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Yes, I admit that I am quite anxious for this procedure coming soon.

Z

zzmel2

Junior member
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
4
Location
Las Vegas, NV
Hi:

I hope everybody is safe during the pandemic. For the longest time, I have been afraid of going to the dentist as my past experiences have been pretty bad with a few dentists, and yet, I had a few that were quite good. The good ones, I was given IV sedation, and once I had taken a healthy dose of Ambien. One other time, I had nitrous oxide. Mainly, my trust in going to the dentist has been rather bad. There were some that I trusted well. Others, not very well. Over many years, I did not go to the dentist. Because of that, my teeth became more decayed. Due to poor mouth hygiene. I developed what is called an infected sinus condition, which can become severe if I don't take care of the surgical procedure. Itis is dependent upon removing two teeth that are causing it. I thought, just maybe, I better take care of this. I have been on antibiotics to help control the infection. An ENT doctor will do the surgical procedure. It is just not two teeth that I need to have removed, but also, I have another seven teeth that must go. I am not looking forward to having nine teeth pulled at one time. My concern is this. How long can this take on the dental chair? I will have nitrous oxide. I have read in the search engines that it can take 5 hours, which includes fitting for dentures. During the 5 hours, will I have breaks and be removed from nitrous oxide? Can I be put on it several times? Will dentures be immediately made? Will I have to wear them after the procedure? What about aftercare? Doesn't your guns have to heal before dentures are in the mouth? Wouldn't there be a lot more pain with the dentures? Are the dentures permanent, or is it temporary?

I am apprehensive because of the procedure. I hope I will be comfortable as I have neck and shoulder pain due to spinal problems and possible bone spurs in the cervical area. I haven't read the posts here yet, but I certainly will. I guess that is all the questions I have. Thank you very much for your answers. Be safe from COVID-19, and have a great day.

Sincerely,

Mel
 
5 hours? For extractions? More like 15 minutes on a bad day. I assume the 5 hrs is going to be for the ENT surgeon to do their thing?

There's no issue with using Nitrous for 5 hrs if that's how long it takes.

Dentures can be made in advance if desired, it helps healing a bit by covering over the sockets but the dentures will need some adjusting in the first few days afterwards.
The dentures will be temporary if they're made to fit before the extractions, if you waited a few months after the extractions then they would last longer.

Hope this helps, sorry if I missed anything.
 
Thank you Gordon for your reply. It is a done deal now and you are right about the time it took for my teeth to be removed. It was done under Nitrous Oxide and basically pain free. Afterwards, I felt no pain whatsoever which told me the dentist was excellent in his procedures. He did pull eight teeth and I recovered rather quickly. The real problem I had was with the dentures. It was over 6 months that I had to wait. One of the problems was that the dentures had to be ground and shaped to fill my mouth correctly. To this day, I am still having problems with it. After the procedure and a couple of visits later, I was told that I would possibly have problems with the fit as my bone structure was not there anymore. If it were, I could have opt for implants. I tried all kinds of adhesives and none work well. I tried the pastes and strips and although the paste works better, it is gooey and gross. The teeth just doesn’t stick to the gums. I also have somewhat of a gagging sensation. I went back several times for alignments but still the same problem. I remember the dentist telling me they cannot guarantee me that I will have a good fit and whether I should go ahead with the dentures. I said yes, go ahead. Whether I made the mistake or not, I couldn’t say as I am taking a chance. Yes, I could have saved lots of money not doing it. So, it was my decision and stuck with it. What is done, is done. I could have lived without teeth but I wanted to be able to smile once more before I kick the bucket. I am 81 years old now and I don’t play the guitar and have no pets,now. I used to have two cats but they got old and had to put them down. I just take care of my wife as she is ill.

Thanks again for writing and just take care during these trying times. I wish you good day and be safe. :grouphug:

Mel
 
Hi Mel, thanks for getting back to us, I always wonder how these things work out.
Learning to work a denture at 81 is a challenge, but hang in there. False teeth don't really stick to the gums, not in the lower jaw at least, but are sort of held in place by the patient's tongue and lip muscles. Some people are really good at this and others less good, but it usually gets better in time.

It might be worth looking at a new denture in the next six months or so, once the sockets have fully healed. Meantime a resurface or relign of the dentures might help a bit.

I'm sorry to hear about your wife, give her a long distance hug from me.
 
Thank you Gordon, for your reply. It is nice to know there are people, like yourself that will communicate with me, having dental problems. Being, that you have a specialty of being a dentist, you can give other’s who have certain issues, with sound advice that can be helpful.

I tried playing the guitar but it is pretty hard at my age to learn. :frantic: I might still try, though.
Also, thank you for your response of my wife. I try the best I can but it is tiring. Just stay well and take care during these trying times.

Mel. :thankyou:
 
Dentistry has been very good to me, this is my way of trying to pay something back, Karma and all that :)
My guitar playing pretty much sucks, but it's the mental effort that it takes which is valuable, I can forget about all my cares and woes and concentrate on the music. You're never too old to learn something new.
 
Can you not have iv sedation if it will take that long? My last op was 5hrs there was no way I could have been awake.
 
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