D Day D=Dentist

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
I'm not ashamed to admit I'm beginning to have full blown anxiety. :whiteflag:

I'm using distraction and trying to talk myself out of it. It's not working well. It's all I can do to NOT pick up the phone and cancel the appointment. You've no idea how hard it is for me not to do that. *sigh*

There are soooo many issues mixed in with just the dentist anxiety it makes it much more complicated. The thought of sitting around for 4-6 wks waiting for the gums to completely heal for the dentures has me depressed and it hasn't even happened yet. The thought of the dentures themselves has me wanting to toss my cookies.:(

It is stupid, I know that, but at this point that knowledge is not helping either.

I'm afraid he's not going to put me to sleep for the pulling. If he doesn't I'm afraid he won't listen that it takes tons of local anesthetic to work on me. I'm afraid he won't stitch the gums when he's done.........and I'm extremely prone to dry sockets even if I don't touch a cigarette for days after. And believe me, that is it's own version of hades on earth for those who've never experienced it. I'm afraid he's not going to give me adequate pain medications for after. It's damp outside which gives me sinus issues and the drainage causes me to cough my head off when lying on my back......which of course is the position I'll basically be in.:tongue:

He has no clue how much faith I'm putting into him. lol

Then Mom is driving me nuts about the whole credit card thing. She wants to make sure it goes smoothly and worried about doing it right. ack!

Odds are it will go off without a hitch, he'll stitch the gums since he's removing so many teeth at once, and based on the fact he was considerate enough to give me valium for before the appointment, he will probably give me good pain medications to get me through the 1st 48 hrs.

But that is the voice of reason. And my anxiety could care less about reason right now. lol

I am going. I have to do this and I know it. I know once it's all done and over it will be worth it. It's just getting to that point.:tongue:

One more hour and I can take the valium. After that.......hopefully the anxiety will come down a few notches. ughhh
 

ThreeShadows

Quid me anxia?
Oh, Lisa! You are one of the bravest women I will ever meet. I will be thinking of you today and praying that your dentist treats you with the respect and compassion you deserve. You know you can do this and that you will ultimately feel such relief.
 

busywend

Well-Known Member
You can do this! I am sure he will put you to sleep and you will not feel or remember a thing. Just dream happy thoughts!

Happy valium!
 

Mattsmom277

Active Member
Way to go! In spite of all of that, you're going. I'm in dentophob envy. I just know all will go well and I'm glad you're taking care of it. I am also verrrry glad he prescribed you the valium to help ease your fears and anxiety. We're all here for you. I'll send you cyber orajel, popsicles, mashed potatoes, homemade apple sauce, homemade soup and a ton of courage!
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Well, I didn't back out. lol

And I'm not in excruciating pain either. Mostly because he didn't take all of them at once despite the fact that I wanted it done that way. He explained that he believes proper nutrition is important in healing and if he'd done it the way I wanted it would have been a few days before I could've eaten much of anything at all just due from the soreness, let alone pain. So today he removed the upper teeth from the right side of the mouth. No IV sedation. No gas. So if it hadn't been for the valium I took an hour before the appointment I'd have ran out of that office. lol

Seriously though this is one of the most compassionate dentist/man I've met in years. And he is darn good at what he does. He listened about me and the way local anesthetic doesn't seem to take well with me. Gave me ample amts and patiently waited to be certain they were working. I'm not going to say it was a breeze. Cuz it wasn't. Didn't hurt at all...........but I'd have preferred to be asleep. lol But honestly it took a very short period of time for the teeth to be removed. He gave me good pain medications to alternate with ibuprofen to keep the pain at bay. And he stitched the gums. (yay!)

He told me to eat once the anesthetic wore off........of course only very soft not hot foods today. He doesn't want me going hungry. I will say that the vicodin / ibuprofen alternated every 2 hrs is working wonderfully at this point. Although I'm a bit stoned. Which surprises me as vicodin really doesn't normally do that to me. I came home and took a nice long nap,. I don't think it's going to be that horrible.

Next week we do the same thing to the left upper teeth. Then the following week the bottom teeth. But I won't be pulling all the bottom afterall. There is nothing wrong with most of the bottom front teeth, so a bridge will be made instead of lower dentures. My Mom was a bit surprised that I'd changed my mind at the last min. But I just can't forget mother in law telling me to keep to a bridge with the lowers as long as possible as the lower denture is the hardest to fit properly and keep in place when you wear them.

He says I'll have my new teeth in plenty of time for thanksgiving. lol

I already have the script for the valium for the next appointment. But honestly I don't think my anxiety will be as high next time. At least I know he'll do his best not to hurt me.

And so now I've taken my last dose of pain medications for the night and am off to bed.
 

Mattsmom277

Active Member
Well, thats fantastic!! And now that you've gone through this process, the next few won't be as daunting since you know the drill (pun intended lol).

Take good care of yourself and Thanksgiving is around the corner!
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Lisa I am so thrilled. As you know we are trying to do this with Tony. He had a horrible toothache Tuesday night and couldnt work yesterday. I called a place in Wilmington NC that I just heard about ( not the place he has been going to because they want a ton of money) and they were going to work him in yesterday but by the time we got there they had closed due to bad weather! Ugh. We traveled almost an hour and a half just to find out they were closed. But the note on the door said the appts for that day would be scheduled for next Tuesday.

Tony is kinda afraid to change to this place because the other place said they would pull everything and fit for the dentures the same day and he would come home with dentures that day. I told him that didnt sound like the best plan because they would be fitting him on swollen gums and I thought it would be better to get another opinion at this new place. Especially since this new place does the teeth for a ten dollar donation!!! Its a Catholic charity clinic. The other place would be almost $800. I think we need to get the second opinion.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Janet...........honestly, tell Tony I'm not hurting that bad. After the 1st day it's just been mostly sore, but the chilly weather can make it ache. Ibuprofen handles it just fine. Honestly, even the 1st day wasn't that bad cuz he had me doing the pain medication and ibuprofen every 2 hr thing.

This guy seriously I could hug. lol NEVER thought I'd say that about a dentist in my life.

Been a bit drugged, so not sure if I mentioned the plan or not. He removed all the right upper teeth on tues. This left me the left side of my mouth to be able to chew with so I could keep eating. This next tues it will be the left upper teeth or the right bottom teeth......not sure but he only takes out 1/4 at a time so that you always have a side of the mouth that can tolerate eating even if it's soft food. That way you get plenty of nutrition to heal faster. The stitching is awesome! For the 1st time ever I have no dry socket to contend with. *knocks on wood* Also it meant I could smoke 3 hrs after the procedure if i wanted. Which to a smoker is a big deal........it lessens the anxiety. Not that I smoked much that 1st day. lol I came home, waited for the medications to work and took a nap.........a long nap. lol The ride home for me actually was the worst part. No pain medications and I throw off anesthetic fast. So I'm saving a pain pill for the ride home next time.

While I'm not thrilled with having teeth pulled 4 wks in a row..........I do think he's right and it's better. husband had all his done at once and he had the denture put in right away.......and honestly he was near tears 24/7 despite the pain medications and couldn't eat for days because it was just too painful. He's had the dentures relined endless times and they have never fit properly still. And now he refuses to wear them until we can get them relined yet again. ugh

I've never understood the principal behind putting the dentures right in after having teeth pulled. Your gums have been abused and are swollen and will swell more. As they heal they'll shrink. Wearing dentures during this time is not going to stop that process. They're going to shrink to what they'll be regardless. I think it actually started as a way the patient could possibly eat.....but people I've seen had it done that way wanted no part in eating for several days following. (I ate a boiled egg and pudding that night) Or maybe simply because some people can't bare the thought of going without teeth for a few weeks. The gauze was uncomfortable enough while having to keep it on until the bleeding stopped........I couldn't imagine having a hard denture against the area. *shudder*

When I'm done he'll take a mold of the healed gums. Then the dentures will be made from that mold. Which makes sense it will fit better as the gums have already healed and stopped shrinking.

I'm actually not dreading tues appointment. Now that I've got the process started I'm eager to get through it and be done.

Give Tony a hug for me. I hope he can get in soon and get his started.
 
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