Sol
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2010
- Messages
- 239
- Location
- USA
I decided to wait until Monday to try emailing places. Figured I’d give myself a break this week. Started writing this post awhile ago then paused when all that other stuff happened so this will be a long “from memory” post.
The Follow Up Appointments
The next appointment was about two weeks later. I remember feeling less stressed in the waiting room but still a bit nervous since I wasn’t entirely sure what treatments would be recommended. The wait was also much shorter, 5-10 minutes. The office manager showed to me to a smaller side office, just a desk and PC in the room. On the desk was a folder with my name.
Ended up waiting a few minutes for the dentist to arrive. When he came in and sat down, he asked if I had looked through the folder. Nope, I felt too nervous to open it. The dentist ended up opening the folder and we went through the pages together. They also had my file on the PC so they could show me some additional photos/xrays not in the report. I don’t think I’ve ever received this detail about a diagnosis for anything. The folder contained a written summary from the dentist, printouts of the photos for the teeth that needed work, a printout of the panoramic xray, and some one-page articles that talked about what to expect in general for the different procedures. (These articles kind of reminded me of pages on this site that give overviews of common procedures.)
I wasn’t super familiar with the numbering system used for teeth so it took a moment for me to start following along with the dentist’s notes. There were a couple photos that were a tad cringey for me (the photos were taken before the cleaning so the calculus buildup was rather large in some areas). Otherwise, this part wasn’t bad and I felt good about the recommendations.
You are probably saying what was the treatment plan already?!? I needed to have 4 fillings in some molars (one in each quadrant). If I remember right these teeth already had composite fillings so it was touching up the edges where there was decay. The molar that turned gray from decay ended up needing a crown. (This was the tooth Dr. J ignored during my last appointment there.) Since this molar was asymptomatic the dentist said I didn’t need an RTC. Lastly, I would be referred to an oral surgeon to have my wisdom teeth out. I was encouraged to have all 5 out even though one was only partly erupted. The impacted teeth were creating deep pockets in my gums around the back molars which could lead to future issues (decay, infection, etc.).
After going over all that the dentist said his good byes and I spent some time with the office manager to go over how to space the appointments out (to get the most benefit from insurance) and pricing. Since the crown was a concern, I would get the crown and the two fillings on the right side done first. The other two fillings would be left to another appointment 4 months in the future when my insurance benefits were renewed for the new year. The wisdom teeth stuff would also wait until next year. Honestly, this is not as bad as I was expecting. I could tell I had cavities prior to the appointment, I could keep the tooth that I thought would have to be removed…and the wisdom teeth could wait a bit longer.
Getting the Crown
A couple weeks later I was back for the crown and fillings. This office offers same day crowns so this made for a long appointment but at least I didn’t have to do this in two appointments. Just going to try to go over highlights of unique things I remember.
While sitting with the assistant prior to starting, I was able to tell the assistant that I dislike needles and was feeling nervous (I’m one of those people that has an easier time talking to the assistants/hygienists/etc.) She tried to reassure me that the dentist was skilled and not to worry too much. (Yeah, that didn’t help lol.) Anyway, the dentist showed up and tried to make a bit of small talk before laying me back. Felt tense laying there. The assistant said something to the dentist I think about me being nervous about needles and I had a knee jerk reaction to suddenly feel bad about being nervous. I shot the assistant an annoyed look. Wish I hadn’t but her comment caught me off guard. They continued on with getting set up, and I closed my eyes. Due to my reaction, they both got quiet. This led to feeling uneasy because I couldn’t hear them talking. I’m not sure how much time passed but I opened my eyes and got an eye full of big needle hovering over my face. Amazing. It was like my whole body flinched. (Think of spring just suddenly releasing all its stored energy.) The talking started again after that. I’m sure the dentist was trying to be gentle and going slowish but the first injections were not really comfortable. At least they waited for a couple minutes before giving me a couple more shots on the lower quadrant because that was where the tooth that needed to be crown was located.
Fast-forward to the part about having a dental dam placed and the bite block (you thought I would forget about the bite block story). The dentist asked the assistant for “the pillow” and I thought “What?” I opened my eyes and could see the green squishy plastic thing. This was placed on the side opposite of where they were working and I was told to bite on it, that it would give my jaw a rest. I felt a lot of relief at hearing that because I remember the difficulty of trying to keep my mouth open for those other appointments.
Having the dental dam placed was a new experience. I had read about it on this website but the dentists in my past experiences never used them. To me having a lot of cotton in my mouth for fillings was the norm. I wasn’t specifically worried about the dam but I was still tense from everything that happened prior. When the dentist was placing the dam around the bottom teeth there was a sudden popping sound. My teeth are packed pretty close together so the plastic dam was making a loud pop as they worked it between my teeth. There was no warning about this sound so, you guessed it, I flinched again. (Side note: During the second appointment to get fillings in the future this popping sound didn’t happen. I’m not sure if they used a dam made out of different material or if their technique improved in-between appointments.)
Going to fast-forward a bit more. After the tooth was prepped for the crown and a couple of the fillings were done there was a break while the dentist went to check on someone else. In the middle of this a new assistant showed up to cover for the other one. (This swap had been mentioned earlier in the appointment.) The assistant was slightly older than me and was reading through the notes, looking at my xray to get caught up. After she saw my xray she really surprised me by turning around and saying “It’s your first crown!” Her excitement confused me because I initially felt weird about needing a crown in my 20s. The assistant went on to say how excited she was for me and she behaved like this was a rite of passage. While we were waiting for the dentist to return, she also shared that she had her first crown in her early 20’s while she was still studying to be a dental assistant.
Other items in brief:
• Getting a CEREC crown and digital impressions was a good experience. I can see why people prefer the digital impressions, no gagging or goop. Having the permanent crown done in one appointment was also a nice bonus.
•There was a lot of downtime during this appointment but the waiting wasn’t bad. Besides the things I mentioned at the start it was a good experience.
•The crown ended up being a little high, I was too numb for them to check the bite at the appointment properly. This left the tooth feeling weird after meals. Of course, I worried at the time something was really wrong with the crown. Going back a week later to have it adjusted was easy and didn’t require numbing.
Feeling the Freeze
The next appointment to get the other two fillings was more or less uneventful except for one thing. One of the injections I had was extremely painful. It felt like my gums were burning. Never had an experience like this before. This is when I completely froze and realized that I could not signal that I was in pain. During the other appointments, there was no need to signal. Now that I needed to, I couldn’t lift my arms or hands. It was a really overwhelming feeling. My eyes started watering and I tried to keep back the tears. There were parts where I remember being asked if I was OK during and after the shot but I was just stuck nodding yes. Guessing because of the last appointment the dentist and the assistant just thought I was dealing with nerves related to the shot.
Felt like an idiot after the appointment and was really mad at myself for not being able to say anything. Feelings and memories from my teenage years started to make more sense, however. This was how I had coped through those bad appointments was by freezing over and toughing things out. After appointments this dentist usually does courtesy calls later in the day to ask how you are doing. There have been studies that show this helps with lowering patient’s pain and gives the impression the dentist is compassionate. I missed that call and wished I hadn’t. Maybe then I would have been able to talk about what happened during the appointment with him.
The wisdom teeth story will get its own post later. Things will be more or less up to date after that.
The Follow Up Appointments
The next appointment was about two weeks later. I remember feeling less stressed in the waiting room but still a bit nervous since I wasn’t entirely sure what treatments would be recommended. The wait was also much shorter, 5-10 minutes. The office manager showed to me to a smaller side office, just a desk and PC in the room. On the desk was a folder with my name.
Ended up waiting a few minutes for the dentist to arrive. When he came in and sat down, he asked if I had looked through the folder. Nope, I felt too nervous to open it. The dentist ended up opening the folder and we went through the pages together. They also had my file on the PC so they could show me some additional photos/xrays not in the report. I don’t think I’ve ever received this detail about a diagnosis for anything. The folder contained a written summary from the dentist, printouts of the photos for the teeth that needed work, a printout of the panoramic xray, and some one-page articles that talked about what to expect in general for the different procedures. (These articles kind of reminded me of pages on this site that give overviews of common procedures.)
I wasn’t super familiar with the numbering system used for teeth so it took a moment for me to start following along with the dentist’s notes. There were a couple photos that were a tad cringey for me (the photos were taken before the cleaning so the calculus buildup was rather large in some areas). Otherwise, this part wasn’t bad and I felt good about the recommendations.
You are probably saying what was the treatment plan already?!? I needed to have 4 fillings in some molars (one in each quadrant). If I remember right these teeth already had composite fillings so it was touching up the edges where there was decay. The molar that turned gray from decay ended up needing a crown. (This was the tooth Dr. J ignored during my last appointment there.) Since this molar was asymptomatic the dentist said I didn’t need an RTC. Lastly, I would be referred to an oral surgeon to have my wisdom teeth out. I was encouraged to have all 5 out even though one was only partly erupted. The impacted teeth were creating deep pockets in my gums around the back molars which could lead to future issues (decay, infection, etc.).
After going over all that the dentist said his good byes and I spent some time with the office manager to go over how to space the appointments out (to get the most benefit from insurance) and pricing. Since the crown was a concern, I would get the crown and the two fillings on the right side done first. The other two fillings would be left to another appointment 4 months in the future when my insurance benefits were renewed for the new year. The wisdom teeth stuff would also wait until next year. Honestly, this is not as bad as I was expecting. I could tell I had cavities prior to the appointment, I could keep the tooth that I thought would have to be removed…and the wisdom teeth could wait a bit longer.
Getting the Crown
A couple weeks later I was back for the crown and fillings. This office offers same day crowns so this made for a long appointment but at least I didn’t have to do this in two appointments. Just going to try to go over highlights of unique things I remember.
While sitting with the assistant prior to starting, I was able to tell the assistant that I dislike needles and was feeling nervous (I’m one of those people that has an easier time talking to the assistants/hygienists/etc.) She tried to reassure me that the dentist was skilled and not to worry too much. (Yeah, that didn’t help lol.) Anyway, the dentist showed up and tried to make a bit of small talk before laying me back. Felt tense laying there. The assistant said something to the dentist I think about me being nervous about needles and I had a knee jerk reaction to suddenly feel bad about being nervous. I shot the assistant an annoyed look. Wish I hadn’t but her comment caught me off guard. They continued on with getting set up, and I closed my eyes. Due to my reaction, they both got quiet. This led to feeling uneasy because I couldn’t hear them talking. I’m not sure how much time passed but I opened my eyes and got an eye full of big needle hovering over my face. Amazing. It was like my whole body flinched. (Think of spring just suddenly releasing all its stored energy.) The talking started again after that. I’m sure the dentist was trying to be gentle and going slowish but the first injections were not really comfortable. At least they waited for a couple minutes before giving me a couple more shots on the lower quadrant because that was where the tooth that needed to be crown was located.
Fast-forward to the part about having a dental dam placed and the bite block (you thought I would forget about the bite block story). The dentist asked the assistant for “the pillow” and I thought “What?” I opened my eyes and could see the green squishy plastic thing. This was placed on the side opposite of where they were working and I was told to bite on it, that it would give my jaw a rest. I felt a lot of relief at hearing that because I remember the difficulty of trying to keep my mouth open for those other appointments.
Having the dental dam placed was a new experience. I had read about it on this website but the dentists in my past experiences never used them. To me having a lot of cotton in my mouth for fillings was the norm. I wasn’t specifically worried about the dam but I was still tense from everything that happened prior. When the dentist was placing the dam around the bottom teeth there was a sudden popping sound. My teeth are packed pretty close together so the plastic dam was making a loud pop as they worked it between my teeth. There was no warning about this sound so, you guessed it, I flinched again. (Side note: During the second appointment to get fillings in the future this popping sound didn’t happen. I’m not sure if they used a dam made out of different material or if their technique improved in-between appointments.)
Going to fast-forward a bit more. After the tooth was prepped for the crown and a couple of the fillings were done there was a break while the dentist went to check on someone else. In the middle of this a new assistant showed up to cover for the other one. (This swap had been mentioned earlier in the appointment.) The assistant was slightly older than me and was reading through the notes, looking at my xray to get caught up. After she saw my xray she really surprised me by turning around and saying “It’s your first crown!” Her excitement confused me because I initially felt weird about needing a crown in my 20s. The assistant went on to say how excited she was for me and she behaved like this was a rite of passage. While we were waiting for the dentist to return, she also shared that she had her first crown in her early 20’s while she was still studying to be a dental assistant.
Other items in brief:
• Getting a CEREC crown and digital impressions was a good experience. I can see why people prefer the digital impressions, no gagging or goop. Having the permanent crown done in one appointment was also a nice bonus.
•There was a lot of downtime during this appointment but the waiting wasn’t bad. Besides the things I mentioned at the start it was a good experience.
•The crown ended up being a little high, I was too numb for them to check the bite at the appointment properly. This left the tooth feeling weird after meals. Of course, I worried at the time something was really wrong with the crown. Going back a week later to have it adjusted was easy and didn’t require numbing.
Feeling the Freeze
The next appointment to get the other two fillings was more or less uneventful except for one thing. One of the injections I had was extremely painful. It felt like my gums were burning. Never had an experience like this before. This is when I completely froze and realized that I could not signal that I was in pain. During the other appointments, there was no need to signal. Now that I needed to, I couldn’t lift my arms or hands. It was a really overwhelming feeling. My eyes started watering and I tried to keep back the tears. There were parts where I remember being asked if I was OK during and after the shot but I was just stuck nodding yes. Guessing because of the last appointment the dentist and the assistant just thought I was dealing with nerves related to the shot.
Felt like an idiot after the appointment and was really mad at myself for not being able to say anything. Feelings and memories from my teenage years started to make more sense, however. This was how I had coped through those bad appointments was by freezing over and toughing things out. After appointments this dentist usually does courtesy calls later in the day to ask how you are doing. There have been studies that show this helps with lowering patient’s pain and gives the impression the dentist is compassionate. I missed that call and wished I hadn’t. Maybe then I would have been able to talk about what happened during the appointment with him.
The wisdom teeth story will get its own post later. Things will be more or less up to date after that.