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...yesterday I made an appointment to see the dentist. Unfortunately, I was able to get in on Monday. I was expecting to work up to this for a couple of weeks, but no, they got me in right away.
For those of you who don't know my history with dentists... well, it began in my high-school years with an amateur serial killer. The short story of one telling experience: He removed a wisdom tooth without functional pain-killers, despite the tooth breaking; he kneeled on my chest as he hammered away at my jaw with some kind of medieval torture device; when I used to much laughing gas, he turned it off; said procedure lasted about an hour. This history was furthered upon a visit to a dentist a few years later, who replaced a filling without pain-killers, saying, "Oh, it's not very deep" before realizing he had to work in there for a while. And so forth.
I can count my positive dental experiences on two fingers of one hand, and negative ones on a couple of hands. I mean, have you had dental hygienists give you pain-pills (because novocaine doesn't do much for me) and then leave you alone in the little room as panic mounts and heart races, even though you hadn't really been worrying before that? And just as you're about ready to walk out, she returns and says, "Oh, I forgot to mention that a side-effect of those pills is heightened anxiety." Nice. Or dentists who screw up a filling so that it hurts all the time? And, when you go to get it fixed, he uses one of those horrific screamy-grindy tools to relieve the tension... without giving you pain-killers (again) because "You won't feel anything - I'm just grinding the filling," when in fact doing so causes a great deal of heat... and of course requires more work than he had expected, but doesn't give you anthing at that point because "I'm almost done." And so forth.
My favorite experience with the dentist took place in Seattle. I went in for a regular checkup - by "regular," I mean that my friends pushed me to go because it had been five years or so since my last experience in dental torture. Anyhow, and the dentist decided that the top wisdom tooth that stood opposite the bottom one (removed; see above) should come out. He sensed my resistance (or my cold sweat), so invited me to chat in his office, where I admired photos of him with Bruce Lee. He told me stories about what it was like to study under Lee, we talked martial arts, and after a while said, "Ready for that tooth to come out?" I couldn't well leave at that point, and after a shot or two of pain-killer that actually worked and some very careful work, he removed the tooth in one piece (unlike the one that my high-school dentist shrapneled). "Huh," he said, admiring the curved roots, "I see why your teeth are so difficult to remove. Mind if I keep this to train students? If they can do a root canal on this puppy, they can do a root canal on anyone."
Anyhow. So I get to see the dentist on Monday. It's been a few years, but I don't expect anything untoward to happen... then again, I never do. Wish me luck.
Chris
For those of you who don't know my history with dentists... well, it began in my high-school years with an amateur serial killer. The short story of one telling experience: He removed a wisdom tooth without functional pain-killers, despite the tooth breaking; he kneeled on my chest as he hammered away at my jaw with some kind of medieval torture device; when I used to much laughing gas, he turned it off; said procedure lasted about an hour. This history was furthered upon a visit to a dentist a few years later, who replaced a filling without pain-killers, saying, "Oh, it's not very deep" before realizing he had to work in there for a while. And so forth.
I can count my positive dental experiences on two fingers of one hand, and negative ones on a couple of hands. I mean, have you had dental hygienists give you pain-pills (because novocaine doesn't do much for me) and then leave you alone in the little room as panic mounts and heart races, even though you hadn't really been worrying before that? And just as you're about ready to walk out, she returns and says, "Oh, I forgot to mention that a side-effect of those pills is heightened anxiety." Nice. Or dentists who screw up a filling so that it hurts all the time? And, when you go to get it fixed, he uses one of those horrific screamy-grindy tools to relieve the tension... without giving you pain-killers (again) because "You won't feel anything - I'm just grinding the filling," when in fact doing so causes a great deal of heat... and of course requires more work than he had expected, but doesn't give you anthing at that point because "I'm almost done." And so forth.
My favorite experience with the dentist took place in Seattle. I went in for a regular checkup - by "regular," I mean that my friends pushed me to go because it had been five years or so since my last experience in dental torture. Anyhow, and the dentist decided that the top wisdom tooth that stood opposite the bottom one (removed; see above) should come out. He sensed my resistance (or my cold sweat), so invited me to chat in his office, where I admired photos of him with Bruce Lee. He told me stories about what it was like to study under Lee, we talked martial arts, and after a while said, "Ready for that tooth to come out?" I couldn't well leave at that point, and after a shot or two of pain-killer that actually worked and some very careful work, he removed the tooth in one piece (unlike the one that my high-school dentist shrapneled). "Huh," he said, admiring the curved roots, "I see why your teeth are so difficult to remove. Mind if I keep this to train students? If they can do a root canal on this puppy, they can do a root canal on anyone."
Anyhow. So I get to see the dentist on Monday. It's been a few years, but I don't expect anything untoward to happen... then again, I never do. Wish me luck.
Chris
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I will keep my fingers crossed that your proceedure is as bearable as the dentist can be.
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After a childhood free of braces, fillings or caps my dentist decided when I was sixteen that my wisdom teeth needed out. I opted for twilight sleep since the last thing I wanted was to be awake during the proceedure. My own dentist didn't do twilight sleep at the time so he passed me over to the guy who DID. Come the day - that dentist is off sick and two women not much older than me meet in the office. They jabbed me with a needle supposedly full of sweet oblivion and after a minute got to work. No painkiller needed since I was doped to the heavens, right? Only they'd not waited long enough for the twilight sleep to get in, just long enough that I couldn't move as they hacked away at my jaw. Instead of one wisdom tooth they took out two, one of them broke and they had to go slicing after it while giggling about their weekend.
Finished they hauled me out of the chair and left me in the waiting room for my mum to come get me. I bit through my lower lip and drooled blood on myself. By the time my mum got there she thought I'd had a stroke.
I didn't go back to the dentist until I was twenty seven.
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I shall be thinking good thoughts for you.
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They say it takes a minimum of 6 good visits to the dentist to undo one bad experience...you may be screwed in terms of getting over the fear, but may you at least have a more pleasant experience Monday.
Good luck!
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And if it takes six positive visits per bad one, I don't imagine I'll ever end up even. Unless I start going twice a year like normal people.
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Sounds like you need several strong drinks and a designated driver for your appointment.
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*pat*pat*
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Check back in and let us know how you're doing afterward, okay?
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ETA: Alcohol not a good idea. It makes you bleed more, which is why tattooists don't like for you to use it prior to work being done. Also, it drys out your mouth, ugh, that doesn't sound good prior to dental work.
Hang in there, I'll be thinking of you today!
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Good luck, I'll be thinking about you.
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I so sympathize.
I got felt up by a dentist who also completely fuggered up my bite by filing off a bit of tooth, and let's not talk about losing my nice pointy canines.
I'm going in Jan 8 to have four back (wisdom, but completely in due to having four bicuspids pulled in my teens) pulled.
Total sedation dude.
I'm seeing Dr. John Hay. He's also a military brat, and we chatted about that before we got down to the xrays and such. Then a consult two weeks later. Are you going to have stuff done right away, or consult first?
Commiseration (bumps fist).
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I hope I need no work done. I'm expecting nothing more than x-rays and a cleaning. They scheduled me for 1-1/2 hours to do this. Ugh.
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but i do.
good luck on monday. i think dentists are a little more civilized these days. :)
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My wisdom tooth story: my Dad took me to see two dentists. One wanted to pull them out immediately -- I was 17 and my wisdom teeth were just burgeoning nubs. Oh, and no anesthesia. The other, perhaps a more patient, kinder man, won me over. He was willing to use anesthetic and catch the wisdom teeth at a point when they were more developed, so as to make removal easier, but before they were so large that they impacted my other teeth.
He did the surgery four years later.
Still blows my mind that the first dentist was ready to do the operation that day.
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I know what you mean by disliking these kinds of counter-productive fears. Luckily, the dentist I visited today was kind - and horrified to hear my childhood story. "Dentistry has come a long way since then," she said.
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