Wisdom teeth, infections, and panic.

[JerBear23]

Hello, I am a 26 year old man with horrible dental fears.

My wisdom teeth have been in a state of decimation for six years now. All of the tooth that existed beyond the gum line is now gone and there are little pits that have begun to close up around the remaining tooth. They have both been infected for as long as I can remember, but I will not go to a dentist again, the last time I went to a dentist they turned me away because my blood pressure was through the roof. What I did not tell them is that I had a severe panic attack in the waiting room before I was called back. When the lady saw my teeth she quickly understood that I am desperate for help. Most of them are now beyond the point of fixing, they are for the most part totally shattered.

What got me into this situation? Horrible habits and non existent hygiene. for the last 18 years I've been drinking several cans of Mountain Dew every day. Sometimes as many as 12 or 16 cans, while only brushing my teeth in the morning.

I am fairly sure that these infected teeth are going to kill me. I don't have insurance, I don't have a means to pay for costly surgeries, plus I am probably too panicky to go through with it anyway. What am I supposed to do, sit here and die? I mean, its got to be coming soon. I haven't experienced any pain in my teeth for almost a year now. Before then they would ache all the time. What has changed? Has the infection moved out of my gums and into my bloodstream?

-Jer

 

[JerBear23]

I probably wouldn't know how to reply to this either, its just a bad situation no matter how its looked at. I just mainly want to know how long its going to be before my infections spread to my heart and cause me to suffer a heart attack. Its been six years since I noticed the infections.

 

[fatcat]

Oh JerBear, I'm sorry to hear of your problems.

I can't answer your question about the infections but I hope there will be a dentist along shortly who can give you some answers and hopefully help you out.

There are some people on this forum (a lot more experienced than me) who could give you advice about techniques to calm anxiety and advice on things like IV, Vallium etc which may be an option to help you get through an appointment.....You could try posting about your experience and anxiety in the support section and see what replies you get there.

Sorry I havn't been much help just wanted to let you know you are not alone.

 

[Cielo]

I'm sorry you're going through this. You're much too young to be faced with such worries.

I can't give you an answer, I apologize. All I can do is hope that you find help and can put this behind you. Posting here was a big step in that direction, I lurked for a long time before gathering the courage to speak up, and it felt really good to find I wasn't alone.

You're not alone, either. So many here have been exactly where you are and are in various stages of conquering the phobia and getting on track to oral health.

You know something has to be done asap. Now you have to find out just what all that "something" is. It's probably not as drastic as you might think... I've noticed that many forum members have been pleasantly surprised that their particular case wasn't nearly as dire as their imaginations suggested.

There are ways to deal with your anxiety, and ways to deal with the expense. But you need to make the call to get started. Find a dentist you're comfortable with and start from there.

You can do this!

 

[JerBear23]

Thanks for your kind words fatcat, I do know that I am not alone.

I really don't plan on having any teeth removed or on going to the dentist at all. I've long ago discovered ways of squashing the anxiety. I've also found ways to come to terms with the fact that I am doomed to live with a bacterial infection for the rest of my life, however long that may be. You know, these symptoms ruined my life a very long time ago. Now I am just curious as to how much longer its going to be.

 

[Zzzdentist]

You could look into sedation dentistry or try taking a sedative before dental work. Sometimes tackling one tooth at a time can reduce costs. Often what can happen is that the tooth abscesses, pain ensues, and over time it settles down. That's not necessarily a sign that all is well again, but probably more due to the abscess draining adequately through an opening. It's usually still a good idea to have things taken care of to avoid future flare ups.