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Rotting Teeth and Anxiety (pictures attached apologies in advance)

T

TrickyJ

Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2015
Messages
22
Looking for advice as you can see in the pictures my wisdom tooth at the back has broken off and there is a few molars that have broken off and my front teeth well says it all really basically the teeth are rotting away at the back and there is now a degree of swelling on the inside of the gum so I know there is an abscess and also a degree of infection below the gumline but no pain on my lymph nodes just constant spitting of bloody saliva and a lot blood when I brush my teeth.

Ideally I would get them fixed and go to the dentist but I can't even sit in the dentist's chair even though he is the loveliest guy ever and I cannot fault his efforts like giving me a stressball and his patience with me even though he must be tearing his hair out and I tried sedation after a referral to another surgery and had a meltdown before they put the injection in and had to leave and that put paid to that as they won't deal with me, tried Valium/Diazepam but had side effects too and was told to speak to Mike Gow at thr Berkeley Clinic in Glasgow where I am from but I cannot afford it sadly but was a nice idea so now I have this major worry after consulting with Dr. Google that I am going to end up in hospital and die of sepsis all because of my anxiety as I have 2 other abscesses and obviously the issues with my front teeth too as attached and I am embarrassed about how my teeth look so I apologize in advance took a lot of guts to attach those photos.

Any advice would be appreciated? I know it is easy to say just go to the dentist but if only it was that simple.
 

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You’re right, it’s not that easy. We all know how you feel. I can’t really offer anything for advice other than try to find a practice that specializes in dealing with phobic patients. Handing you a stress ball is not the best way of dealing with your fears. I don’t want to assume anything but I’m guessing you have issues with needles as well. Sounds like a combination of oral and injection sedation would work best for you. Please don’t listen to Dr. Google. He’s crazy and will tell you things that just aren’t true. Not that I recommend it, but I lived with abscesses for over 10 years and it didn’t kill me. It can happen, but it’s not as common as it seems.
 
You’re right, it’s not that easy. We all know how you feel. I can’t really offer anything for advice other than try to find a practice that specializes in dealing with phobic patients. Handing you a stress ball is not the best way of dealing with your fears. I don’t want to assume anything but I’m guessing you have issues with needles as well. Sounds like a combination of oral and injection sedation would work best for you. Please don’t listen to Dr. Google. He’s crazy and will tell you things that just aren’t true. Not that I recommend it, but I lived with abscesses for over 10 years and it didn’t kill me. It can happen, but it’s not as common as it seems.

Thank you BoxerMom it is awful living like this but hopefully I can find a solution the wisdom tooth at the back is my main concern with the slight swelling and constant blood flow especially when food gets caught there
 
TrickyJ,
Just wanted to offer you some support as I am also in your shoes. I am very guilty of consulting Dr. Google since I have not seen a dentist in over 10 years. I actually found that sepsis is very uncommon so that gave me a lot of relief.

"Just scheduling an appointment" is NOWHERE CLOSE to as easy at it may seem. In June of this year a small back piece of a front tooth came off so I have been in full panic mode since then. That is in addition to 3 molars that are broken. It led me to this wonderful forum where I have been reading everyone's stories almost every day.

Today what the first day I reached out to an office to ask a few questions in almost 12 years and that itself took months to do.

I will say that along with this forum I have watched a ton of videos on YouTube of people that had all of their teeth extracted and got either dentures or implants and their follow up videos to their process and that has really helped me in trying to cope with the "worst" news I may receive when I go. It actually helped a lot.

I'm not sure how it works where you are from but do any offices offer consultations where you just talk until you are comfortable? Maybe take the sedation in a pill form instead of an IV?
 
Hi Dental
TrickyJ,
Just wanted to offer you some support as I am also in your shoes. I am very guilty of consulting Dr. Google since I have not seen a dentist in over 10 years. I actually found that sepsis is very uncommon so that gave me a lot of relief.

"Just scheduling an appointment" is NOWHERE CLOSE to as easy at it may seem. In June of this year a small back piece of a front tooth came off so I have been in full panic mode since then. That is in addition to 3 molars that are broken. It led me to this wonderful forum where I have been reading everyone's stories almost every day.

Today what the first day I reached out to an office to ask a few questions in almost 12 years and that itself took months to do.

I will say that along with this forum I have watched a ton of videos on YouTube of people that had all of their teeth extracted and got either dentures or implants and their follow up videos to their process and that has really helped me in trying to cope with the "worst" news I may receive when I go. It actually helped a lot.

I'm not sure how it works where you are from but do any offices offer consultations where you just talk until you are comfortable? Maybe take the sedation in a pill form instead of an IV?

Hi DentalFearMom, good advice on the YouTube videos but I end up watching the world's worst "wallies" (bad teeth) being extracted ? but may try searching for actual advice. I am constantly worrying about what could happen and have looked up everything from sepsis to Ludwig's Angina which I know is mainly restricted to Africa but can appear in the Western World in rare cases. The funny thing is that I have a dental plate but until I have the teeth are extracted the plate can't be used and the dentist has left it upto me as not seen him in at least a year and he honestly has the patience of a saint but the issue is the drill noise in the reception, the lying back and feeling out of control, the needle itself, the pinch into the gum, the disgusting taste of the aesthetic and the crunching of your tooth being extracted as I can't sit for too long because of my generalized anxiety disorder and always end up trying to sit up during the procedure which makes it x10 worse for any dentist especially with the control issues and the feeling helpless.

My dentist and I have sat and spoke and tried to find a solution and only once did I go through with an extraction of an upper molar only because the pain was excruciatingly bad and I was literally ready to bite his fingers off and we had the other dentist in the practice doing the motherly soothing thing to try and keep me calm but it was horrible and I've struggled since even fillings I don't do even though I've been through fillings, extractions, root canals, apicoectomys and all sorts of weird and wonderful procedures but now I just freeze and my stomach goes into knots and the bigger fear in the dentist's room is probably my bowels threatening to explode from the fear.

With the sedation pill wasn't sure that was an option but I can explore it but once again it is that feeling of being helpless but I can always speak to the dentist about it? Ideally general an aesthetic would be best but it isn't widely available now.
 
Hi TrickyJ,

rally sorry to read about your situation, it sounds like you have been trying and pushing yourself as much as possible and still can't get through the treatment.

Reading your story and how severe your anxiety is, I do not think "just going to the dentist" would be the best solution (or even possible) in your situation. I was more wondering whether you have any possibility to get a therapist / psychologist/ mental health counsellor to get desensitized at least to a point of being able to get the most urgent treatment:



Also wondering whether you tried to get in touch with the community dental service and get a dentist for special needs if you haven't already. That's where you might be able to get GA if that's the only way for you to be able to cope with a treatment:


Last link to hopefully take away a bit of your worries about the sepsis is here. It is a link to our FAQ, as many people worry about this.

All the best wishes and hang in there.
 
Hi TrickyJ,

rally sorry to read about your situation, it sounds like you have been trying and pushing yourself as much as possible and still can't get through the treatment.

Reading your story and how severe your anxiety is, I do not think "just going to the dentist" would be the best solution (or even possible) in your situation. I was more wondering whether you have any possibility to get a therapist / psychologist/ mental health counsellor to get desensitized at least to a point of being able to get the most urgent treatment:



Also wondering whether you tried to get in touch with the community dental service and get a dentist for special needs if you haven't already. That's where you might be able to get GA if that's the only way for you to be able to cope with a treatment:


Last link to hopefully take away a bit of your worries about the sepsis is here. It is a link to our FAQ, as many people worry about this.

All the best wishes and hang in there.

Thanks Enarete I'll have a look and research some possibilities much appreciated
 
Sorry to hear what you're going through. I'm sure if your dentist referred you to your local dental hospital, you would be successful in getting an appointment? has your dentist mentioned referring you at all?
 

Hi Aurora, yes it has been suggested but there is 2 issues with this firstly that it is 10 miles away and I cannot travel on transport due to being attacked years ago and secondly it is dental students who do the work on your teeth within the dental hospital so it isn't ideal as you would prefer someone with experience to be doing the work for fear of any mistakes and it would just add to the anxiety. Nice idea though! ☺
 
Is there anyone who can take you to the hospital? And yes, students do work on patients within the hospitals but there are also highly experienced dentists who work with patients too; I totally understand you being reluctant to have students practice on you, but only dentists qualified in IV sedation for example, can treat patients. There are people on the forum who've had GA in hospital to have teeth extracted; maybe look up their stories and posts and ask how they got to be referred?
 
If only it was that easy as been discussed with the dentist and they are aware of the issues surrounding my mental health so probably therapy is my only route perhaps or desensitisation. mm I might give my dentist a ring and we discuss my options again as I am due a checkup again anyways and can maybe go from there but seems my options are limited.
 
I think having a discussion with your dentist is an excellent idea. I'm sure you have quite a few options, just a matter of taking things out maybe?
 
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