Visiting the dentist...

Anyone here scared as I am of having to go with the dentist?

I have nightmares about it. When I have an appointment I don't sleep the night before I am so scared. I haven't been to a dentist's in about 10 years. I won't tell you all the repair there is to be done but only that one of my teeth broke a couple of weeks ago. It was a temporary root canal till I could get a.... darn the name in English escapes me. In French it is a couronne.

It costs a whole lot, I am scared to the point of feeling horrified...


Why am I posting this?


AHHHHHHHHH

a crown?

i was recently in the same boat. my teeth hae never been really bad. but i had a bad experience where an inexperienced hygenist cleaned my teeth around 1994, and i didn't go back to the dentist until about 2005. while they said my teeth were in surprisingly good shape, and i had no cavities, i did have a little pocket they were worried about, and i did have considerable buld up, especially around a permanent retainer i have on the back of my front teeth.

it took two two hour visits to get them "mostly clean", but not polished. it was brutal. not to scare you anymore! i'm not scared of the dentist, but i kind of dread it for sure.

bring an mp3 player if you have one. load it with soothing music.

good luck! we're rooting for you! (pun intended!!!)

Thanks eric. A crown! Exactly the word!

My bad experience was when I was a kid of about 4 or 5, can't remember too clearly but back then they took drop-out butchers to... Nah just kidding about the butcher part but that guy could have been one though. And ever since I have been terrified of going to get my teeth looked at. I only go when it's a case of emergency.

Anyway, I think I'm developing a problem to the gum tissue just below the cracked root canal work I had done 10 years ago. Looks like there's no escaping this visit now.

I'll bring my iPod, good idea!

ever seen the movie marathon man?

Nope and I don't plan to during this lifetime. :girl:

haha i don't think i went to the dentist for full year after i saw that movie the first time.

I think I can top all that.
Until this incident, I thought I was thought in a dentist's chair.
One of many of my dentists turned out to be my worst nightmare.
My dentist told me that one of my old crowns needed replacement. He physically "hammered" the old crown out. The procedure felt like he was using one of those jack hammers used to cut concrete. After I paid for the new crown and after he put it in, he told me that I had bone infection above the tooth which was holding the crown. Before I went to a specialist for surgery he hammered out the new crown, also. During the surgery the surgeon practically chiped away my tooth to get rid of the infection. In the middle of the surgery, my mouth full of blood, the surgeon told me that she could not continue, because my tooth was broken and she could not shave it down enough to get rid of the crack. I am pretty sure that the main dentist cracked my tooth during the hammering process. I still had to pay the surgeon for the partial prcedure. I asked for my money back from the main dentist, but he did not budge. I reported him to ADA, but they came up empty as far as finding any fault with his operation.
But, I have to tell you that this was the only time I cried in a dentist's chair.
The other incident was with a different dentist. During my root canal, she was training an assistant. The medication the assistant put in my roots to kill the roots spilled out into my mouth. The dentist did not say anything and the assistant did not know any better. I asked to rinse my mouth, yet I was told to keep my mouth open. The stuff remained in my mouth during the whole prodecure—about 45 minutes. Same evening, inside my mouth started peeling and turning brown. I left a message on their machine that night and went there first thing in the morning. By that time, half of inside my mouth was peeling and ended up blistering. I questioned them several times, but all I was told that they put hydrogen peroxide in my mouth. The dentist played it down and minimized the situation. It took me a while to research about what could happen, but I gave up and forgot about it.
The bad part about dentistry is that you never know what they are doing to you, and if anything goes wrong, it is your word against theirs.
So, good luck to all of us.

neye:

so there you go MHC. nothing to worry about, eh?

This is definitely a thread you can sink your teeth into! (sorry). Actually I know what you are going thru. Have a couple of crowns I need also - not a pleasant experience but it does end - don't go and you just prolong the pain and potentially more serious situations. You will definitely be in our thoughts!

As I think about my last visit (two weeks ago) I realize the moment I became concerned - when I saw all his fancy equipment was powered by Microsoft!:bandage:

I havent gone to the dentist in a while. I dont like going and I dont think anyone really does lol. It seems not matter how much you brush, floss or whatever they always tell you 'you arent doing it enough' My dad didnt have his first cavity until he was 36, Im hoping I have that same luck!

macAttack said:

ever seen the movie marathon man?

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is it safe?

After all those bad experiences, I was not deterred. Even though now I sit in the chair white knuckled, I had two more crowns and a bridge done recently. I believe in the saying "Ignore your teeth, and they'll go away". I have a Water Pick and an Oral-B Professional tooth brush set. One of my friends gave me a tip before going to the dentist. Take a couple of Tylenol to ease your pain. You certainly don't want to feel the needles going in your jaw bone. Oouuchh!

:closed: :closed: :closed: :closed: :closed: :closed: :closed:

I'm not afraid.. I actually like going to the dentist.. It's been over 8 years since I've seen one.. Mainly due to the fact they're d@mn expensive.. I've been dying to go see one and get my teeth all fresh and cleaned good.

Pulse-8 said:

is it safe?

Click to expand...

ROTFL

Good one, Pulse!

OMG

Hammers, cracked tooth, surgery, powered by Microsoft...



AUGH!!!

I believe in the saying "Ignore your teeth, and they'll go away".

Click to expand...

So do I. When I go, I really have to. I have had experiences kinda similar but yours are even worse. Infection had spread to my jawbone once and the dentist drilled in my bone, sutured me up then sent me home. It hurt so much, I saw stars and nearly fainted I don't know how many times on the way home.

punkr0x0r I wish I had your attitude. When I'm in that chair I'm so tense, I have to think about letting down my legs to relax, they levitate off of the chair and they feel like 2"x4". My arms grip the armrests like I was clinging to a window ledge, hanging 100 meters in the air...

Anyway, I'll call tomorrow for an appointment. It could only get worse.

I never used to be scared of the dentist - in fact whilst at high school I used to hate giving presentations and such the like so if I knew there was one coming up I'd go to the dentist and book an appointment for that day (Or get my mum to) I'd quite happily sit there why they poked and prodded around - heck I didn't have to do the presentation which actually did scare me

Once I left high school; for no real reason I left it a few years - far too long really before going back to the dentist. There was nothing wrong as far as I knew but just thought I should really go make sure everything is ok. Again I was not scared at all in fact it didn't bother me in the slightest. Unfortunately I needed to have a 'filling' in 2 of my back teeth The appointment was for the following week - I went home - felt gutted that I had to have my first filling but not bothered about it. Then the day came for the filling - I was absolutely fine - went to the dentist and sat down in the waiting room.

Whist I was sat there I heard that sort of whining noise coming from a dental drill - that was it - I felt as sick as a dog and my legs started going like jelly I could feel my self going white as the blood drained from my cheeks - I felt icy cold.

I kept telling myself to grow up stop acting like a kid (this was only 2 years or so ago). Eventually after what seemed an eternity of listening to that whining noise, they called me in. I got up walked in sat down - Dentist told me what was going to happen and did what he had to do.

I was so nervous - but more because I didn't know what to expect rather than anything else.

It wasn't as bad as my mind started thinking it might be so I still don't mind going to the dentist - although that whining noise hits my like a tonne of bricks every time I hear it!

Oh definitely! That sound drives me insane with anguish. It's like it tears into your brain or something.

I read somewhere they were trying to manufacture dentist drills that would be a lot less noisy. The thing is, they have to let go of hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of equipment to get these new contraptions. Not sure the dentists are too crazy about that one.

I also read that for less severe cavities, some dentists use a laser drills that will remove superficial cavities. No noise, no pain, no anaesthetics necessary.

MHC- at least your dentist can lose his/her customers if they do a bad job. I go to whoever has the time to clean my teeth. Last time it was done in the south pacific while going through a bit of a monsoon... needless to say I had a couple of scrapes on my gums from the whirly cleaner thingy as the dental tech. fell over onto me while the ship was rocking.

Nothing to be too scared of, at least you don't have a rocking ship to add to your problems.

Oh man! How very true, nuke!

I absolutely hate the dentist. I hate the stupid polish crap they use. The mint flavor tastes like soap. But worse. Actually, a mixture of soap and gasoline. But something cool they have whee i live is a dentist that gives you a shot and actually puts you to sleep before doing any work and then does the work and wakes you up after. Pretty cool.