Panic and dentists

[nufznuf]

This is my reply to Moose but I did not realize her post was older. Sorry moose.
I am having some anxiety too about dentists.. last night as I was trying to calm my self down in a panic mode....

OH MY GOSH. You have no idea. I am having MAJOR anxiety over dentists. I had a panic attack in the dentist chair and forced a dentist to move away from my face as I was in deep panic. He told me to leave his office and come back when I grew up. I was 25.
I am now almost 50 and I finally went back to a dentist due to a severe toothache that has come and gone since OCT. I found one who understand panic and anxiety he was very kind and gental and after doing a fancy panaramic x-ray, informed me that 4 wisdom teeth plus a molar ( the one causeing all the pain ) will all need to be removed and he wanted me to go to an oral surgan and he knew just the one to send me too.
My surgery is scheduled for Feb 22.
I will take one valum the night before and they will give me one an hour before my surgery and then they will put me OUT . I will be totally under and will wake up with 5 less teeth in my mouth.

my tooth hurts about every 3rd day right now. so far I am able to deal with the pain just using 800mg of motrin.
feb 22 is so close yet so far away.
so far only 2 panic attacks.

[TiredMama]

*raises hand*

I am scared of dentists and I can't handle it. The last time I went (I was 20 years old, I am now almost 27) I had to get the nitrious oxide just to calm me down.

[frankly]

((nufz))

Oh lord girl, do I feel for you. I have a calcium problem that was making my teeth desintirate and had to have ALL of them capped. The dentist and the nurses were having panic attacks from my panic attacks. He even had to quit because I was making him so nervous his hands were shaking. The nitrous oxide wasn't doing squatt for me, so they cranked it up, then cranked it up some more. Then I realized, they were laughing their heads off and I was still sitting there tight as a rubber band crying. So now I am prepared and so are they. The val. and a good dose of nitrus as soon as I sit in the chair, a pair of ear phones to drown out the sound of the drill and everyone gets through it better. (-:

I'll be thinking about you and saying a little prayer on that day.

Hugs
B

[historyteach]

(((nuf)))

I can completely relate.
My childhood dentist didn't "believe" in novicane. The jerk was a sadist! I lost two teeth, cuz he couldn't drill far enough down without hitting the nerve!

My dentist today is very gentle and understanding. He knows how scared I am, and takes his time. We've talked about it, and he told me that he knows no one *likes* to come to the dentist, but, responsible people come regularly and it's easier for us both as a result. Waiting for a problem only makes it more difficult for both the patient and the dentist; and more painful in the long run. Do yourself a favor and make yourself go twice a year for cleaning and check ups. It's worth it, even as scared as you are. Take a xanax if necessary. I did in the beginning, but, don't have to now. I'm a big girl now! :rof

But, I still hate it! LOL!

I'm glad you're getting the overdue work done. It'll be worth it in the long run. The pain will be gone. You'll be much happier.
I'll be praying for you, Nuf!

Shalom!

[angelgirl]

Wow nuf,,

I am sorry you had such a terrible experience with a dentist.. That is terrible.. To tell you to come back when you grow up!! That makes me sick!! I am guessing that was because it was so long ago, and dentist were not as good with patients as they are today? If you look around, there are many good dentist, that literally advertise, that they cater to "cowards" lol,, (like me),,, lol,, ( this is how I know they advertise as such)..

Well I am glad glaad you have a better dentist now. You surgery date is coming.
I have plenty on teeth stories I could tell. I am so afraid of dentists.
I let a tooth get really bad, due to being so afraid of dentist, that I walked around for
about 2 yrs with just a tiny sharp numb sticking out of my skin, but under my skin the tooth went all the way to the bone. It had already had a root canal years prior, so it didn't hurt, but it was sharp, and it didn't belong of course, plus it was just plain wrong..
I finally got brave enough,,, and went in and had surgery. Which ended up being much less of a deal than I made it to be..lol

But once again I have a tooth that has a huge cavity, and I haven't gone again. I don't know why I do this to myself. I don't know why I put myself through this. I keep telling myself I am going to make an appt. Ya know, I am just going to have to make one.

See I am allergic to the Novacain. I didn't know that, ( this was a different time,, when I was awake, of course) and he gave me a shot, and my heart started to race really fast. I mean really fast. I have do have panic disorder, and I thought it was just a severe panic attack. But I found out I am allergic to the adrenalin in the Novacain, ( or something that is similiar to adrenalin that is in Novacain). So they told me from now on when I have a shot, I have to have the Novacain, without that part of the medication in it.

So that's some of my story with dentists. There's more, lol, but,, I won't go into anymore. I know this is long enough.

I wish you the best of luck with your dental appt. You will be just fine.
I will be praying for you..
Becky

[justjo]

Hi Nuf,
Sorry you had a bad experience at a young age. Im 48 and I actually had a wisdom tooth taken out yesterday!! One also two weeks ago. Plus 2 big fillings. I too had put it off for years but the pain was making me a miserable person to say the least. All sorts of earaches, sinuses etc. I have had 2 out in 2 weeks and I sat there in the chair, eyes closed thinking, get this over with.!!!!
Im lucky, I found a great dentist 5 yrs ago and he jokes around and does the job really well. I think thats the most important thing, to find someone you are comfortable with.
I try to think about how Im going to feel once its over with. I have actually sat in the chair day dreaming about the perfect holiday I would plan and I nearly fell asleep.
Hope it all goes well for you.

[nufznuf]

well here I am , the day before my surgery. I just got off the phone with the nurse anesthesiologist who walked me thur the whole procedure that will happen tomorrow.
I have a Valium to take TONITE to help me sleep. When I arrive they will give me another Valium, then in an hour they will give me an IV with a pain medication and something to make me very sleepy. the plan is to make sure I am out completely. I can take some music to relax. The Oral surgeon called just before to make sure I was ok and not feeling too stressed out and let me know the anesthesiologist would be calling.
Last night I did have to take a couple of zanax to calm down...today I feel ok and the fact that I recieved 2 calls form the office to reassure me makes me believe I made the right choice in who to turn too.
Will post agin when its all over.

[warholian]

I also experience DEEP anxiety and panic in the dentist chair.

I actually cried once, because the feelings were so intense!! It has helped a lot to take a very mild anxiety medication before hand, and to have pain medication ready to take afterwards, since I'm part of a 15% that experiences EXTREME pain when freezing wears off. Things have gotten better since i talked to my dentist about it, and told him to keep me better informed about what he is doing to my teeth. He now tells me exactly what's going on when it's going on, and I feel a lot better.

[Wascally Wabbit]

Me too. I have had zillions of dentist visits.
Over the years I learned that I just have to calm myself. I always bring two stress balls, one for each hand. This helps a lot.

[grateful2b]

Gawd, my guts are clenched just reading though these posts..I am in my late 50's so you know I've got dental horror stories... I have a ton of work I need done , and I am so desparate to find a good dentist who specializes in people who are freaked out that I've put ads online locally asking who has a nice dentist.....sigh
good luck, nuf....

[nufznuf]

It has been quite the experience. I am now at day 3 post op and the Oral surgeon let me know that today may be the most painful. I think yesterday was more painful.
It was important to me to be completely knocked out there for I needed to be seen by an oral surgeon. It turned out that I was unable to be knocked out completely due to apnea. I would for get to breath and so they had to bring me back awake to the point I would respond when told to breath deep, but not so much as I was too aware of what was actually happening. I remember someone telling me to go to my happy place and I began to sing tho with much dificulty "Over The Rainbow" I sang it several times I am told and at one point asked them to remove their hand so I could sing. I settled on humming.
All in All...it was as close to a pleasant experiance as they could make it for me.

Thanks for all the replies and the support for this most stressful event.

[grateful2b]

Happy place...over the rainbow...that's hillarious!! Glad you survived, nuf