Stressing out again.

[Moley]

My appointment is in a little over 12 hours so I'm not expecting too much in terms of replies, especially as I've written a borderline essay...

The last time I went to my dentist (May 2014), I had a troublesome (filled, cracked, broken, filled, abscessed) tooth out. As far as I know the recovery went well enough, the hole had mostly filled up 6 months later. The presence of blood in my mouth, particularly in the quantity it was in the days after extraction, brought back every bit of fear I have of the dentist. I cancelled my check-up appointment a week or so before I was supposed to go and haven't been back in the almost exactly 18 months since.

About a year ago I started clenching my jaw at night, the reason why I don't know, which aided by the tooth above the extraction site growing down slightly has caused some pretty bad damage to both that tooth and the one next to the extracted one, as my resting/sleeping state sees my bottom teeth slightly behind the top set.

The one at the top has a pretty substantial, black hole in it which, I know, is at best going to require a filling. The deep filling I had on the tooth before it's eventual extraction was in top 3 most painful experiences of my life and knowing I've got to have a filling of some description done to the corresponding upper tooth fears me with dread. The bottom one has almost been worn flat and is, like the others, a dental colour chart for a range of yellow based paints. For what its worth, the only pain I get from either tooth is when they collide. I've done the tap test with no pain, so I'm hoping I've at least avoided an abscess for now.

My teeth as a whole are a battered, misaligned and discoloured bunch which I'm pretty ashamed of at the best of times, nevermind with two people staring into my mouth for X amount of time. To top it all off, I caught a part of my gum while brushing my teeth after lunch and ended up spitting blood, though admittedly not a great deal of it, which honestly made me feel like I was going to suffer a panic attack.

It just feels like one step forwards, a triple jump back when it comes to my teeth. Again, I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to get out of posting my story with such a short time frame between now and my appointment but bottling it up has left me a jittery and terrified mess so anything has to be an improvement. I somehow managed to not ring the dentist earlier to cancel, despite having my phone in my hand (with the number dialled) at least 3 times.

 

[Sevena]

Hey! I know that feeling of how everything is too much, and the memory of a painful experience makes the dentist dread even worse.

What are you going to get done tomorrow? A general check up, or specifically looking at that tooth?

Hang in there. Vent here as much as you like

 

[Moley]

Hey! I know that feeling of how everything is too much, and the memory of a painful experience makes the dentist dread even worse.

What are you going to get done tomorrow? A general check up, or specifically looking at that tooth?

Hang in there. Vent here as much as you like

When I made the appointment over the phone she asked if it was a checkup or if I had a problems and I said both so I'm hoping, if I need anything doing, that I can get it fixed there and then.

I don't fancy losing another day of work through stressing out waiting for appointment number 2.

 

[Sevena]

Well, I hope it goes well for you tomorrow! Give an update after?

I know it's nearly impossible, but try anything to take your mind off it. Don't Google tooth problems. Watch movies instead, or something. Best of luck!

 

[Moley]

Well, I hope it goes well for you tomorrow! Give an update after?

I know it's nearly impossible, but try anything to take your mind off it. Don't Google tooth problems. Watch movies instead, or something. Best of luck!

I absolutely will provide an update. I know from experience how reassuring someone with similar issues posting their story can be.

I have no idea where it came from but I recently came into possession of somewhat of a plastic replica of the dentist hand mirror with a little LED on it. Good for making sure you haven't missed a spot after brushing your teeth, not so good when you know you have an issue and can't stop looking at it.

 

[Moley]

Well, that was an unusual trip to the dentist.

Got there to find the practise was having some fairly substantial construction work, so half the building was filled with builders drilling and the other with dentists!

The appointment was only a check-up, she gave the teeth the once over and told me I needed two fillings (one in the tooth with the hole, the other being in the corresponding tooth on the other side of my mouth) and a cleaning. She prescribed me a high flouride toothpaste and gave me some jaw exercises that may get my aching/popping jaw into check. I was a little disappointed when she said that was it for today and made my way back down the stairs to book a second appointment.

As I mentioned, the practise has builders in, which came to my advantage as they'd had a number of patients cancel their appointments and that they had two slots available within the next hour. Despite part of me wanting to run home and be done with it, I figured I'd only go through the exact same worry and lack of sleep all over again and snapped up the available appointment.

An hour or so later, I was back in the chair being handed what can only be described as Elvis' sunglasses! I open as wide as my jaw allowed an the next thing I know, I'm being told I've had the necessary injections. I didn't feel a thing! While we waited for it to kick in, they decided to do the cleaning. It was a little unpleasant (but very much an incentive to take better care when brushing at the gumline) and some parts of my gums are still a little tender but nothing I needed to pause for.

Strangely it took less time to prepare the tooth with the hole in it than the other, but both fillings were completely painless. Little bit of pressure as they put the filling itself in but again, nothing even approaching unbearable. My face is slowly starting to wake up, I've taken a couple of paracetamol and I'm back to work.

Dentist wants to see me every 3 months, so the appointment has been made for the end of January. I'm hoping that will finally be the checkup where I don't need any treatment!

 

[Sevena]

Yay, I'm so glad you got the treatment done, and thank God it was painless. It is supposed to be, so it's never good to hear stories of painful fillings. That's very handy about the cancelled appointments!