a few weeks ago, they had said it had gotten big enough to fill. A few days ago, I had an appointment to get it filled, but when the dentist saw the tooth, he realized there was already a filling there, elsewhere, on the same tooth. He poked the new cavity area with an explorer and it hurt (but I assumed it always did.) When I asked why they weren't filling the tooth, he said that the large filling that was already there (on the top instead of the inside) could break. I was sent home thinking it was a false alarm until I realized I really do have a cavity in that inside spot.
What is bothering me is this: the dentist straight up just told me to wait until the tooth starts hurting before they do anything, because he'd rather not subject me to a root canal if the filling or decay gets too close to a nerve. He said they'd pull it and give me a partial, but I can UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES tolerate a partial, because having to remove it and reinsert it is likely beyond my dexterity and would aggravate my gag reflex. I also can't stand the idea of having a removable tooth as opposed to something fixed.
Now, with that one appointment wasted, I'm losing my mind, and my parents have decided to switch me to a different dentist with a more modern office. My old dentist had one assistant (not a hygienist!) and thus did all the scaling and such himself. I've had to remind him to polish my teeth and the last cleaning really hurt my lower gums. It took 5 days for them to heal.
This new dentist is younger (probably anywhere from 40-60 years old) and has two hygienists. I haven't been to the office yet and won't be able to go for a week or two (one week to transfer Medicaid/Medicare paperwork, probably another week before the appointment.) I'm worried that, given the nature of my old dentist and any new equipment (pano X rays, diagnodent, etc) that they'll find a load of additional problems. More cavities, more gum problems, etc--despite the fact that I'm not in pain. It's driving me into a neurotic fit. I'm trying to keep cavities from getting worse but I'm just afraid to eat now.
My current oral care regime involves brushing once every 24h before bed, and sometimes also an hour after breakfast, with a soft manual toothbrush and toothpaste and rinsing with Listerine (recently switched to Listerine Total Care which seems to have helped and also contains fluoride itself.) I cannot floss.
tl;dr: I have some mild to moderate dental problems, but no pain beyond typical cavity sensitivity. No loose teeth. Crowding. Inflamed gums that have improved over 3 years, definitely doesn't look like perio. My old dentist did not do a filling I need, so I switched dentists and the trust gauge is 0 again. Worried about extensive bad diagnosis due to new tech/different dentist. How do I keep from going insane, and how do I make sure the dentist isn't going to over or undertreat because I have Medicaid/Medicare? For any dentists reading, how can I take better care of my mouth as a disabled person?
Thanks for reading.
Hi:
I've lurked on this forum for a long time now. As someone who did not even go to a dentist until I was 18 years old (I'm 21 3/4 now), this was one of the sites that helped calm me down a bit. Some history:
I have cerebral palsy and use a wheelchair, so it's hard for me to leave the house (Unless I need to leave for a medical appointment, I'm pretty much homebound.) Brushing my teeth is also hard because I have a severe gag reflex due to the condition, and I lack the coordination to do it. The feeling of an electric toothbrush against my teeth scares me, but I'm not strong enough to get calculus off my teeth and am constantly worrying, perhaps unjustifiably, about damaging the enamel. Because of this I did not brush for years at a time. The first time I went, I had such a big tartar deposit on my lower front teeth that I mistook it for enamel wear.
When I was 15-16 years old, I cracked the upper right molar right next to my wisdom tooth while chewing on some hard school food. This later came out in pieces and there was nothing left of the tooth at all except the roots. Being phobic, I told no one and let it sit for 3 or so years, until it started to hurt, which was what got me in for my first exam. I live in Colorado in the middle of nowhere, and the dentist was 87 years old--experienced but a little absent minded.
I wound up having a cleaning, and four cavities were found. Two of those were in my "vampire teeth" that are above my other teeth. I was actually adamant about keeping these teeth in, even though they are hard to brush, and the dentist said it would be better to leave them in because removing them at this point would leave too much space. All of the cavities were filled with composite and the dentist also performed oral surgery to remove the root mentioned above. I was very apprehensive about having a hole in my mouth, but minded it less after my wisdom tooth came in. After he was done cleaning, polishing, and filling my teeth, the dentist said that despite having red inflamed gums (but no shrinkage), I had very good teeth for someone who had never been to a dentist in 18 years and seldom brushed. HOWEVER, due to the severity of my gag reflex, I was unable to have x-rays because I kept gagging on the film.
Since that first series of visits, I've gone every 6 months for a cleaning. Two more cavities were found and filled with composite instead of amalgam at my request. The dentist has said my teeth look much better than when I first came in, and my gums, while still swollen in spots, are no longer red: they're dark pink instead. The only really sensitive spot is at the bottom of my front teeth, which remains red because I'm a mouthbreather. There are also gaps where calculus tends to accumulate. In spite of this, my dentist said I have no more gum disease.
Now we get to the current problem. Six months ago I was told a cavity could be starting again, but they left it alone. When I went in for a cleaning a few weeks ago, they had said it had gotten big enough to fill. A few days ago, I had an appointment to get it filled, but when the dentist saw the tooth, he realized there was already a filling there, elsewhere, on the same tooth. He poked the new cavity area with an explorer and it hurt (but I assumed it always did.) When I asked why they weren't filling the tooth, he said that the large filling that was already there (on the top instead of the inside) could break. I was sent home thinking it was a false alarm until I realized I really do have a cavity in that inside spot.
What is bothering me is this: the dentist straight up just told me to wait until the tooth starts hurting before they do anything, because he'd rather not subject me to a root canal if the filling or decay gets too close to a nerve. He said they'd pull it and give me a partial, but I can UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES tolerate a partial, because having to remove it and reinsert it is likely beyond my dexterity and would aggravate my gag reflex. I also can't stand the idea of having a removable tooth as opposed to something fixed.
Now, with that one appointment wasted, I'm losing my mind, and my parents have decided to switch me to a different dentist with a more modern office. My old dentist had one assistant (not a hygienist!) and thus did all the scaling and such himself. I've had to remind him to polish my teeth and the last cleaning really hurt my lower gums. It took 5 days for them to heal.
This new dentist is younger (probably anywhere from 40-60 years old) and has two hygienists. I haven't been to the office yet and won't be able to go for a week or two (one week to transfer Medicaid/Medicare paperwork, probably another week before the appointment.) I'm worried that, given the nature of my old dentist and any new equipment (pano X rays, diagnodent, etc) that they'll find a load of additional problems. More cavities, more gum problems, etc--despite the fact that I'm not in pain. It's driving me into a neurotic fit. I'm trying to keep cavities from getting worse but I'm just afraid to eat now.
My current oral care regime involves brushing once every 24h before bed, and sometimes also an hour after breakfast, with a soft manual toothbrush and toothpaste and rinsing with Listerine (recently switched to Listerine Total Care which seems to have helped and also contains fluoride itself.) I cannot floss.
tl;dr: I have some mild to moderate dental problems, but no pain beyond typical cavity sensitivity. No loose teeth. Crowding. Inflamed gums that have improved over 3 years, definitely doesn't look like perio. My old dentist did not do a filling I need, so I switched dentists and the trust gauge is 0 again. Worried about extensive bad diagnosis due to new tech/different dentist. How do I keep from going insane, and how do I make sure the dentist isn't going to over or undertreat because I have Medicaid/Medicare? For any dentists reading, how can I take better care of my mouth as a disabled person?
Thanks for reading.