Post by riomuffins on Oct 15, 2005 2:38:17 GMT -5
Greetings all!
I was hunting around online for information about dental anxiety when I found the Dental Phobia website and this board. After reading some of the messages and seeing how friendly everyone is, I thought I would register and share my story.
My name is Alisha and I am 24 years old and have been going to the dentist for years. Back in the day, around the age of 10, I had no problem with it. I could have drillings and they wouldn't bother me. But when I was in college and went for another filling, the dentist I saw (whom I had seen on many occasions and had fillings from before) was rushing me in his office. For some reason I wasn't entirely numb after nine injections of anesthetic, and he proceeded to work on me. It was very painful to say the least. After the drilling and filling was over, the dentist bolted. There was no goodbye, no apology, nothing. Since then I have been scared beyond belief of the dentist. I haven't been to one in (I'm sorry to say...) almost four years, since the last incident with the drilling.
Last month, I was munching on Sweet Tarts and two (yes, TWO) fillings fell out of two different molars on opposite sides of my upper jaw. The right tooth has a gaping hole but it hasn't been bothering me. The tooth on the left side, however, has a smaller hole but has been giving me excruciating pain. I went to see a dentist and she said the teeth would have to be pulled if I didn't opt for a root canal. For my own reasons, I decided to just have both pulled. But during that visit, my blood pressure was too high for any work to be done.
I went back in a second time last week. The nurse in the office told me that I could I have a heart attack or stroke in the chair if my Diastolic BP level was above 100 when they tried to work on me. I know she was trying to be honest, but naturally that didn't help my anxiety any. It made it worse. The second time I went to the dentist, my levels were actually borderline and work *could* have been done, but I got too scared and left.
The tooth on the right side of my upper jaw is starting to pain me. I know both of these teeth need to come out, and this next week I am going to make an appointment with a dentist who will give me nitrous (which I have never had before). I don't know if it will help, but it's a start.
I feel better already having shared my story and explored this forum. It's great to know that I am not alone in this. What I hope to gain is an idea of what other people like me have been through; what they did to deal with it and how nitrous helped, if used. A BIG part of my anxiety is thinking that I won't live through the procedure because my blood pressure is too high. I know this is probably an unreasonable phobia, but it's there and it's keeping me from getting much-needed dental work.
Thank you for reading my post.
I was hunting around online for information about dental anxiety when I found the Dental Phobia website and this board. After reading some of the messages and seeing how friendly everyone is, I thought I would register and share my story.
My name is Alisha and I am 24 years old and have been going to the dentist for years. Back in the day, around the age of 10, I had no problem with it. I could have drillings and they wouldn't bother me. But when I was in college and went for another filling, the dentist I saw (whom I had seen on many occasions and had fillings from before) was rushing me in his office. For some reason I wasn't entirely numb after nine injections of anesthetic, and he proceeded to work on me. It was very painful to say the least. After the drilling and filling was over, the dentist bolted. There was no goodbye, no apology, nothing. Since then I have been scared beyond belief of the dentist. I haven't been to one in (I'm sorry to say...) almost four years, since the last incident with the drilling.
Last month, I was munching on Sweet Tarts and two (yes, TWO) fillings fell out of two different molars on opposite sides of my upper jaw. The right tooth has a gaping hole but it hasn't been bothering me. The tooth on the left side, however, has a smaller hole but has been giving me excruciating pain. I went to see a dentist and she said the teeth would have to be pulled if I didn't opt for a root canal. For my own reasons, I decided to just have both pulled. But during that visit, my blood pressure was too high for any work to be done.
I went back in a second time last week. The nurse in the office told me that I could I have a heart attack or stroke in the chair if my Diastolic BP level was above 100 when they tried to work on me. I know she was trying to be honest, but naturally that didn't help my anxiety any. It made it worse. The second time I went to the dentist, my levels were actually borderline and work *could* have been done, but I got too scared and left.
The tooth on the right side of my upper jaw is starting to pain me. I know both of these teeth need to come out, and this next week I am going to make an appointment with a dentist who will give me nitrous (which I have never had before). I don't know if it will help, but it's a start.
I feel better already having shared my story and explored this forum. It's great to know that I am not alone in this. What I hope to gain is an idea of what other people like me have been through; what they did to deal with it and how nitrous helped, if used. A BIG part of my anxiety is thinking that I won't live through the procedure because my blood pressure is too high. I know this is probably an unreasonable phobia, but it's there and it's keeping me from getting much-needed dental work.
Thank you for reading my post.
