• Dental Phobia Support

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Sol's Journal

So today was eventful. If you had asked me if something like this would happen 6 or 7 years ago (I'm losing track), I probably would have looked at you like a crazy person. Appointment with OM was today. This morning I felt a little nervous but nothing horrible before leaving. Thinking they may have started a new file for me or lost the old info at the office because the surgeon greeted me like we had never met before which was odd (although it has been a long time so I wouldn't expect him to remember me specifically).

Consult was rather quick. He asked if the dentist had tried to do a filling in the tooth and if I was OK with having it removed. Mentioned to him the idea about root canal but he said since my roots are so curved the success rate was small. That made me feel a little better about carrying on with this. He asked if the tooth was bothering me and I mentioned the cold sensitivity. He took a quick look with a mirror and said that he would remove #15. #16 is still fully impacted. He said it may move in the future but the OM doubted it due to my age so it was up to me if I wanted to take out both. Honestly didn't feel like trying for both so we agreed to just do #15.

The OM asked if I wanted sedation or to go without. Mentioned last time I had sedation to have a couple of wisdom teeth out. He said that would be fine if I felt nervous but the OM felt confident he could do it either way but that I didn't have to decide that moment. However, I decided I would go without. The IV set up is what makes me the most nervous. Maybe if I had opted to have both teeth removed I would have wanted it.

So to scheduling...I asked the receptionist if they had any other appointments open later this week since I had time off. At first she laughed and said there had been a cancellation later that day in about an hour and a half. Otherwise the next opening was in October. I decided to just do it and get it over with same day. No lingering worrying about it and since no sedation, no need to get other family involved. It was around noon when the appointment ended so I killed time by getting a sandwich and trying not to focus on this too much.

Didn't have to wait long when I got back, figure I was the first appointment after lunch. The extraction wasn't bad and it took about 20-25 minutes including time to get numb. The most painful part were the injections. The first two felt fine and I barely noticed them. The third I think may have been closer to the roof of my mouth and that did sting quite a bit. When they came back to the room after letting things get numb I was kinda surprised they left he chair in the mostly up right position. Wasn't laying flat but I wasn't perfectly upright either. The OM wasn't super chatty but he did let me know what to expect as he went along. They warned me my tooth might break and there was a pop sound while they were working it out. The thing that kinda surprised me was they needed to use the drill more than I would have thought. My tooth had three roots so I think that may have made things more difficult but I was so numb I couldn't feel anything, not even any pressure. Have a couple of dissolving stitches on either side of the hole. Think I'm still a little numb even though its been 3 hours since the surgery.

As a reward for having the tooth out I left with a large baggy of gauze, their printed at home care guide, and a prescription for mouthwash and pain killers. The OM said the pain killers were meant as back up, he didn't think I would need them and would be fine with ibuprofen/advil. Plan on just using advil, maybe tylenol/acetaminophen at night since advil has given me night time heartburn in the past. Filled the rx for the mouthwash but they said it would take a few hours to be ready. The directions say to use the mouthwash a day or two later so I'll just try to pick it up tomorrow. Going to go lay down for a bit and hope the bleeding stops soon so that I can quit with the gauze (forgot about that part from last time). Glad its over and done with.
 
Sol,

Talk about a crazy day but I’m so glad you are done and got it out of the way. You are so brave. All in one day is crazy awesome. You are such an inspiration as I’ll have molar #16 removed next month under local. I’m so glad it went well! I hope you’re resting and relaxing now. The blood part scares me, haha, but you just keep being brave for all of us. ?
 
An eventful day indeed - congratulations Sol ?!!!

Wishing you a very smooth and speedy recovery :).
 
The blood part scares me, haha, but you just keep being brave for all of us. ?

It wasn't that bad really. After the tooth was out the OM said it didn't look like I was bleeding much. Just don't like having to deal with the gauze. Also have to remind yourself that the blood mixes with saliva so it looks like there is more blood than there really is.

I feel pretty good today, would say pain 0-1. Been taking 400 mg of advil occasionally during the day just as a precaution. The handout I have from the OM says 600mg every 4 hours but that seems unnecessary right now. Having the impacted wisdom teeth removed years ago was more painful afterwards. I wouldn't say more than a 5 most days but could feel the pain/swelling for 4-5 days. This time it just feels like I have awareness of the space but no pain. Maybe slight tenderness in the area in general.

Guess I'm popular with dentists now. Went out to the pharmacy and while I was out my old dentist's office called and left a message about scheduling an annual exam. It was confusing at first because the caller ID had the name of the dentist that retired from there like two years ago. Glad this call went to voicemail. Probably would have been a bit grouchy with the receptionist since I just canceled my annual appointment with them a week ago. I'm sure its just something that was flagged in their system to call since no appointment is on file. Hope they don't keep calling.

I had asked the new dentist's office to call me this week if there were cancellations for cleanings. So of course now that I had surgery yesterday they called to today to ask if I could come in tomorrow. Apologized to the receptionist but said I'd rather just leave the appointment for next week. She was understanding and asked how I was doing. Hopefully when that's said and done next week I can get a bit of break from this for awhile.
 
My first cleaning at this new office was today. Was concerned at first because when I was speaking to the receptionist to check in she acted like I wasn't on the schedule. She immediately apologized though saying she got confused about what time it was. Seems like a nice person but my first impression of her being a bit scatterbrained seems to be accurate.

The hygienist was a nice middle aged lady (don't mean that in a rude way, just feel like a lot of the hygienist I've seen are in their 20s or 30s). Apparently the dentist office had already gotten the notes from the OM that my tooth was out so we talked about that for a bit and leaving #16 where it was. The hygienist told me a story about one of her patients who was in their 70s with a full upper denture. He told her that his denture had not been fitting well and it felt like something was stuck under it. At his age he had a small wisdom tooth that had never been extracted move its way out and toward the roof of his mouth! Cue me now thinking this silly wisdom tooth will move when they haven't done anything for at least a decade. She was trying to make conversation but probably could have done without that story.

Otherwise things went well. She was good at keeping up with conversation and keeping me aware of things. The hygienist had good soft skills compared to the dentist/assistant when I was there for the check up. (Not that they were awful, just not what I had expected.) She repeatedly told me that I had little plaque and that I had nice teeth. It feels a bit weird hearing that since my last hygienist never gave positive comments and just left me feeling like things were bad with my gums without giving any reasons at to why. The hygienist said that things looked good with the extraction site. It just needs more time to finish healing as expected. She also commented that it seemed odd that I had such a large cavity in #15 compared to the amount of build up on my teeth. Felt like saying you and me both but didn't want to go down that path. Was given the all clear to come back in 6 months so that felt good. Think things will turn out alright at this office now that I'm over the initial hurdles.
 
I just read your entire journal- you are a really good writer and it was an enjoyable read (I know that must sound weird, lol!) Do you think you will stay with this new dentist/hygienist or keep searching for your angel dentist? I also have a huge fear of the "explorer" tool being jabbed into my teeth. When I went to my new dentist (he's been my dentist for 2 years now), I went on a long semi-crazy rant about how I DO NOT want him to poke that thing into my teeth to see if it would "stick" into decay, and if he did, I will most certainly have a panic attack. The best part of your story was your unexpected extraction with NO sedation! I am in awe!
 
Sol,

Sounds like this hygenist was pretty pleasant and tolerable , not too much discomfort. Its really hard to find a good gentle hygenist and nice when they can keep you distracted with conversation , minus scary stories. but I really don't think some of them realize how scary some of the stories are . or how much we might think about that.. (speaking from experience).. you might not :). Spider.. aghh. me too on the pokey explorer thing. any sharp pokey thing
 
Spider - At least someone enjoyed it. ☺ Used to really hate writing and dont fancy myself being great at it. When you mentioned looking for another dentist I briefly felt like:
:frantic::frantic::frantic::frantic::frantic::frantic::frantic::frantic::frantic:

I knew it would be stressful for me to change dentist but it was more stress than I expected. Not planning on doing anything in the immediate future. Probably just keep a look out for any better options or take action if I get to a point where I'm ready to try again to talk about the fears with someone. Also have to remember to trust my own gut feelings. Didn't do that and dragged my feet for the last few years and lost a tooth for it.

Having the surgery with no sedation wasn't the worst thing ever. Not saying everyone should run out and have a molar out though. ;) The numbing shots, minus the one toward the roof of my mouth, were the most painless ones that I can remember. The surgeon also did well enough talking me through and assuring me the shots would be the worst bit (which was true). It has been said a lot here, but getting treatment with someone you trust helps a ton.

krlovesherkids777 - I'm sure she didn't mean the story to be scary. I probably just jogged the hygienist's memory when I said I didn't think the tooth would move. She was a little goofy but not in a bad way. Told me she was good at giving facials (because of the spray from the ultrasonic tool), and said that I must not be ticklish because I sat still for her during the appointment.

Forgot to mention that the hygienist was also speculating and saying if the wisdom tooth did start move that maybe it would be possible to have it move into the space left by #15. I've heard of situations where people who have impacted canines can have that corrected with braces but never for a wisdom tooth. Not really sure if that is a thing or she was just making conversation. My OM just said it should be removed if it ever started to poke out. :dunno:
 
Sol,

She sounds quite personable! Like she really tries hard to put you to ease and keep you comfortable. Love the facial comment, a bit of humor is nice :)..
 
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