Severe dental phobia. I really need help.

[Troublesometeeth]

Hello everyone. I recently took antibiotics for pericoronitis disease but the tooth pain is still there. I no longer have discharge coming from either wisdom tooth, but there is still pain, and one of them has chipped away even more. It's mainly my left tooth that is causing the grief.

Here is my issue. I think I may have a dental abscess but I'm just not sure, seeing as I have not had any puss or discharge from the tooth or gum for about a week or more now. I know that I need a dental x-ray to determine the abscess. I read about the bitewing and not only do I have a sensitive gag reflex, but emetophobia too! I read some advice on this site about how I can help these symptoms, but I can't even get the courage to arrange a dental appointment. I'm really stuck on what to do because I cannot continue living each day not knowing if I am going to be in pain or not, and the pain has spread into my left ear and behind my left eye (sharp shooting pains once or twice during the day) so not very often.

I would go to the dentist and get amoxicillin to clear up any abscess infection in the tooth, but will they just give me the medication without examining me? She did it with the antibiotics for pericoronitis disease. I know that before a wisdom tooth is extracted the abscess must be cleared up with a course of amoxicillin but I wonder if anyone here is able to confirm that?

 

[carole]

It is usual in most cases to treat an abscess with antibiotics to calm things down before an extraction but it isn't always necessary.

Unfortunately you will need to see a dentist and they will have to have a look to make sure that that is the problem before they can do anything.

The first visit they won't do any treatment and will just need to have a look, with just a mirror if you prefer, they may also want to take an x ray so that they are sure of what they are dealing with.

I would try and get the courage to see a dentist and they may be able to refer you for sedation if you are extremely nervous.

I wish you good luck let us know how you get on please

 

[Troublesometeeth]

Thanks for your reply!

Well my pain killers have been taking effect which is great! But now my bottom left WT is coming through. GAHHH! I'm going to write to the dentist this week to see what can be done. I may be able to go to the hospital, and they may be able to knock me out throughout xray and removal. I read about bitewing x-rays. I have a strong gag reflex AND emetophobia, so that's no fun for me! I definitely need to get these removed, more so the left than the right. Without painkillers I wouldn't be getting through the days. My symptoms are all changing every week. I'm desperate to get it fixed and sorted but I'm so frightened and anxious. I wake up every morning sick to my stomach just from thinking about going to the dentist and my anxiety hits the moon. I'm not sure how I will even get into the dentists office while I'm feeling so bad (anxious and sick) all the time.

 

[carole]

I understand how you feel, I have felt like this and more. I felt so desperate and afraid I didn't know how I would be able to get treatment I needed either. I did find an understanding dentist and with their help I did manage over a long time to get to trust them to be able to overcome my worst fears, and get the treatment I needed.

I hope you too will be able to get your teeth treated soon as pain makes us feel terrible added on top of that the fear and stress and it is really terrible.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully you will get an answer to your letter or email when you contact your dentist that will have the answers you are wanting and that will enable you to get help and treatment soon.

All the best to you

 

[Troublesometeeth]

Thanks again Carole.

As it happens I'm now having quite a nasty amount of pain in between the 2 parts of my right wisdom tooth. It has split right down the middle, so there are 2 sections to the tooth. Half of it has broken off and now the tooth is just poking through the gum, the back half of the tooth feels like it's all the way though. It's kind of hard to explain without being able to draw a picture or something.

I would quite happily go to the hospital right this second, have them knock me out and remove it. I only seem to be feeling comfortable at night time. It's really weird how our fears work. My dentist is absolutely lovely. She is so very gentle and understanding. It just makes me so sick when people put things in my mouth. I have such a sensitive stomach. I've been very tempted to have a couple of drinks before I go, then I might not be so anxious, and instead just act as sober as I can for her to do the check up, that way I will be sober enough to remember that it wasn't so terrifying, but drunk enough to be relaxed for them to at least look at the problem!

 

[carole]

Your dentist or doctor should be able to prescribe you something for your nerves for you to take before your appointment that will help you relax. No need to drink, you want your dentist sober, if you drink and they breath in the fumes they may get a little too merry

Do ring up and ask for something to be prescribed it should help, a lot of people on here have taken meds before appointments and have been very happy with the results. You usually take something the night before so that it is in your system and working on you so that you get a good nights sleep, then in the morning you take another and that works to relax you for the appointment.

I do feel for you, it just sends you out of your mind when in pain and also being so worried. Call the dentist, it can't be worse than how you feel now and you will not have to have this tooth treated again, it will be gone.

 

[keevycat]

I agree with Carole. Have your dentist prescribe you a script to help take the edge off. I too have a phobia and he gave me a script for valium. You only need a pill to help take the edge off. What ever it takes to get you in that chair so you can start to feel better.

 

[Troublesometeeth]

Well the pain went away for a few days but has just started coming back. I now have pain in my left ear again, in my cheek, and in my tooth. It feels like a sharp shooting pain. I have emailed the dentist surgery to see if they will put me on amoxicillin for the infected tooth, and if they will send me to the hospital to have it removed. I have a prescription of anxiety pills waiting to be picked up but I can't even bring myself to leave the house. The anxiety has come back with huge force. The bottom line is I am frightened that I will throw up, and I've been suffering from huge nausea lately as well. I suffer from OCD which doesn't help the situation either.

If they can put me to sleep the whole way through the x-rays and the removal, then I will do that, but I can't even bring myself to be awake while they're fooling around in my yap. My painkillers are relieving the pain for now, but I'm worried that the abscess will spread to the brain. I've read awful horror stories about untreated abscesses and it's just nasty!

 

[carole]

You need to stop reading about abscesses travelling to your brain, it won't it will stay where it is. I had one for a long time and it was horrible in every way. I feared it spreading but it didn't, it just did damage to my tooth and my sanity at times.

I know it is hard to go and see the dentist but hopefully you will be able to get out to get a script. Could your chemist deliver a prescription, they often do when someone cannot get out. If you rang your doctors and explained that your anxiety has you housebound maybe they could send a prescription to the chemist for you. They can also prescribe you some antibiotics as well.

This might get you over the short term but until that tooth is seen to the abscess will go away but it will return.

I wish you well and I hope you can get some treatment soon.

 

[Troublesometeeth]

Agh, Carole thank you so much. How do you know an abscess doesn't spread and travel?

I have emailed the dentist. I'm waiting for a reply. I've requested anti-biotics. My anxiety has been calming down again lately, so I will try to get my anti-anxiety medication collected and then see if I can get into that dentists office to get some anti-biotics and then an extraction. How long did you have your abscess? I've had mine for a few months at least now. The pain though has decreased. I checked on my tooth a couple of days ago, and it wasn't brown or black anymore, it was tooth coloured! Then I checked it yesterday and it was black and brown again in places. I really don't understand what that's all about. The pain has been tolerable now too. It just feels sensitive (a bit like a brain freeze feeling) in my bottom left incisor (I've had that before but it's only come once every few years and then goes away) and I have that same feeling in my top right tooth. I also find it hurts more if I poke my tongue around the tooth. If I leave it alone, I don't have much pain at all, if any.

 

[carole]

I had my abscess for at least 22 months down to dental neglect. My face used to swell up and the pain was unbearable I felt like banging my head against a wall at times. When it drained I could feel it down the back of my throat. Because my dentist said that there was nothing wrong with my mouth my doctor eventually said it was neuralgia and put me on medication to try and help which it didn't.

A tooth broke eventually and I could not face going back to the dentist that had made me feel like a pest for going back so many times so I had to find another dentist. He x rayed me and said that it was indeed an abscess, he couldn't save the broken tooth but the one that was next to it has had a rct and now has a crown on it. I first saw my dentist about my pain in Feb 2010.

That is why I say the abscess won't travel, I was in so much pain and swollen I couldn't think straight when it filled up, when it drained it eased slightly, but I was in constant pain. I had heard about dental abscesses travelling to other parts of the body and I was worried that one day someone would find me dead. But as you can see I am very much still here and the dentist that neglected me is no longer practising.

It has been a terrifying journey that I have travelled but I have made it through and I now have no oral problems at the moment.

It is not wise to leave any infection untreated, and constant antibiotics are not good for us but if you need to buy some time to get your anxiety under control to be able to get to the dentist then that is an option. I would try as soon as you can get to the dentist when you feel stable enough to go. The sooner you can get this sorted the better you will feel.

I wish you all the best GOOD LUCK

 

[Troublesometeeth]

That sounds dreadfully painful. I hope I can pluck up the courage to just go and get it removed soon. The pain is not nearly as bad now as it was. A lot of my symptoms have cleared up, so I have improved on my dental hygiene. I can't feel the abscess draining down my throat, but I sometimes feel a "bubble popping" sensation in the tooth area followed by pain relief. Having said that, I haven't felt that sensation for about a week now, and the pain has decreased, but I'm still feeling twinges in my left ear.

I wish I was brave enough to go and just get it seen to. I won't even let them take the x-ray because of the bitewing!

 

[carole]

I really am rooting for you on this one, I hope you can muster the courage to go and see the dentist. The abscess will return as the infection has not gone. It will calm down as you know and you will have no pain like at the moment. But it will build up again and the pressure of it filling up with bring all the pain back.

I am pleased for you that you are out of pain at the moment and I hope you don't get it back soon. When you feel you can cope it will be much better when you do see the dentist and get this problem dealt with.

Good luck to you one day you will just decide to do it and you will feel so good, it has to be when you feel ready to deal with it, in your own time. You know where we are if you need to get things off your chest or just have a good old rant about things.

 

[Troublesometeeth]

Hello Carole,

Well there's been no pain at all for a few weeks now. I've been more careful with my dental hygiene, however for the last 2 nights when brushing my teeth, there is a heavy amount of bleeding coming from the left wisdom tooth (the most decayed and rotted one). I have no pain really, only a small amount of pain when I touch the bleeding area with the toothbrush bristles. I'm still too frightened to go to the dentist and they haven't replied to my email. I'm really unsure of what to do now. The bleeding is worrying me. I know sooner or later I will have to go and get both the teeth removed but even the thought of it just frightens the hell out of me.

 

[katylayney]

I 100% understand your fear, I suffer from panic disorder and my fear is so real for the dentist. I'm not joking you when I say I would rather go through my 2 c-sections & labor than go to the dentist for a simple cleaning. With that being said you definitely need to go in...You really do not want to mess with infections in your mouth. I had my wisdom teeth out 5 years ago under sedation and it is a bit scary actually going in the morning of BUT i promise you it goes by SOOO quick you'll wake up and think they honestly didn't even do it! I've been put to sleep 3 other times since then for dental work, one of them being 2 weeks ago. If you can get put under general anesthesia then I promise you you will feel so much better getting the work done!! When you go in for them to look in your mouth just express to them that you are afraid and they will be careful. I always tell them when I go in that I am scared and they reassure me that they won't do anything that would hurt me!

 

[DennyKitty]

Find a dentist who specializes in treating ppl with dental anxiety or phobias. I had three consultations before finding the perfect match for me. He is amazing. Im glad i took the time out to do it. Another things that helps me personally is having a hand signal to let my dr know ahead of time if i need him to stop for any reason. But since i usually freeze in fear he checks on my periodically and reminds me to breath. Otherwise i'd prob pass out. Putting an ipod on and listening to soothing music also helps. Good luck i hope all goes well,keep us updated. I just got a molar removed that was slightly infected. He had somewhat of a harder time removing it,but i felt no pain at all. And only mild pain afterwards but advil help relieve that. Xo

 

[carole]

Hi I had periods when mine bled, it is not a good sign and you really need to get the courage to go and see someone. It is a shame you haven't had a reply to your email. I think you need to be contacting some other dentists, do you live near to a dental hospital they sometimes take on patients.

Just because the pain has stopped it doesn't mean that the infection has gone, it will come back and so will the pain. Even though it is bleeding don't stop brushing the area, you need to be toughening the gums back up. Keep it as clean as you can and rinse after eating.

I hope you can manage to get yourself to see a dentist soon, you will be so relieved when this problem is sorted out. I am glad that you aren't in pain at the moment.

One day when you feel ready you will make that appointment and you will just do it and get the treatment you need. I wish you all the best, try rinsing with warm salt water as often as you can, this will help keep your mouth clean

Keep us posted, and stay in touch even if you can't manage to make an appointment we are happy to support you whether you go to the dentist or not. GOOD LUCK

 

[Troublesometeeth]

Thank you all for replying so fast to me. The bleeding has stopped again. It happened for 2 days and now it's ceased. (Weird). My wisdom teeth keep changing colour. One minute they'll be a normal white tooth colour, the next they will look like they have decay on them. It's really weird!

I only have 2 dentists near me. One is private and one is not. The dentist I saw was very lovely before, though I didn't let her look in my mouth. If I open my mouth wide, I gag. If things get put in there, I gag. I know they will want to x-ray with a bitewing, and I'm gonna gag, and I have fear of vomiting (emetophobia). Another thing, I've no healthcare insurance out here. I have an EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) which takes off some of the cost but not all of it. My nearest hospital is a 2 hour drive away. The dentist said I could get sent to the hospital and be put under sedation, but I'm worried about when I wake up. Will I throw up because they put gauze in my mouth to stop the bleeding? I'm so sensitive to all of this, and on top of it, suffer with OCD, so I'm constantly ruminating scenarios in my head.

YES I need to get them removed, but how to go about it is very difficult. If I was in England it would have happened by now, but there's no chance of me returning there, so I have to do what I can here. I'm keeping them as clean as possible and am not in pain at all. I just hope I will have that thing as you said Carole, where I one day just "go and do it." I hope that day is sooner rather than later.

I know you've said ignore the stories, but I can't help being frightened by the things I've read, that people have died from not having the surgery to remove their teeth when they've gotten infected, because the infection has spread further into the mouth and up into the brain, or into the bloodstream. I don't want to die and leave my boyfriend behind, but I'm so frightened to have things put in my mouth, and the spitting and puking. To me, the fear is so extensive that I'd almost rather die! I wish I had the money to pay them to come out and do a home visit rather than having to go there.