J
JamieAnn
Junior member
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2024
- Messages
- 7
- Location
- Brighton
Hello,
This will unfortunately be a long post because I am seeking reassurance that I am doing the right thing.
I am an extremely anxious dental patient now in my 50s. For a period of around 10 years in my teens, I avoided the dentist, but have since been attending regularly with the same dentist (I will refer to him as Dentist A) for around 20-25 years. He has always done all treatment including cleans under IV sedation. I cannot remember a serious attempt at treating me in any other manner. Treatment has never been easy, but has been accomplished. Unfortunately, I had an IV sedation appointment for a filling & clean in 2018 that was horrendous. It was the third attempt at treatment at that point. Visit One resulted in an inability to get a vein for the canula so was aborted (I also fainted mid tries which has always been an issue for me). Visit Two was an attempt with oral sedatives which did nothing for me - I just spent nearly three hours taking more and more tablets in a recovery room where toothless people wandered in and out from an extraction clinic. Visit Three resulted in cannulisation but the drug failed to activate correctly. My first recollection from the appointment is telling Dentist A that "it hurts" and I have regular bad recollections from throughout the appointment - drilling, filling fitting, impressions etc. I even recall being physically dragged back up the chair as he tried to scale my front teeth. I was mentally terrified but unable to effectively communicate or suspend activities. As a result, I can now no longer face another appointment in this manner for treatment such as fillings and want to feel more able to rationalise situations and have some control.
I told Dentist A of the awful experience in the days immediately after the appointment because it affected me badly even in normal daily life and he advised that it was a difficult appointment for all involved. He also advised that there were no further tools other than GA. He did mention hypnosis but shrugged his shoulders and provided the impression that it was pointless. Despite this, I had a course of hypnotherapy and whilst it has not left me keen to visit the dentist, it had some real benefits. It helped me to recover from the trauma of the filling appointment, it put issues into perspective, it reframed elements of dental treatment (e.g. needles) and it taught me how to relax via self hypnosis. I am able to hypnotise myself and do a walk through of a dental appointment, but I am strangely incapable of it being 'bad' whilst under hypnosis - I can literally only walk through a positive experience whilst relaxed! I never felt able to mention this to Dentist A so have never been able to apply any of my learnings in a clinical setting and do still feel that I would benefit from something to slightly relax me but whilst maintaining awareness.
Fast forward to this year and I need treatment. I was advised of 2 fillings UL and one LR. Having told Dentist A that I am not willing to undertake treatment with him under IV sedation, he advised that I ought to have a GA. I am far from keen but accepted his decision. However, upon trying to get a referral, he told me that a GA was not an option for fillings so instead referred me to see an anaesthetist about multi drug sedation. I have subsequently received a copy of this referral and it was for 2 fillings UL, 1 filling UR and 2 fillings LL. It also states that I have a "severe gag reflex" - something of which I have never been aware? The appointment was duly received with an unnamed dentist with no pre assessment - based upon this lack of detail, I cancelled and returned to Dentist A. I suggested that he could perhaps try a clean without sedation but he simply shrugged his shoulders so I can only assume that he thinks this pointless. I also suggested that instead of going for 'heavier' sedation, perhaps I could try 'softer' sedation that I might be able to proactively work with. He agreed and we had a very positive discussion around nitrous oxide for which he said he would refer me for a trial. The requirement for 2 fillings UL and one LR was again reiterated to me. The next day, I suddenly received a referral to Guys for "various caries" (unspecified number and location) with the description that I would consider trying nitrous oxide but would prefer a GA. This was not remotely as discussed but when I later received an email from Dentist A, he thought that this would be the best option even though it would require a trip to London.
By this point, I am seriously losing trust in Dentist A. I decided to find a dentist in this area who offers nitrous oxide and register as a new patient because I am keen to try this as an option and do actually believe that it might help (which I also believe is half the battle). Enter Dentist B. I have a full new patient assessment and xrays and she declares that I need 2 fillings UL and one filling UR. She thinks that there is also something LL. I say that this does not match the requirement discussed with me from Dentist A. We agree that I will ask Dentist A to refer me to Dentist B so that she can check his assessment. She is very happy to try treatment with nitrous oxide (plus headphones, distraction etc.) but states that multi drug IV sedation is possible via their anaesthetist as an option should the nitrous prove unsuccessful. Dentist A duly submits a referral for 2 fillings UR and 2 fillings LL. I am now losing sanity with this whole process. I speak to the practice of Dentist B who assure me that their treatment plan is correct based upon the referral received and I then speak to Dentist A who denies all knowledge of ever having had a discussion about 2 fillings UL and 1 filling LR. Please bear in mind that I am an anxious patient and this issue has become my life ... I do not on two separate occasions 'imagine' a clinical diagnosis, particularly after various UL taps and prods; unfortunately, the number and location of these fillings has currently become my entire life focus!
I am now at the point where I sadly can no longer deal with Dentist A and his changing diagnoses against random referrals. Instead, I have booked a telephone conversation with Dentist B next week and also have an appointment for 1/2 agreed fillings using nitrous oxide at the end of this month. I will be dealing with Dentist B directly as a private patient.
Please can you reassure me that I am following a sensible route and that this is not a kamikaze idea? This whole process with changing referrals to different places is causing me untold stress ... to the point where I actually think that the organisation for the treatment might even be worse than the physical treatment itself!
Thank you so much for reading.
This will unfortunately be a long post because I am seeking reassurance that I am doing the right thing.
I am an extremely anxious dental patient now in my 50s. For a period of around 10 years in my teens, I avoided the dentist, but have since been attending regularly with the same dentist (I will refer to him as Dentist A) for around 20-25 years. He has always done all treatment including cleans under IV sedation. I cannot remember a serious attempt at treating me in any other manner. Treatment has never been easy, but has been accomplished. Unfortunately, I had an IV sedation appointment for a filling & clean in 2018 that was horrendous. It was the third attempt at treatment at that point. Visit One resulted in an inability to get a vein for the canula so was aborted (I also fainted mid tries which has always been an issue for me). Visit Two was an attempt with oral sedatives which did nothing for me - I just spent nearly three hours taking more and more tablets in a recovery room where toothless people wandered in and out from an extraction clinic. Visit Three resulted in cannulisation but the drug failed to activate correctly. My first recollection from the appointment is telling Dentist A that "it hurts" and I have regular bad recollections from throughout the appointment - drilling, filling fitting, impressions etc. I even recall being physically dragged back up the chair as he tried to scale my front teeth. I was mentally terrified but unable to effectively communicate or suspend activities. As a result, I can now no longer face another appointment in this manner for treatment such as fillings and want to feel more able to rationalise situations and have some control.
I told Dentist A of the awful experience in the days immediately after the appointment because it affected me badly even in normal daily life and he advised that it was a difficult appointment for all involved. He also advised that there were no further tools other than GA. He did mention hypnosis but shrugged his shoulders and provided the impression that it was pointless. Despite this, I had a course of hypnotherapy and whilst it has not left me keen to visit the dentist, it had some real benefits. It helped me to recover from the trauma of the filling appointment, it put issues into perspective, it reframed elements of dental treatment (e.g. needles) and it taught me how to relax via self hypnosis. I am able to hypnotise myself and do a walk through of a dental appointment, but I am strangely incapable of it being 'bad' whilst under hypnosis - I can literally only walk through a positive experience whilst relaxed! I never felt able to mention this to Dentist A so have never been able to apply any of my learnings in a clinical setting and do still feel that I would benefit from something to slightly relax me but whilst maintaining awareness.
Fast forward to this year and I need treatment. I was advised of 2 fillings UL and one LR. Having told Dentist A that I am not willing to undertake treatment with him under IV sedation, he advised that I ought to have a GA. I am far from keen but accepted his decision. However, upon trying to get a referral, he told me that a GA was not an option for fillings so instead referred me to see an anaesthetist about multi drug sedation. I have subsequently received a copy of this referral and it was for 2 fillings UL, 1 filling UR and 2 fillings LL. It also states that I have a "severe gag reflex" - something of which I have never been aware? The appointment was duly received with an unnamed dentist with no pre assessment - based upon this lack of detail, I cancelled and returned to Dentist A. I suggested that he could perhaps try a clean without sedation but he simply shrugged his shoulders so I can only assume that he thinks this pointless. I also suggested that instead of going for 'heavier' sedation, perhaps I could try 'softer' sedation that I might be able to proactively work with. He agreed and we had a very positive discussion around nitrous oxide for which he said he would refer me for a trial. The requirement for 2 fillings UL and one LR was again reiterated to me. The next day, I suddenly received a referral to Guys for "various caries" (unspecified number and location) with the description that I would consider trying nitrous oxide but would prefer a GA. This was not remotely as discussed but when I later received an email from Dentist A, he thought that this would be the best option even though it would require a trip to London.
By this point, I am seriously losing trust in Dentist A. I decided to find a dentist in this area who offers nitrous oxide and register as a new patient because I am keen to try this as an option and do actually believe that it might help (which I also believe is half the battle). Enter Dentist B. I have a full new patient assessment and xrays and she declares that I need 2 fillings UL and one filling UR. She thinks that there is also something LL. I say that this does not match the requirement discussed with me from Dentist A. We agree that I will ask Dentist A to refer me to Dentist B so that she can check his assessment. She is very happy to try treatment with nitrous oxide (plus headphones, distraction etc.) but states that multi drug IV sedation is possible via their anaesthetist as an option should the nitrous prove unsuccessful. Dentist A duly submits a referral for 2 fillings UR and 2 fillings LL. I am now losing sanity with this whole process. I speak to the practice of Dentist B who assure me that their treatment plan is correct based upon the referral received and I then speak to Dentist A who denies all knowledge of ever having had a discussion about 2 fillings UL and 1 filling LR. Please bear in mind that I am an anxious patient and this issue has become my life ... I do not on two separate occasions 'imagine' a clinical diagnosis, particularly after various UL taps and prods; unfortunately, the number and location of these fillings has currently become my entire life focus!
I am now at the point where I sadly can no longer deal with Dentist A and his changing diagnoses against random referrals. Instead, I have booked a telephone conversation with Dentist B next week and also have an appointment for 1/2 agreed fillings using nitrous oxide at the end of this month. I will be dealing with Dentist B directly as a private patient.
Please can you reassure me that I am following a sensible route and that this is not a kamikaze idea? This whole process with changing referrals to different places is causing me untold stress ... to the point where I actually think that the organisation for the treatment might even be worse than the physical treatment itself!
Thank you so much for reading.
.