Dental Horror

[Adalaide]

First, a little backstory because otherwise I'll just be interrupting myself to fill in these blanks later. About 10(ish) years ago after a workplace injury to my shin that left me numb down the front of my left across the top of my foot and through two of my toes I saw a neurologist. Because the numbness wasn't where it "should" be, he explained to me that a small percentage of people have there nerves wired slightly differently than the rest of the population and that I appear to be one of those people. When this happens, it is throughout the body and not isolated to one area. This is important, because it means my nerves aren't quite where they should be, which can make my life a living hell when I see a dentist.

 

Queue backstory two. About 7 years ago I go to the dentist for a root canal. Unable to feel my lip I assume all is well and say nothing. I feel the pressure as he starts to drill, but hey, it is my first root canal. Pressure is normal right? Well suddenly I am in blinding pain, I realize now (not being in the moment) that this is because he is on the nerve. If there is one thing you don't do when a dentist is drilling in your mouth, it is move. Ignoring any semi-vocal protests, he carried on. Eventually, blessedly, I blacked out from the pain. I came to and blacked out again before he was done. I never went back to finish, never had it capped, and it is part of why I need a bridge now. The temporary filling came out, the tooth died and fell off and left me with a gaping hole over a dead root. I didn't care, I was not ever going to see a dentist again if I could help it.

 

Well here I am, celiac took its toll and I couldn't help it. I understand the difficulty a dentist may have in numbing me but there is no excuse for what that dentist did to me. I have a lot of anxiety about going to the dentist. Just a checkup is enough to have me spending my time for days beforehand distracting myself to keep from hysterics. When I found my current dentist, it was as if he was sent from heaven. I get gassed, because it is the only thing that keeps me from having to pay for sedation or having actual panic attacks. He is gentle with shots and has never had to inject me an additional time or left me with bruising at an injection site or caused me significant pain with injections. He is also gentle while he works. There used to be two dentists in his office and the other was just as awesome (and pretty easy on the eyes) but alas he left.

 

Recently, a new dentst has come into the office. I thought nothing of it when they said they would have him do my cleaning a week ago. Whatever, the office is generally awesome. (Even the hygenists and billing dude.) Because I needed a deep cleaning I got gassed and numbed, the injections hurt but nothing too terrible. It was just a surprise to me to have painful injections at that office. Then, still, the cleaning was painful and left me with enough pain to wake me from sleep for two nights. I thought nothing of this, as it was my first deep cleaning and figured that having someone scraping around under your gums is bound to leave you in pain. (Duh! right?)

 

So I go yesterday for my first appointment for my bridge. (Having had the root canal on last year's insurance.) They do the mold which taste like chemical mango rubber pool raft left in a pile of leaves in the yard for several months. I tell the hygenist not to panic if I don't react well to the injections. (When I went for my cleaning the dentist freaked out, my husband took one look at my face and asked if I was in pain and I nodded. I was in too much to speak.) I get that they are supposed to be sticking a needle to your nerve, that isn't rocket science, but I swear he was trying to kill me with that thing yesterday. He shouldn't have bothered with the gel on a stick to make it hurt less, I still wanted to punch him in the face. He jabbed me right in the joint of my jaw, my tongue went numb in seconds, my mouth not so much. This left him jabbing me again. I have a 1/4 inch dark red bruise where he stabbed me to show for that, it is extremely painful and diffucult to move my mouth.

 

Then, he manhandled me so badly, pressing my right cheek against the wedge, he left me with cankers. I had a numb tongue (the other dentist has never done that to me) so I couldn't move or control it, he left me with a huge blistering sort on the side/bottom of my tongue, a lovely half inch long and 1/4 inch tall. He pressed my left cheek against my teeth, leaving me with cankers. Somehow he left me with a canker on my upper left gums by my teeth which I didn't discover until I was brushing. The only thing I don't know for sure was his fault is a huge 3/8 inch canker where I may have bitten the inside of my cheek on the left side, or he may have done it with a tool. It is bruised and bloody around the outside border and I am constantly tasting blood.
 

Now, here I am, already so anxious about the dentist that I can barely make myself go. This dispite needing $10K plus in dental work and having a top notch dental policy. Now, just thinking about yesterday I either nearly break down or start hyperventaliating, on the verge of a panic attack. I have to be able to call them today, without beying hysterical, and tell them calmly that I need the other dentist to finish my bridge. I really do try to be a reasonable person but sometimes I swear I must have done something really wrong in a past life or some crap. This sort of thing keeps happening to me. What the hell?! I have the crappiest luck. Plus for some completely moronic reason, my best friend (who I sub for) was celebrating her birthday last night and I offered a week ago to work today withouth it occuring to me to change the appointment yesterday. Can I just crawl under this desk and cry now?

 

Maybe other people have dental horror stories. Not that I would wish that on anyone, but I really would rather not be alone.

[kareng]

That's awful!

 

Did they tell you to eat before you get those numbing shots?  My dentist says that they work better if you have a little food in you.  They even have you drink some juice before they stick you.

[shadowicewolf]

I don't handle the shots well. They hurt like mad and they ware off so quickly that it doesn't really matter. I had to have a cavity filled, the numb wore off and i actually felt it. Not fun. Luckily my dentist is really good so he realized what had happened while he was working and re-numbed it.

 

I can certainly understand. None of my experiences were that bad, but still. Its not fun.

[Adalaide]

I can't eat before I go, but it has never been a problem before. I get extremely nauseous with my anxiety and if I eat before I go I will just vomit until I am dry heaving. No amount of meds help with that, and I really shouldn't be mixing dramamine or prescription nausea meds with being gassed anyway. If I fall asleep they would probably freak out. Not that that dentist doesn't deserve to have his heart stop thinking for a second he killed me, but I would rather be awake because I don't trust dentists. I don't trust them not to do something truly dreadful and horrible to me, and you don't have to be awake to feel pain. I am more afraid of dentists than dogs or snakes, both of which have left me in public places curled up in the fetal position on the floor in a corner having panic attacks, quite sure I would die. This simply wasn't true two days ago, it was a plain old regular phobia then.

[mushroom]

I would always insist on your "good" dentist and avoid the other one like the plague.   My dentist (a gizmo guy) has the latest gizmo   which uses a little pump for the anesthesia so it just goes in in little measured doses so it doesn't hurt at all.

[Adalaide]

I was stupid enough today to call on my "lunch break." (I use that term loosely as today was a day from absolute hell.) I explained the situation and said I needed to see the other dentist to finish my bridge. They are trying to tell me that I have to see the one who started it to finish it. I had an anxiety attack, at work, in the 10 minute break between students and as the afternoon class was starting to show up. Super professional right there.

 

The good dentist won't be in until Saturday. The receptionist guy actually wanted me to come in and let the dentist who did this to me check me out. I told him as politely as possible that there isn't a snowball's chance in hell he'll ever touch me again.

 

I then came home this afternoon and tried to talk to my husband about it and managed to have a full on panic attack. Stuttering, hyperventilating, bawling, shaking uncontrollably. It took long enough for me to get myself together for every manufacturer on the east coast to close so I couldn't call any of them about drugs when I got to the drug store. I was left floundering like a moron through the generics looking for one with a gluten free label so I wouldn't be forced to buy a name brand and pay twice as much. Even thinking about the idea of going back to the dentist and typing something leaves me shaky and crying.

 

I don't know what to do. My insurance was already billed for the full amount of the bridge and that maxed me for the year. Now they are going to try to force me to see that brutish dips$#& again. I can't just not go, but I can't go back to that guy or I'll probably end up hospitalized from panicking. (Which would mark the first time, although people have made attempts to get me to an ER in the past.)  I don't need anxiety meds over one dentist, I just need to not see him.

[Takala]

I don't have a dental horror story other than the wisdom tooth extraction.  Decades ago, I lucked into my husband working with a co worker who's dad was one of those old school dentists and who was on the state dental review board, so he took me on and made recommendations for things with the other types of dental work.  For the next extraction (before the braces they needed to take out some little biscupids in front of the molars) I insisted on being awake, and the guy was surprised that I only wanted to be numbed, but did an outstanding job, easiest thing I've ever done. 

 

I cannot open my mouth normally all the way because of the arthritis in my jaw, which any competent dentist could see in an x ray, it's not like they don't take enough scan pics to realize this.  I remind dental persons of this anyway before they come near me -  I Cannot Open My Jaw Normally, so Don't Try To Force It.  My 2 upper front teeth have also been loose for over 30 years, so don't hit them hard.  So they are cautious.  This "feature," which I've read on other threads here, is also common to celiac, so I guess it can go with gluten intolerance, too.  

 

You know, get the hubby to tell them that you absolutely cannot see Dentellion -The - Barbarian again because it's so painful you are going to have to report him to the state dental board if they don't get their act together.  (In fact, put this person's name in some search engines and root around and see if he has any other complaints against him or if he just moved here from another state, and you can call his old place of employment up or check out if he graduated from some cheap fly by night school.)   In fact, it's so painful you can't talk on the phone.  The regular dentist should finish this project.  This stuff really should not hurt that much, and you shouldn't be their training dummy.  And call your PCP and insist you need something for the anxiety for these dental appointments, and ask if the meds you are on now are contributing to this reaction.   

 

The worst shots I've ever had was once an incompetent moronette was attempting to put in contrast dye halfway thru a scanning procedure, and I had put myself into such a deep meditative state that I accidentally lowered my blood pressure so far she couldn't find a vein if her life had depended on it.  And I wasn't supposed to move.  After repeatedly jabbing me she finally hit a bone in my wrist, and I still didn't move but managed to use a tone of voice which intimidated her enough she went to get help, something along the lines of "Do Not Touch Me Again With That, Or I Will Scream."    This second person then finally found a vein in the other arm (duh!)  and put the needle in a manner which was typical of someone who wasn't trying to stab a pile of truffles underground with a pitchfork.  I had bruises all over my arms after this first idiot, who was also rude to me when I didn't spring up off the scan table fast enough afterwards,  and I complained in written form,  but she was still working there a year later when I had to go back for another one.   I took one look and told them "Not Her" and they had another person in the room with me.  The second time was Halloween week, and this same nasty tech who had kept sticking me shows up to take me back to the machines, wearing, get this, a freaking Halloween costume as if this is funny and comforting to people who are having diagnostics done for neurological problems.  I bet they thought I objected to the costume.     

[Adalaide]

OMG, I can't stand people who treat patients as if they are voodoo dolls while they play with their needles. Do we look like human freakin pincushions?

 

I get that people like Halloween. I get that it is a fun holiday. I get that people want to dress up and have a good time and generally this is probably acceptable in work places. In a place where people are going for diagnostic tests in general? Probably not so much. They're worried about whether or not they're dying or their life is being turned upside down by some disease, they don't need someone who thought it would be cute to be a clown to be there. Not that this is what is on my mind today or anything... but what if they dressed up as something someone has a phobia of? Just a stupid idea.

 

It had occurred to me to report him to the state dentistry board, but then I was wondering if that would be seriously overreacting. I don't want to walk into a crowded dentist's office on a Saturday afternoon in pain and break down in complete hysterics in front of a half dozen people, and I sure don't want to freak out any kids. But then, maybe they need to see me become completely hysterical. Maybe they need to see what a woman so traumatized by a dentist she'll have panic attacks looks like, right in their faces, right in their office. Then they can't ignore me, and they sure as hell can't ignore the fact that it is impossible for that person to ever touch me again.

[Adalaide]

I managed to have a full blown panic attack in the dentist's office today. So... go me? The positive of that is that I they realize I have no intentions of seeing that other dentist again. Of course, I feel like a complete idiot. He prescribed me some lortab to get me through the next few days, and I can not express how thrilled I am at that. I usually either decline them, don't fill them, or just don't take them.

 

He tried to explain to me that it isn't uncommon for someone who has been fine for months, or years, even with the same dentist, to suddenly have a bad reaction at one visit. Blah blah blah, every dentist has had this discussion, blah blah blah. Yeah, well... maybe I would be more understanding if I had had this reaction after the dentist I trust had worked on my face. Instead it was some new guy that I don't know who have never touched me before and my first experience was bad. Thanks, won't see him again. K, bye. Or maybe I'm just being dopey, cause... well I'm kinda dopey right now.

[notme]

oh, addy, that is all terrible  dentists are my least favorite species.  sounds like you got The Worst One  

 

my  teeth are a mess - they were perfect, never a cavity until i was about 10 or 11 when my dad made a deal with the dentist.  he would bring stone for the dentist's parking lot in exchange for dental work -  suddenly all 3 of us kids had many cavities.  ugh...  this guy would stuff my mouth full of gauze, then go have coffee !  i guess my distaste for dental professionals stuck - a few years ago i had to get a molar pulled out and they gave me anesthesia.   evidently, while i was under (and i don't remember) i actually did punch the dentist.  they said i had a high resistance to the medicine hahahaaa i wish i remembered.  now i have a good dentist who is also good at reconstructive dental work;  he did miracles with my drilled-up teeth  and he goes to my church so he is my friend.  (and he knows i know where he lives LOLZ)

 

hope you are feeling better today and you are killing me with the mac & cheese lolz i'm probably going to give in and make some

[Adalaide]

You are hysterical! I wish I went to church with a dentist, because that is for sure a good way to make sure you get what you need from people. When they know you know where they live. Yup. People are just better at keeping their word that way. Not only do you know where he lives, but he would have to face you every week, not a pleasant idea for him if things go poorly. Can I get a dentist at my church for $500 Alex?

 

I'm off the mac & cheese now. Stupid cheese. I'm still stuffing my face with all sorts of things though, as much as I can. Homemade warm applesauce, a meatloaf the other day, I made a creamy carrot soup which is divine. Plenty of taters and gravy too, and let me just say that gravy isn't just good, it is good for the soul.

 

Oh what I wouldn't give to punch that dentist. I kind of envy you a little.

[pricklypear1971]

I found there's nothing as effective as promising to punch the dentist, to have them double check of you are pain free.

I offered that solution to probably the BEST dentist I've ever had - all 6' 4+ of him. Gentlest giant on the planet...and he made sure I was comfy. I miss that man.

Like I could have done damage...I'm a foot shorter and half his size. I guess I looked mean or he'd been punched previously?

[notme]

You are hysterical! I wish I went to church with a dentist, because that is for sure a good way to make sure you get what you need from people. When they know you know where they live. 

 

we are actually good friends.  in fact, when we went to their daughters' graduation party, we were being introduced to some people and they asked if we were family and we all went, "errrrr.  kind of...."  lolz.  this guy is over the top.  a few years ago, he and his wife, along with an organization of dentists who donate their time and talent, went to somewhere in the amazon to do dental work on people who obviously would never have access to any kind of dental care.  teeth are important!!  

 

but he has my undying love because of last year, when my grandson was next-door jumping on the trampoline and broke both his front teeth out.  it was about 7:30 at night but i called his office anyway.  when i got the machine, i called his wife.  she said just keep hollering into the answering machine at the office because he was still there.  so, he finally picked up and said to bring him right down. my daughter took him (o, my gosh, i can still see him looking in the mirror and crying  )  i honestly just wanted to make sure there was no nerve damage or if it was a jagged break that would cut him - never had any of mine break teeth - so i'm waiting & waiting and finally about 9-9:30 they come back.  he made new front teeth for him, good as new!  the kid didn't have to go to school with broken teeth the next day.  i would jump off a cliff for this guy, seriously

 

and I DON'T REMEMBER PUNCHING THE DENTIST but i sure wish i did!    the guy's assistant kept giving me dirty looks made me wonder if she got a little whoop-ass too lolz

[Adalaide]

I'm happy to say that I after seeing the "good" dentist that I've been seeing for a few years now to finish my bridge I feel a lot better. It seems that the sensitivity I was having in the front tooth is all cleared up with the real bridge all glued on. I'm not sure how long the nerve and muscle pain in my face will last, but it is improving at a half dead slug's pace.

 

And just so it is clear, I like the "I know where you live" empty threat for all sorts of things with my friends. It is just my brand of humor.

[powerofpositivethinking]

glad it went well!

[notme]

 

 

And just so it is clear, I like the "I know where you live" empty threat for all sorts of things with my friends. It is just my brand of humor.

i'm from jersey.  FO'GET ABOUT IT lolz  - glad you are better, addy.  

 

going to the dentist today.  for a check-upppp  woooooooo.....  going over all my tooth complaints in my head.  gonna get my money's worth LOL nah, but the one hygenist's name is deena - my whole family calls her deena queena.  for Queena Pain.  bwah hahahaa

 

ok enough fooling around i gots to git

[gabby]

I hope I'm not too late to add some possible helpful advice here.

 

There are some people (I'm one of them too) who do not respond to the regular freezing they use at the dentist's office (Lidocaine).  I'll explain the reason below in a bit of detail, but if you just want a solution to the problem, ask your dentist to use the alternative freezing agent called Articaine (it'll have various brand names depending on your country, but the dentist should be aware of this one).

 

In very recent years, researches have pinpointed a disorder called Hypokalemic Sensory Overstimulation.  I'm not sure if I can put a link here, so if you just look it up on wikipedia, you'll get  a full description.  Basically, a person with this syndrome can easily have their senses overwhelmed which can cause all sorts of difficulties (might even feel like a panic attack).  These people also do not respond well to Lidocaine during dental procedures, however they do respond to Articaine. 

 

Hope this helps!

 

[Adalaide]

Lidocaine works just fine for me when the dentist injects me properly. That is very interesting though.

[Juliebove]

The shots are usually the worst part for me!  And I too have had canker sores after.  Not sure why. 

 

I have had bad dental stories.  As a kid, we went to a bad dentist.  We did not realize how bad he was until later.  After he quit, because he had so many lawsuits against him.  Once he put 8 fillings in my mouth at once.  My mom just dropped me off that day.  I can't remember why. 

 

Before he began the work, he said that some dental students would be watching.  I didn't like that!  But I was also a kid so was afraid to say anything.

 

Fast forward to maybe age 12.  Bit into a candy cane on Christmas Eve.  Extreme pain and had to suffer until the dentist's office was open again.  This dentist was a friend of the family.  He discovered that my tooth had broken off under the filling.  Why?  The filling put in by the bad dentist had been done wrong and her left air space under the filling.  It was also discovered that I had no cavities where those 8 fillings had been put.  This dentist surmised if anything the other dentist might have put them in due to defects in my teeth, but he wasn't sure.  Some of my back chewing teeth had natural pits in them.  But...  He also noticed that my parents and brother also had dental work put in by this guy that he thought we didn't need.  And for some reason this guy was into gold fillings.

 

Some years later, as an adult, I went in and needed to get a crown because the large filling on my back tooth had broken down.  No pain before I went in.  MAJOR pain after!  Something went wrong and I needed a root canal.  But this dentist did not do them on back teeth.  Sent me to a specialist and I had to wait something like 6 weeks to get the work done.  And in those day a root canal was a major thing.  Took something like 5-6 hours to do.  I could smell stuff burning.  And I was not given a bite block like they have these days.  My jaw was sore and bruised for weeks!

 

Then I needed another crown on that candy cane damaged tooth.  Two of the dentist's daughters were working there at the time and they got into a fight over who was going to seat the crown.  Ended up that the glue or whatever they use had set up and they were still fighting.  Dentist came in.  Broke up the fight and told the older one to seat it.  But...  She got sloppy with the glue.  So when the numbness wore off, immediate pain.  I had to go back in.  Turns out that somehow the glue had slipped down under my gums.  To get it all out, they had to cut open my gums and scrape it off.  That left the tooth and gums in that area super sensitive.  For years I had to treat the tooth at home with yucky tasting fluoride and I couldn't chew on that side.

 

Then I got braces as an adult.  The only really bad teeth were the top two in the front.  I'd had a gap there when younger but now they were overlapping slightly and once in a while, the tooth behind would get hung up on my lower teeth.  And that hurt!  Would appear mostly cosmetic and had it not been for that other problem, I would have left it.  So I really only had braces on the 6 top front teeth but the wire extended to the back.  These were the old fashioned, clunky sharp braces.  Suddenly canker sores were the story of my life.  And each time I needed an adjustment, I was in screaming pain for weeks!  I had no idea how painful braces can be as an adult.  I've been told that children's and even teen's teeth will move more easily so braces for them are usually less painful.

 

So...  A dentist in the city where my dentist lived, died.  He left his office to my dentist.  So my dentist was trying to see that guy's patients as well as his own.  He really only kept that office open for long enough for all of those patients to find another dentist.  But in the meantime, he was seeing patients there as well.  He saw me there one day.  Can't remember now what he was doing but he had his hands in front of my face and his arms out but around my head.  Was trying to remove something from a piece of equipment but it wasn't working because he was not familiar with this equipment.  In the process of this, his hand flew into my nose, smacking it hard enough to give me a severe nose bleed!  It would have been funny had it not been so messy and caused so much pain!

 

Then I got married and moved.  While in CA, daughter broke my two front teeth.  She was a toddler and sitting in my lap.  Kept whacking her head back into me as toddlers do.  Asked her to stop doing that.  Then took a drink of my lime flavored water in a glass bottle.  And *wham*!  She backed her head into me again, making contact with the bottle.  She screamed because the glass bottle hurt her head.  I screamed, scaring her badly because not only did the bottle get shoved hard down my throat but my top two teeth got broken!  Thankfully the dentist I was seeing at the time was able to see me the following day and do a repair.  You can't tell that they were broken and they don't hurt now.

 

Then when we lived in NY, I was in our storage unit.  An empty computer box fell and hit me on the side of my face.  Immediate tooth pain!  But I was going to the dentist the next day.  So I told her about it.  She said there was no problem!  I insisted that there was!  I wanted her to take an X Ray but she refused.  I was no happy.  And I didn't think she was a good dentist.  I left there still in pain and tried to learn to live with it.

 

We moved back here to WA.  I found a Dr. here.  Complained of the pain.  Although he couldn't really tell, he surmised that it was maybe a sinus or ear infection.  Put me on antibiotic.  Pain went away.  Med ran out.  Pain came back.  I was sick of the pain!  Hooked up with a dentist here before it was time for my next checkup.  He did an X Ray and discovered that the roots of the tooth were dying.  There was my pain right there!  Had to do another root canal and crown.  I was terrified but this root canal only took maybe 2 hours.  They used a bite block and although my jaw was sore for maybe 2-3 days after, the pain was gone after that.

 

Have had one more root canal, several crowns and a few fillings since.  Some fillings because the old ones were wearing out.

 

My only complaint at my current place is that one dentist kept insisting that I needed crowns due to cracks in my teeth.  I think he just wanted the money from the crowns.  The other two dentists are not crown happy.

 

I guess one thing that helps me is that my grandpa was a dentist.  He died when my dad was 8 so I never met him.  But my dad was expected to follow in his footsteps.  He tried to be a hygienist while in the Air Force but it was not for him.  However he told me horror stories about how dentistry used to be.  Such as getting the patient to drink so whiskey prior to help with the pain.  And I have seen the tools that they used to use.  So whenever I think I am going through a bad dental time, I just think about that stuff and am glad that I didn't have to go through that!

[LauraF]

 

 

i'm from jersey.  FO'GET ABOUT IT lolz  - glad you are better, addy.  

 

going to the dentist today.  for a check-upppp  woooooooo.....  going over all my tooth complaints in my head.  gonna get my money's worth LOL nah, but the one hygenist's name is deena - my whole family calls her deena queena.  for Queena Pain.  bwah hahahaa

 

ok enough fooling around i gots to git

I'm excited because I read your post that you were finally diagnose after 25 years, it seems I also have malnutrition.