I
Impulsecontrol
Junior member
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2016
- Messages
- 2
To preface this, I often like to pride myself on my dental hygiene. I'm the only member of my family who actively flosses and uses a flouride mouthwash on a daily basis, and though I have many fillings, I've turned over a new leaf in the past two years and haven't gotten a cavity since. I have a very big fear of loosing my teeth, which stems from an overall fear of permanently loosing a part of my body (hair excluded) and teeth are the easiest part to loose. On top of this, I have an anxiety disorder that causes me to impulsively act out. A few examples are ripping out dentist tools from my mouth, or forcing myself upright- interrupting the entire procedure. This embarrassment that stems from these actions is what caused me to be more vigilant about the health of my teeth, and each checkup is usually a quick cleaning that I can usually keep myself calm for.
Recently my younger sister completely shattered one of her canines, sparking up a new fear of breaking my own teeth. This fear brought up a hypervigilance of what I eat, and how I eat. Though I don't like to let my fears drive me to the point of starving, it does become difficult when facing my favorite foods. I had recently tried to eat a mix of corn nuts, and had little to no problem. Anything that felt too hard to bite I wouldn't force myself to eat and simply spit it out into a trash bag. A few days after I sat eating a bag of chips, which were oddly tough but far easier to chew than the corn nuts. Later on in the day however, I found something oddly hard in my meal as I was chewing it, and upon further inspection it appeared to be bone. I know that when eating sausage, sometimes the process allows bones to be in the meat but my thoughts immediately went to my teeth, and I assumed I had broken one of them. It was a sizeable piece (larger than any regular filling I've had, with an indent in it as well that had a reddish tint which only added to my horror) but upon first inspection I hadn't felt any pain in my mouth, any sensitivity or any difference in my teeth. It wasn't until later that I cleaned my mouth and further inspected that I began to feel something off about my second to last molar on the top of the left side of my jaw. I began nervously comparing it to the one on the other side, and even felt a sore ache in the gum area near that tooth. I'm fearing a dentist appointment because fillings are always the toughest parts to go through, as they take a long time. I've gone through therapy and explained my nervous "tick" to nurses, but this doesn't save me from the embarrassment and inconvenience caused by it. Is it possible that maybe the tooth fracture was all in my head and the piece really was a terrible piece of bone that managed to get into my food? And am I the only person who goes through these impulsive and unavoidable anxiety attacks? I hope to see a psychiatrist soon about the impulse attacks as well, as it seems that medication is my last resort to feeling some semblance of control over my own body (and I've tried laughing gas before, which unfortunately had no effects on me).
Recently my younger sister completely shattered one of her canines, sparking up a new fear of breaking my own teeth. This fear brought up a hypervigilance of what I eat, and how I eat. Though I don't like to let my fears drive me to the point of starving, it does become difficult when facing my favorite foods. I had recently tried to eat a mix of corn nuts, and had little to no problem. Anything that felt too hard to bite I wouldn't force myself to eat and simply spit it out into a trash bag. A few days after I sat eating a bag of chips, which were oddly tough but far easier to chew than the corn nuts. Later on in the day however, I found something oddly hard in my meal as I was chewing it, and upon further inspection it appeared to be bone. I know that when eating sausage, sometimes the process allows bones to be in the meat but my thoughts immediately went to my teeth, and I assumed I had broken one of them. It was a sizeable piece (larger than any regular filling I've had, with an indent in it as well that had a reddish tint which only added to my horror) but upon first inspection I hadn't felt any pain in my mouth, any sensitivity or any difference in my teeth. It wasn't until later that I cleaned my mouth and further inspected that I began to feel something off about my second to last molar on the top of the left side of my jaw. I began nervously comparing it to the one on the other side, and even felt a sore ache in the gum area near that tooth. I'm fearing a dentist appointment because fillings are always the toughest parts to go through, as they take a long time. I've gone through therapy and explained my nervous "tick" to nurses, but this doesn't save me from the embarrassment and inconvenience caused by it. Is it possible that maybe the tooth fracture was all in my head and the piece really was a terrible piece of bone that managed to get into my food? And am I the only person who goes through these impulsive and unavoidable anxiety attacks? I hope to see a psychiatrist soon about the impulse attacks as well, as it seems that medication is my last resort to feeling some semblance of control over my own body (and I've tried laughing gas before, which unfortunately had no effects on me).