Dental Care Blues

[dreamr]

So......tell me your horror stories so I can forget mine. Really I am just curious if I am that odd, or if my dentist just likes to act like it.



Ok I'll give my tale first. But it will be three chapters
Ready to read a bit



Let's start as a child....oh about 3 or 4. I was born very anemic and had to take oral Iron from the time I started eating solid foods through untill my pre teens. As a child this was of course an oral suspension, though it was later a pill. The oral suspension unfortunately has the nasty side effect of permanently weakening the enamel on your teeth.

Needless to say my childhood was filled with cavities. Luckily my parents had wonderful insurance and cared about my teeth. Unfortunately in my teens I lost my gentle and caring childhood dentist in exchange for a psycho bastard with a love of novocaine. I was routinely seen on a 4 month basis for general exams and a ton of fillings. I discovered that I really hated the dentist!!!!!!!! To couple the issue I have had a life long phobia of needles. All needles, no matter their purpose. Ok so I have tatoos and piercings but for some reason that is different. I suppose my fear should be worded as a fear of hypo's. Even to this day and having given literally thousands of injections over the years to everything from a 3 gram baby lizard to a 300 pound diabetic. I still canot allow one to break my skin without a near anxiety attack and occasionally agressive and violent responses. (see I am wierd).... Honestly I thinnk I have only had one shot since about 15 and it was a TB test. No wait I think I got tetnus when I broke my foot a few years later. Damn I should update that.

Back on track...... At 16 I said F the dentist! I finally went back around 19 as one of my wisdom teeth had literally began rotting in my face. (I used to have a few bad habits that quite literally will devour tissue (and Teeth) after prolonged exposure. Now as I explained we have my needle fear to deal with, we also have to consider I likely had plenty of amphetamine residual effect in my body, though I was deliberately clean at the appointment. The Doctor pulled out needles and I kept my head through the first three injections. The doctor was smart and knew that I would not come back if he pulled only the painful tooth, so he planned to do them all at once. By the third shot I had gone a bit batty in the head and had sweat pouring off of me. My pulse when taken hit 130 and I was jittering and well you get the idea. The doctor humored me for 15 minutes or so then gave a couple more shots. I honestly think the ephedrine in the Novocaine found my bodies own stockpile of ephedrine, then they sat down together and spraqed the f*** out (tweaker term for high). Ok back to the room where I am hyperventalating while rocking back and forth muttering a mantra of serenity to the goddess Brigid (poor Mormons got an earful of pagan lore that day)

After about twenty minutes the doc had me lay down again and proceeded to give me more pharmaceutical dope (well it's how I felt). AT some point he grabbed his glorified pliers and began the process of breaking my wisdom tooth loose. It hurt klike hell as I was barely numb, and all sorts of crazy to begin with. He succeeded in getting the tooth out by putting me in a head lock. For the other three I was restrained by staff and a bed restraint. Why he would not put me to sleep I do not know.

When the procedure was done and he was cleaning up the hygientist talked to me. I was calm and convinced her that I was fine. In truth I had lost it somewhere during the second tooth and had become quite calm. I had decided that I was going to hurt that bastard as soon as I could move and I resolved to do so. With that in mind I just drifted off to happy drug induced reality. She let me go from the bed harness. I got up picked up my coat and hit the son of a b in the back of the head with everything I could put behind it. His head hit the counter and he turned to look at the door closing as I left I never visited a dentist again ............untill now. I never got in trouble, and I never tried to cause him any, though I know now that I could have. I think we had a bit of an understanding. He had broke the rules so I gave him a several day headache. Neither one of us could really say anything without incriminating ourselves. My mom still goes to see him when they are in town .




So that was what 9 years ago almost. I have long since been off the dope! Just so you know and don't judge me by that history . I moved to Seattle 7.5 years ago and quit the year before I moved. I have not even seen the substances. Basically I lived the life and learned what I wanted then moved on. Not that big of deal really, but it seems some have a hard time excepting that. See I view life as a long learning experience. Some things suck ass to learn but they serve there purpose. Sometimes we do really stupid shit, but it too teaches us lessons about ourselves and the world at large that there is no other way to learn. Long story very short. I have no interest in perpetuating thast aspect of my past life. Today I smoke cigarettes and drink coffee while I build all sorts of odd shit in my garage between vehicle projects.



Wel Now lets skip to the 28 year old Father named Bryce. This guy just happens to coordinate all aspects of a lot of peoples health care. He has also been personally trained by vets to care for exotic reptiles and amphibians. In all of these realms he is knowledgeable and quick to act with the help of modern medicine.......yet ..................he absolutely refuses to allow modern medicine in any way shape or form to help him. I have studied herbalism for years and typically have very little use for any over the counter relief as I can easily make better. As to doctor's, well they are nothing but advanced diagnostic machines. Think about it. If you can take the time to learn almost as much about your truck as the ford mech. Yet you drive it every day and he does not. Who is more likely to correctly diagnose the treatment. Sad part is that the Dr. then gives you a chemical with many potential side effects and un related issues. I can pick my medicine while hiking and dry it for later use in my home. Point being, unless I get seriously hurt or ill I have no use for Dr's. And I also avoided Dentist's for the reasons stated in the beginning of this post.

So one day this guy gets a hell of a toothache. And to make matters worse when he starts looking in the mirror he notices that the painful tooth is also well....brown. I tried all my little herbal pain relievers. They worked......for a while. I bought some benzocaine swabs and thought about pulling my tooth. I tried the benzocaine to relieve the pain and all it did was make my tongue tingle. In the end I could not make myself pull one of my front facing teeth (not center but the one right next to it). I visited the dentist for an exam....He was kinda wierded out as he knows me well from my social service work, but I sat down and basically told him everything above and made him aware of my anxiety. I then laid down, locked my hands, and opened my mouth........................

In the end he didn't really care about that tooth nearly as much as he cared about my gum tissue. I have mild preiodontis (sp?) not really that big of deal with care, but it meant that I had to have four seperate appointments for a procedure called "Quad-Scaling" which is going down to the bottom of my teeth under my gums and scraping it all clean again. This meant shots and lots of them........... I scheduled the four sessions for one a week as it was all I could afford to do, and went camping with the dreary thought of a month of toothache before he could drill and fill it. Interestingly enough my sore tooth cured itself on the trail I kept diggin at the sore area with my tongue, and eventually felt something in there. I pulled a bristle (likely tooth brush) from deep under my gumline. It hurt like hell but once out my pain quickly disappeared. Now I can cancel my dental appointment right.........no I actually kept it just to see if I could handle it. The needle caused me to sweat and clench my hands a bit, but really was not that bad, and he made sure to use a anisthetic that did not have ephedrine. (see I left the drug part out of our conversation and he took it to be a response to the ephedrine ). The procedure was surprisingly not that bad and I was occupied watching finches play in their nest outside the window. What was cool was that my teeth are not yelow with brown spots that I thought were rot...They are white and though I do have several cavities I suppose I will leave my Dental Phobia behind me at this point and fix them all.................





And then I discovered this procedure that I assisted in coordinating for a client. They are now able to layer a thin plasticy substance around your teeth that will prevent any further decay. It is quite expensive and they have to lay your gums open to get to the lower parts of the teeth. But after it is done you can blow the dentist off for a few years and then just have them touched up on the surface if they have worn thin. Gods I love technology for others and maybe in this case mine.......

Anyway share your tales. Then maybe I can either learn my lesson by realizing I am just a bit crazy, or find that I am not alone in my fear of dentists.

 

[unclemeat]

I have one. I have a tooth that was damaged as a kid. the result was damage to the blood supply so it died and turned a little brown. As an adult I required a root canel. Nine years ago it absessed. An absessed tooth pain wise can only be campared to a broken bone, constant massive pain. Oral surgen says Apicoencetemy, drill a hole in the jaw clean out all the infection and goo from the bottom side of the tooth. This an out patient surgical procedure. The problem came back this year, so rather than waiting for it to absess I had the procedure repeated two weeks ago. So now I have a hole in my jaw. The worst part I do not have dental insurance so it cost be about a grand "ouch".

 

[james t]

I have only had one cavity in my life, and that was in a baby tooth. I never needed braces, and my teeth stay white despite the fact that i dip and drink coffee. Im sorry.

 

[Positive Vibes]

Like James, I have only one tiny cavity (I'm 37) and I still have three baby teeth! Sorry!

 

[Turdle]

My wife works for dentist who is also our friend, in fact they ( he and his wife) are who turned us on to Ouray,
When he holds that drill he's no friend,

 

[sodjer6]

I once went in for a routine filling, after what seemed like forever and a day of drilling and such, the nurse came back in and pulled the dentist aside. So i'm sitting there with my mouth wide open and drooling all over myself and I hear him say "oops...". Seems he was doing a root canal, the nurse mixed the charts up or something. So he shoves a bunch of gauze at me and says come back tommorow. Well no permament damage and no bill so it was ok in the end

 

[Blee1099]

I once went in for a routine filling, after what seemed like forever and a day of drilling and such, the nurse came back in and pulled the dentist aside. So i'm sitting there with my mouth wide open and drooling all over myself and I hear him say "oops...". Seems he was doing a root canal, the nurse mixed the charts up or something. So he shoves a bunch of gauze at me and says come back tommorow. Well no permament damage and no bill so it was ok in the end

Hell I would have sued the dentist for malpractice. Doing a root canal on someone when you just came in for a filling..

 

[dreamr]

Hell I would have sued the dentist for malpractice. Doing a root canal on someone when you just came in for a filling..

Yep.




Hmm seems I am a bit odd afterall eh.
Oh well if I go about it right I should have no further issues after spending a few thousand on reconstructive work
At least I have good dental insurance..........................sadly I have had it since '01 and not used it. At least I thought about it when I signed up for the policy right.

 

[94eddieB]

tweak is crazy.

i think it was crystal meth, man. It was fun as hell while i was on it, i was all stoked about everything and really really restless. I took it for like 3 days straight then ran out and i wanted more soooooo badly.

(un)fortunatly all my friends were pot heads, and none of em had meth, but i will never never never do it ever again.




and yea, dentists suck.

 

[aldive]

Here is my dental tale ….

Trouble in Paradise​

While on a dive trip to the island nation of Palau, I developed severe pain in a tooth.

I attempted to “gut it out” until I return to the states and have my Endodontist ( a personal friend ) to the deed. However, the paid became too much to bear.

I sought information from the dive guide and he, a beach boy blonde from Australia, told me there were two dentists on the island; one at the Government clinic and one at the church clinic. Not impressed with the thought of third world dentistry, I weighed the lesser of the two evils and chose the church clinic ( Seventh Day Adventist ).

Then the dive guide told me that the church clinic dentist was his wife and she was from Africa. Having never gone to a female physician in any realm and never even dreamed of one from Africa. But my pain won out and my lady friend and I took a taxi to the clinic. I was expecting dirt floors and a hand cranked drill. However, much to my surprise, after entering the clinic, I was impressed with the facility which was as nice as anything in the States.

Then a beautiful blonde lady came out and introduced herself as the Dentist. She explained to me that she was from South Africa. She then led me to an exam room; again ultra modern with all the dental accouterments.

She proceeded to X Ray my tooth and then explained that I needed a root canal ( my pain had already alerted me to this diagnosis ).

I must digress for a moment and explain that I was on a free trip, all expenses paid, including airfare ( over $12 value ). Hence the lack of need of much cash ( we did have credit cards ). I soon came to the realization that a church clinic wouldn’t take American Express ( or any other form of plastic ).

I asked the dentist if my lady friend could come back so I could ask her a question. She arrived and I explained that I didn’t have but about $50 cash and asked how much she had; $100 bill.

Knowing that a root canal was a bit more than what we had, I was in trouble, I decided to proceed with the procedure and worry about paying later; I could always wire home for money.

Her dental assistants were local girls with obviously little knowledge or experience, but they managed to hand her the appropriate instruments. The procedure was indeed painless and fast. She asked me if I was going to dive anymore before leaving the island, I told her two more days. She then explained that she would not finish the procedure and only pack the area and use a simple closure so that I could dive ( Boyles law stuff ).

After she was finished she asked if I wanted pain pills. Well, heck yes, I am a sissy. She also prescribed me antibiotic pills. We walked over to the clinic dispensary to get the RX. She returned with a huge bottle of pills, the antibiotics ( 100 count ), and explained that they were out of pain pills ( Tylenol 3 ). She informed me that she called the government clinic and they had the drug. It was about 2 miles away and we had no wheels, further it was closing in 15 minutes. The lovely dentist closed the clinic and drove us over to the government clinic. She went in and got the drugs ( another 100 count ) for me. We then returned to the church clinic to settle upo.

As I was standing at the check out counter, I had this horrible feeling in my tummy since I didn’t have the money. I timidly asked the dentist how much I owered her. And much to my surprise, she had this timid, almost embarrassed look on her face and explained to me that since she couldn’t finish the procedure, she couldn’t charge me the full amount.

I said I understand, how much? She said “would $55.00 be ok?” ( and that included the drugs! ). I nearly passed out, but withheld any emotion and handed her the $100 bill. She made change and tried to hand it to me; I refused and said put it in the church pot.

After returning to Florida, I went to my Endodontist friend to have the work finished, He thought she did an excellent job.

 

[dreamr]

sounds like you got very lucky in the islands there al.

 

[aldive]

sounds like you got very lucky in the islands there al.

I sure did ....

 

[zhanx]

Mine is a different sort of one.

a little back ground. when i was 14 i forgot my mouthguard and said screw it i am gonna play hockey anyways. Well it was the first and only time i have taken a puck to the face. I lost the top of a tooth on the left side. Sucked.

Fast forward 14+ years later. i go in for a cleaning. Army denist. I get some girl i have never seen before. seems my regular guy is deployed. Well she start cleaning and says thats weird. grabs a pick and pops off the cap i had in place of the tooth i lost. I was supidified on how she did it with so little effort. Then she proceeds to tell me i need x-rays and a root canel and all this other "stuff" before i can get a crown again.. Instead of just putting it back on.

I'm in the army so cost is no be big deal its free. But I had tot get a root canel and oral surgury to length the existing crown. Three fittings for a new one. Then i Deployed with this wierd fake doesnt fit right tooth. Came back and had to get the surgury again. A post inserted and another temp crown that dont fit right. Almost a year later i am still waiting for the premanet one. Dont you know I have to start all over again.. Suppose to go monday and find out what the next step is. I hate denists. All this cause a hygynist got have with a pick.

 

[Rick]

When I was a kid my dentist pulled 7 baby teeth at the same time without any novacaine. For some reason the guy couldn't understand why I bit him!:fire:

Sure baby teeth don't have deep roots, but when they aren't ready to come out and they are still firmly attached to your gums it hurts like HELL to have them yanked.

To this day I dread going to the dentist. I always get nitrous to keep me mellow.

 

[dtl 2k2 sport]

lol, damn i was just thinking of this board when i was at the dentist today. Dreading it all morning and the cavity and new filling took all of 20mins at most. My old dentist highly underqualified and should have her license taken from her. But the new dentist i went today was very!!, very calm and easy. Apparently I have a few fillings that are falling apart for some unknown reason, and they are going to work on them, W/ out any insurance due to the cheap company i work for. after 180 dollars for one filling I'll be heading back next week to get more work done,, not really a horror story but it's a dental story and I too rick have a huge fear of dentists. I was actually sweating through my shirt (2 on). I can drive a 12 ton truck through down town Washington Dc during rush hour, and be calmer then i am in a dentist chair,, Oh well it's gotta be done!

 

[dreamr]

I had the third of the four quad sclaing sessions today.............Sadly it does not get easier to allow them to give me a shot

Oh well one to go then I take a few weeks off from the dentist while I pay this off and move on to fillings

 

[dtl 2k2 sport]

yeah the shots are the worst! As soon as i walked in i heard the drill start up as i was signing in. .. As i was sitting down i saw the shot gun sitting there and they were prepping it. I belive that's the worst part of the cavity part.

 

[dreamr]

yeah the shots are the worst! As soon as i walked in i heard the drill start up as i was signing in. .. As i was sitting down i saw the shot gun sitting there and they were prepping it. I belive that's the worst part of the cavity part.

Indeed!
I swear sometimes I can feel the needle getting ready to pop out through my cheek or jaw

 

[dtl 2k2 sport]

This was the best place i've ever been to as far as no pain during the drilling process. But the shot hurt like hell, and i did fell myself grab the chair handles wanting to punch out the dentist for a min as he was putting me in a lil uncomfortable situation . eye for an eye! good luck w/ yours as well

 

[Explorer#2]

Well when I was little my mom and dad would send me and my sister to my Papa, a retired oral surgeon, and Nana's house for a week. Well while I was there one time I had a tooth come lose and my papa said he would pull it out for me, and I was like "ok you should know what your doing" and he went to pull out the tooth that was lose and he pulled out the wrong one. It was a baby tooth too so no really problem except my mouth hurt for sever days. My papa and nana already spoiled us but after this...