I have raging, throbbing anxiety.
I need to go to the dentist. Pretty badly, I think – I can see .. things. In my mouth. Things that probably shouldn’t be there; things that would make a dentist say “tsk tsk” with dollar signs in his eyes. I’ve never had stellar oral health, and it’s bad enough right now that I KNOW I need to go to the dentist and I’ve started the process to make this happen instead of just thinking it really hard.
Dentists scare me. I haven’t been to a dentist in probably 8 years; that’s how much I hate going. I’m fairly certain I need a root canal, which is one of the many reasons I so very very very much don’t want to do this. It’s going to hurt, and it’s going to cost money. It’ll be uncomfortable, and there will be drilling. And needles. Multiple of each, because my teeth are probably going to require multiple visits to fix all the problems. I think there are bad things going on under my crown – they may have to pry it off. All of this terrifies me, and I DON’T WANT TO.
But I must. I don’t like having tooth pain. I don’t like being afraid to open my mouth; to think that terrible things are going on in there that will require sacrifice to deal with. I am a selfish creature; I don’t do sacrifice well. I am scared, okay. The dentist gives me nightmares.
Help? :(
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Can you get a friend to give you some T3’s or some other awesome painkillers? I pop those things before I go to the dentist’s for any reason. The idea is to have taken enough so that you’re aware they’re doing something painful, but you don’t care. But not to be totally stoned obviously.
If it helps at all, root canals don’t necessarily hurt. There are needles and there’s drilling, yes, and there’s the strangeness of knowing what they’re doing in there but, at least in my case, when the freezing wore off I felt completely and totally normal – no pain at all. Not even any discomfort.
My only tip is to floss, if you don’t already, daily for at least a couple weeks before you go. It toughens your mouth up and makes the visit much easier.
Actually, yeah. I had my first (and hopefully last) root canal last year, and it DIDN’T HURT AT ALL! I know, right? The needles were pinchy, but they actually gave me a topical anesthetic on the spots where they put the needles, so it was merely uncomfortable and not painful.
(Once, there was a dull throbbing, but I just made inarticulate noises until she gave me another shot :)
I have a very tiny mouth and the most painful part was actually the metal dental dam holder, which didn’t fit unless I was in a specific position. But I was totally scared and it wasn’t actually that bad. I’d even go back. Voluntarily!
Which is all meant to say: don’t worry. It might not actually be painful. Until you have to PAY, of course. That hurt. A LOT.
I agree with Jackie – it shouldn’t be as bad as you think it to be, and flossing regularly before going will help. But one thing you shouldn’t do is put off going. There’s so much that’s going on inside one’s mouth, the last thing you want is the bacterial underworld to take over and decide to try and extort the rest of your body.. that would be awful.
I can sympathize. I had many cavities when I was a kid. My dentist liked to stop them when they were small, so I had a couple done with no freezing at all. Ugh! Still gives me shivers.
Tips . . . take a regular strength painkiller before your appointment. This may help prevent a tension headache or small aches and pains from showing up.
Tell the dentist & hygenist right from the start when you phone in, that you get extreme anxiety from dental appointments. I’ve heard some of them are more likely and willing to medicate or sedate you if they know you have issues. I mean, it isn’t like they WANT to get bitten ;)
Make your next appointment right away before you leave the office. I do this because I hate phoning to make appointments and know that I’ll put it off even longer just because I don’t want to pick up the phone in the first place.
Have someone else take you there if you can. Having to drive yourself home after (even moreso if the dentist has medicated you) can just add unnecessary stress.
That’s all I can think of right now. Good luck!
I didn’t go to the dentist for like ten years but then finally I had to, partly because I knew something was wrong, and because I had dental coverage that was running out (got laid off). It wasn’t the most awful thing ever but it was pretty expensive. I didn’t have to get a root canal but I think they had to do like eight fillings and it took forever. They did it all in one go, which was both good and bad because my jaw was sore for a couple days afterward but at least I didn’t have to go back for round two. The worst part was when they gave my the shots – I started to have anxiety and the adrenaline made me all weird, but I got over it. Truthfully it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be, and I bet you it won’t be as bad as you think it will be, either. But it’ll still suck. Still, better to do it now than to put it off any longer! Good luck!
Ask for Ativan when you book your appointment – often if you are nervous the dentist will prescribe it for you. And, it makes dental adventures a LOT more fun.
hopefully your dentist has a tv embedded into the ceiling like mine does. then after the novocaine, i just zone his work out and relax while i watch trashy afternoon tv.
I don’t like the dentist either. In fact I’m scared of the light sea green doctor outfits, their little sea green haircaps and their white mouth cover. All frightening. I have been suffering from pain. I think a molar is cracked our something. Nothing like ibuprofen.
A couple of months ago I was in a similar position – I was uterly convinced I needed a root canal. And I didn’t wanna. And I’m self employed which means no dental insurance, unlike those with regular jobs and at least some coverage.
I put off going forever, and then readied myself for being yelled at for neglecting my teeth and having to pay large sums of money over multiple appointments.
Finally the news came… I had a small cavity that could and was filled on the spot, my teeth looked great, and I might want to think about going in for a cleaning.
I was never happier to spend my $140 or whatever it was :)
All told – it probably isn’t as bad as you are making it out to be in your head :P
I didn’t go to the dentist for waaaay too long after a very traumatic wisdom teeth extraction, and I’m really regretting it now. (Yup, I might need a root canal – we’re at the “we’ve filled it, now let’s wait and see what happens” stage). I have another appointment for a filling next week, which wouldn’t have happened if I’d been going more regularly and a dentist had spotted that I have a cracked tooth that’s apparently been like that for at least a couple of years. Oops.
Lesson learned – the sooner you go, the better (or the less-worse) it’ll be.
I also avoided the dentist for too long (seems like a common thing to do) and paid the price in more ways than one. Two root canals, four gold crowns, replacement fillings, four wisdom teeth out in a three year span. Plus all the usual scaling, gingivitis etc. I stopped counting how much money it cost, thankfully we have double insurance so it might have only cost me a couple grand, instead of 10. We actually had a “four year plan” to get all the work done. Ha! Now I am all good, normal health and you know, it’s funny how mouth problems really affect your overall health. My mood improved dramatically (so says the wife) after my first root canal. When you have chronic pain for a few months you just get used to it. Advil like candy, of course.
The root canals were no issue at all with all the freezing. The first one hurt like a motherfucker that night, I cried myself to sleep! Should have taken the drugs, and not gone to work afterwards. The second one I took the day off and just ate Advil. No problem at all. Stiff jaw for a few days, but that’s all. Crowns are no problem at all, nor are fillings. Really I was surprised at how much BETTER things had gotten in the years I wasn’t going. Better techniques, better drugs, better dentist. If you need a referral, my uncle has a nice little dental office on west broadway near pine. I’ve been to him before but prefer my guy over here. My wife says he’s the best dentist she’s ever been to, which is a lot. :)
The hardest part is getting there, but once you’re seated in the chair it’s really no big deal. Advil before hand is a good call!
If you want that referral drop me a line.
I’ve found that if you go to the dentist and say, “I’ve had a bad experience before and I’m really scared”, they say, “Here! Have some drugs! Here’s a drug so you don’t feel the needle! Here’s a needled so you don’t feel the drilling! Here’s a Cirque de Soleil video to trip you out!”
I haven’t had a root canal, but I have had teeth pulled. Thanks to the drugs, it went pretty quickly, and there was no pain ( even after the drugs wore off ).
My only advice is to go to the dentist sooner rather than later. As well as fending off the spawn of Cthulu that may be breeding in your mouth, getting medical stuff taken care of as soon as possible is always a good idea. A few years ago I hurt my back lifting some stuff, and put off going to the doctor. I actually never went, and now my back occasionally likes to ruin my day by being a literal pain in the butt. On the plus sound, I can crack my back like nobody’s business.
First off, I look up from the blog title and see the site title image consisting of salt water taffy and a scary stuffed animal with scary teeth, and I know that this spells trouble.
Don’t wait; don’t hope that is just goes away. Modern extractions and root canals are far less painful that scaling and cleaning, in my personal experience. Getting a tooth abscess ( nice way to describe a jaw infection ) hurts like hell, and you’ll need drugs just to look in the mirror in the morning.
I’m just in the process of getting a permanent bridge because I waited too long on a crown, and while it hasn’t hurt much so far, it’s taken me over my annual dental plan benefits limit, so $1600 and all other dental work this year are from my wallet. That hurts!
I would concur – the regular cleanings, scalings, etc are actually more uncomfortable than extractions, root canals, etc. I’m a little sadistic, so I like the cleanings, but you know…