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Charlottechicken

I faced my fear of the dentist

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I've been to the dentist :anxious: I haven't been for about 14 years (and then required loads of work, replacement fillings, a crown etc). There's flouride in the water in Birmingham and I drink more milk and eat more dairy than anyone I know, yet still have weak teeth :evil:

 

Had an extraction (a molar) and some work done on my front tooth, all cleaned and polished now and back home with an achy jaw, as the anaesthetic wears off, and a big gap. I insisted on keeping the tooth :D (please note, I will not be keeping removed parts after my hysterectomy :shock::lol: )

 

The dentist is about 12 I think :lol: but very good, she was worried about me being really nervous and offered me an appointment at the Dental Hospital with general anaesthetic several times. However, I insisted she pull the tooth out and she did so really quickly, and not with pliers either. The needles they use are still huge though :shock:

 

At my first appointment she x-rayed my jaw and told me there had been a large abcess under the tooth she has now removed, but it cleared up! I wondered what the lump in my gum was :shock:

 

I feel quite pleased with myself now, albeit a bit hungry, and a bit stupid for not going for so long.

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I didn't read to the end of the post...pliers...feel ill.... :vom:

 

However, I have a friend who also didn't go for 14 years and she's fine and lived to tell the tale.

 

I am also a dentist fearer but I do go. Years ago there were only 2 dentists in Brighton allowed to give a GA, luckily one of them was mine. I nearly had to have one for some work (have had bad reactions to needles) but he was so good I didn't. I would pay a good dentist an awful lot of money to spare me my anxiety so good on you for being brave.

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My best mate is a consultant orthodonist, and her husband is a dentist, so being afraid of dentists is not allowed for my nearest and dearest :wink:

 

She makes me floss, and go for check ups every 6 months, and I haven't needed extra treatment for *Debs touches wood* around 10 years. So get into the habit of going is my motto :D

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Well done you for going! :clap: A friend of mine is petrified of the dentist and finally found one that she felt comfortable with....and then had loads of work done that desperately needed doing :D

 

The needles are only really long as they have to reach quite a long way into your mouth (that's what my Mum told me anyhow!) :shock:

 

That reminds me, I'm overdue a check up :anxious:

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Well done Claire :clap: Take some painkillers to help you sleep tonight.

 

I have had lots of work done on my teeth (my jaw is too small for my teeth, believe it or not :lol: ) from a young age. Its not pleasant. I try to imagine I'm somewhere nice- like a hot sunny beach- when I'm in the dreaded chair.

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I didn't go for a long long time, in the end I went as I kept having dreams of them falling out and me getting to 40 and being 'gummy'. So I took a huge huge step a couple of years ago and found a dentist practise that i was really comfortable with and to be honest the hardest bit was the first time opening my mouth to the dentist and showing him what a mess my mouth was.........and he was really nice (but honest) about it and it took a long time, a lot of work and money, but it wasn't anywhere near how bad I had built it up in my mind.

 

I also know that if I hadn't found the correct dentist for me, I wouldn't have stuck with the treatment.

 

So well done on facing your fear! :clap:

 

:D

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Well done you :clap:

I hadn't been for years when I was pregnant with ED (due to bad dentist my MIL made me go to) but made myself get registered and checked so I wouldn't pass on my fear to them. I think I've had the worse than can happen (teeth out, root canal filling, injection up the nose - well, it feels like it) and survived. However, we were due to go in last March for a check up, but our old dentist moved and we had a new one who couldn't do the original appointment and I was to get in touch. But never did :oops: Now am worried that we won't be registered and that I will also need a bit of work doing. I need to make the appointment, but keep 'forgetting'. So I know your fear all too well and it is a great feeling once you have been. Keep it up. :D

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Well done - and keep it up, now you've been you know there's nothing else needed at the moment, keep up the flossing and you should stay that way! I used to be terrified of the dentist, but had to have so much work in my late teens/early twenties that I just got over it. Finding a dentist you like and feel confident with is the most important thing, and it sounds as if you have found one.

 

Hmm, adult tooth fairy - must be worth folding money, at least!

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Well done. You must feel proud of yourself, to have conquered a fear like that.

 

Treat yourself to a sonic toothbrush. Expensive, but amazing. I was lucky enough to win one in a raffle a few months ago and I feel as if I have had a scale and polish every time I use it. :D

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Thanks everyone for the kind words, I do feel a bit pathetic though. I still have a sore mouth today, I think it could be my teeth trying to move round to fill the gap as they were very overcrowded. I am such a control freak normally and hate to show signs of weakness but felt rather ill at the though of going. I was told off by my dentist so will be going back in 6 months time. I had to get the teeth sorted because of the impending op (just over 4 weeks away :shock: )

 

I was unable to take painkillers because of prescribed meds ( which are NSAIDs but don't work as such on me). I wish the tooth fairy would come, that would be nice, I've got a new netbook to pay for! :D

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