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Terrified, Irritated, Infuriated (Again!)

H

haeshin

Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2015
Messages
51
Right now I'm a sorry mess of fury and terror. As usual, a routine visit to the dentist for cleaning and check up ended with a need for multiple visits to get onlays for two of my teeth, both lower molars. Got one done and am now working on the other, but I'm getting random twinges, aches, and inability to bite down even on things like soft chicken without feeling a swelling of pressure in the tooth that was done. In contrast, the tooth that's a work in progress recovered way faster and better than the first one. The twinges are painless, the bite down pains not so much, but for a dental-fearing woman like me both are absolutely terrifying. Makes me think of root canals and god forbid tooth extractions, mistakes done during the onlays so they might have to break it open to re-do it. It's been over a month with very slight improvements so I'm starting to think that maybe I got an infection or a crack in the tooth or something, because with me there is ALWAYS SOMETHING MORE. ALWAYS. On top of that I'm feeling a spot of pressure at my left cheekbone, which is a sign of too-deep gum pockets that I've had before, something that worries me because that must mean something is wrong and requires terrifying treatment.


I brush twice a day, floss every day, use a water-pik floss, so WHAT THE GODDAMN THING AM I DOING WRONG? WHY DO I ALWAYS HAVE SEMI-SERIOUS DENTAL PROBLEMS? I can't have a single routine visit end with an actual routine visit. They ALWAYS FIND SOMETHING WRONG.

They also say that anxiety may be making me sensitive to twinges in the first place, that anxiety could be wearing down my body as a whole and not just my teeth, but HELLO. I wouldn't be having anxiety if there weren't twinges and such in the first place!!!!!!

My apologies for the rant and language, but seriously. I am scared and I am stressed, I am so sick of being scared and knowing that I will be for some time even if I work on that. I wish I can take all my dental problems, past present and future, and beat them with a stick like a psycho kid with a piñata. There's always something for me to worry about. Always. Just when I think I only have to look forward to clean up visits from now on, they find something that requires numbing shots and drilling and god knows what else. I don't think I've gone a year without them finding SOMETHING, and it's not them trying to scam me because damn, those guys at my dentist office are thorough with showing me what's wrong and making sure I'm ULTRA informed. The problems are very much real.

Great. Just when I think I've worked myself up so I'm more mad than scared, now I'm back to scared again. Damn it. My only comfort is that when I go back to the dentist in a few weeks, I WILL force myself to inform them fully of the problem. Problem is that at the same time I'm scared of finding out what said problem is!!!
 
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Hi haeshin,

sorry to hear about what you are going through. If I managed to attend regular visits and keep my oral hygiene routine right and would still get bad news at every visit, I would be very upset too.

What surprises me a bit is, that your dentist seems not to be ablte to identify the cause of your problems and give you some answers. If your hygiene is right and you keep coming regularly, then you shouldn't need any new work. If you do, then your dentist should discuss with you what is the cause - is it something about your diet, something about your dental hygiene or some kind of predisposition.. the main point of seeing a dentist regularly is to prevent problems.

Anxiety may make you sensitive to twinges, but if this is the only explanation your dentist can offer you then it might be a good idea to look around and find an another one.. would it be an option?

All the best wishes, may your tooth settle very soon
 
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