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Trauma of dentists

Suzanne

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
Had to have a tooth removed and thanks to my God, Jehovah, anxiety was at it's lowest, however, on that chair, watching the dentist getting ready, felt like a lamb to its slaughter. Then, he starts pushing and prodding and scraping and the noise of the instrument was piercing my head, so I had to put a hand up over my ear, but he told me to put it down and then, the bright light on my eyes, which happily I could just close my eyes. He was not one bit gentle and it was making me think: if you are having that much trouble removing a tooth, and I have had no pain, then surely, I do not need the tooth removed? Usually, I would sit there, quietly and torturelly as it happens, but suddenly realised that it is my tooth and I have a voice and if I want him to stop, that is my right, so I did say stop and his reaction was VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. He reacted in such a rude way and could not comprehend why I asked him to stop? I tried to explain the logic and did listen to what he said in return, but for some reason, it was like stopping someone who was enjoying the thrill of removing a tooth and he did not like that!

It is now removed and in more pain then before it was removed.

I feel so emotional right now. :confused:
 
I have had a lot of dental work including extractions. I found using ice packs most beneficial in keeping the swelling down and reducing pain. Here's a link with instructions. It's titled wisdom tooth, but the icing technique is good for any extraction.

Aftercare & Recovery | Wisdom tooth center

I also want a dentist with great 'Chairside Manner'. From long experience I can endure just about anything but having a dentist that shows care and consideration makes it oh so much easier while in the chair, and having one you can call if you are having problems gives peace of mind. So if at all possible try and find another dentist. I travel an hour to see mine. He used to have an office close by but moved and its worth the travel to see one you are comfortable with.
 
Odd that the dentist hadn't gone over communication
signals prior to the procedure. It's usual for them to
tell you how to indicate that you need a break.

I make a point of telling new hygienists that I may need
to support my lower jaw during extended activity. So they
don't interpret it wrongly and suppose I'm wanting to
grab them or something.

The dentist already knows.
I've been going to him for about 10 years.
 
I suffer a lot at dentists too. This one dentist put a silver filling in my mouth when l specified no silver, then covered it with a white top which wore away, then l needed to have my tooth drilled to remove silver. Then when l called to complained, the lady denied l had ever gone there.

She tried to get my daughter to buy some expensive set-up for her clicking jaw noise, luckily she never succeeded.

You will get better and feel zero pain. Sorry that they were so unprofessional in treating you.
 
I went to the dentist a few years back for treatment on an abscess - he wanted to see where the healthy tissue was so he could clear the abscess, and stuck a needle down into the tooth (without anaesthetic) until it hit the nerve, and boy, did that hurt!! I have never been to a dentist since then.
 
I mean it's 2022. can't they come up with something less barbaric for teeth? last 2 times i visited the dentist, I was literally shaking. I had not control of the terror that hit me. i can laugh about it now, but boy! anybody know if how far a damaged tooth can get before it's unsavable. i have a tooth near the front and it's fractured (no pain) and i'm afraid of it falling out. maybe if i chug a gallon of milk daily, it will heal hehe. i'll be fat but have a tooth.
 
If you tell your dentist about your high anxiety, they can prescribe one lorazepam pill to take an hour before your visit. It won't get you hooked, it'll just relax you.
 
If you tell your dentist about your high anxiety, they can prescribe one lorazepam pill to take an hour before your visit. It won't get you hooked, it'll just relax you.
seriously?! i'm on lorazepam now (temporarily) so i can see how that would help. good to know. i wish i could just get knocked out. to me, anything dentist related (besides cleaning) is surgery.
 
Nitrus Oxide before, Lidocaine during the procedure. One prepares and relaxes you, the other deadens the pain.

Problematic though as only so many dentists seem to use Nitrus Oxide.

I've always had a low threshold for dental pain. Even more painful is the disparity of what they may charge. Where my dentist charged me $20 for Nitrus while my endodontist charged $100. Outrageous.
 
I’m sorry to hear that! I hate dentists too. I now see a special needs dentist. That seems to be a lot better for me.
 
I lost m6 trust in dentists because of the office that went to for a couple of years. They ruined my teeth. The one dentist was extremely rude and condescending towards me and I think that he got fired after I complained about him to my insurance company. And this office messed up three different crowns for the same tooth that kept coming out every three months in only two years and they all had serious flaws and my tooth broke off completely because of how badly they kept messing it up. And then they’d leave me in the chair for literally two and a half hours every single time and the office wasn’t even that full! They’d do this to me during a root canal or cavity filling and a six month check up. If my appointment is at 1:30, I shouldn’t have to wait until 2 to be seen and only attended to for ten minutes before being left alone at 2:10 and not having anyone check in with me and then have the dentist finally come see me at 4:30. I wasted entire afternoons in that office just to get my teeth cleaned. I didn’t see a dentist for years because I couldn’t trust any of them except for a family friend but he didn’t take my insurance and I couldn’t afford to pay out of pocket and I felt bad about making my dad pay for anything that I needed. I sort of knew that I needed to see a dentist but I couldn’t find anyone that took my insurance and wouldn’t make me feel like I was just cash for them. It also didn’t help that part of the abuse I went through involved my abuser being extremely obsessed with dental care and white teeth that she’d make me brush and floss so hard and for so long that I kept spitting out some blood because my gums were constantly being dug into and scrapped pretty hard and a toothbrush that I had being using for two weeks looked like I was using it for several months. That was a horrible thing to go through and brushing so hard to make your teeth look perfectly clean to avoid being hit for not doing it “right.” Seriously, I’d use those flosser picks that claim to be unbreakable but they always broke on me and you could see blood on the floss from where I was sawing my gums away.
 
Had to have a tooth removed and thanks to my God, Jehovah, anxiety was at it's lowest, however, on that chair, watching the dentist getting ready, felt like a lamb to its slaughter. Then, he starts pushing and prodding and scraping and the noise of the instrument was piercing my head, so I had to put a hand up over my ear, but he told me to put it down and then, the bright light on my eyes, which happily I could just close my eyes. He was not one bit gentle and it was making me think: if you are having that much trouble removing a tooth, and I have had no pain, then surely, I do not need the tooth removed? Usually, I would sit there, quietly and torturelly as it happens, but suddenly realised that it is my tooth and I have a voice and if I want him to stop, that is my right, so I did say stop and his reaction was VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. He reacted in such a rude way and could not comprehend why I asked him to stop? I tried to explain the logic and did listen to what he said in return, but for some reason, it was like stopping someone who was enjoying the thrill of removing a tooth and he did not like that!

It is now removed and in more pain then before it was removed.

I feel so emotional right now. :confused:
Find another dentist. There is no excuse in being rude. I had a root canal done and it was excruciating because infected. He was calm and polite.
 
Had to have a tooth removed and thanks to my God, Jehovah, anxiety was at it's lowest, however, on that chair, watching the dentist getting ready, felt like a lamb to its slaughter. Then, he starts pushing and prodding and scraping and the noise of the instrument was piercing my head, so I had to put a hand up over my ear, but he told me to put it down and then, the bright light on my eyes, which happily I could just close my eyes. He was not one bit gentle and it was making me think: if you are having that much trouble removing a tooth, and I have had no pain, then surely, I do not need the tooth removed? Usually, I would sit there, quietly and torturelly as it happens, but suddenly realised that it is my tooth and I have a voice and if I want him to stop, that is my right, so I did say stop and his reaction was VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. He reacted in such a rude way and could not comprehend why I asked him to stop? I tried to explain the logic and did listen to what he said in return, but for some reason, it was like stopping someone who was enjoying the thrill of removing a tooth and he did not like that!

It is now removed and in more pain then before it was removed.

I feel so emotional right now. :confused:
My mother was a dentist and offered hypnosis as a substitute for general anesthesia which is often done when patients are suffering from anxiety.
The patients remained calm and were not in pain.
 
My current dentist is pretty amazing. I always make it a rule to inform any professional that I have HFA and extreme anxiety levels so they're better prepared for my reactions and can help sedate me. Getting X-rays was borderline impossible at their office, so they sent me out to get panoramics free of charge. Even getting my wisdom teeth out was painless and stress-free.

With that said, I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do about a few cavities that need fillings. They don't like to sedate people for stuff like that, and laughing gas does some really bad stuff to me. Gulp.
 
Had to have a tooth removed and thanks to my God, Jehovah, anxiety was at it's lowest, however, on that chair, watching the dentist getting ready, felt like a lamb to its slaughter.

This is pretty much my reaction to dentists and surgery. Once I'm in the OR or chair I freak out and start demanding all the drugs they're allowed to give me. Thankfully they give out the good ones in the OR
 
What prevents people from being unconscious for these extractions? Is that really not an option? I've only had wisdom teeth pulled.

But once, I had to have a bridge put back in. He glued it in then said he just had to do a bit of drilling to have it fitting perfectly. He said it would just take a few minutes so there was no need to numb it. Thirty minutes later, blood all over my shirt, I survived one of the most painful experiences of my life. He apologized and said proudly, "At least it will definitely never fall out again. It's perfect." Less than a decade later, it fell out again. A different dentist painlessly put it back in.
 
There are plenty of dentists that advertise sedation dentistry. It is popular.
I would think they are pretty expensive though. I've never been to one.
That idea of using hypnosis would appeal to me, although I've never seen a dentist
that offered that.

I always have bad reactions to sedation unless it is the full TKO general anesthesia type used for serious surgery. I'm more afraid of the sedation than the procedure.
Self- hypnosis is my answer.
I have a cousin who is a guided imagery psychologist. He taught me self-hypnosis.
A few things I've had done that everyone else gets sedation for are:

Eight teeth removed without sedation, just lidocaine injections. Two at a time.
Preparation for braces.

Cataract surgery. It was interesting to be awake and observe how it is done.
Must know you can be perfectly still. They are cutting on your eye with lasers.

Cardiac Catheterization. Not pleasant. Must be able to lay perfectly still
and you feel the wires going into the heart.

Core liver biopsy for cancer. Again, must be able to not move when they
stab the large finger sized needle into you and lay still for 15 mins. after as
they check the sample. No anesthesia of any kind.

I would not recommend this for anyone. It takes training professionally.
Also, self- control from martial arts training.
Just showing what hypnosis can do along with Zen meditation.
 

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