Something that scares me more than my cancer dx

Oh yes, I'd rather deliver a baby than go to the dentist.  I've had a phobia my entire life.  And I think my lumpectomy was less stressful than my last cleaning. 

Michelle

I agree so much with Medigal!  We learn from our experiences! Even when we don't remember what they were!!!

I still often am puzzled at what 'triggers' my PTSD-like symptoms (I'm better now, but not perfect.)  I even once cringed when I came in to work and the guard  said, "I hope you have a good shift!"  I knew he was very sincere about wishing me a good shift.  I had to pretend my shoes were untied and I was bending down to tie my shoes. Its like a lightening bolt strikes you- no control over your body.   That makes you feel REALLY nuts.

My family couldn't afford dental care when I was a kid, so when I Did get to dental care it was a huge thing with lots of work that had to be done'

As a young employed adult, I had some work done (even had to take a loan out, ) and the dentist did local anesthesia with the gentle approach of roto-ruter---seemed to grind the needle into the skin.

So---after a few more years of taking Vistaril just to make myself go to an appt., I decided I no longer had to be superwoman.  I asked for and rec'd nitrous.  before even getting the injectionl.  Now I am POSITIVE I will feel no pain, or as positive as one can feel.  I have wondered why in the world I went all those years afraid of looking like a whimp and didn't just ask for it a LONG time ago. 

I can assure you I will never let them near me again without it.

Ah guys, this makes me sad. I am a dentist.  I do understand your fear though.  Someone invading your personal space, and you don't really understand what the heck they are doing in there!!  Take the drugs and the nitrous, it makes you easier for us to work on!  Good luck, and happy appointments.

 Kelly

After many many many years I finally found a dentist that I don't mind going to. She's also the only female dentist I ever had. Her husband is a dentist also (joint practice) and once because of a last-minute thing I had to see him instead of her: big (negative) difference. At the risk of being sexist I do think it's possible that a woman dentist may have a "lighter touch" and be more sympathetic.

She's also the only one who realized that my bad reactions to local anesthesia were due to an intolerance of epinephrine (I have vaso-vagal syncope and epi is one of my "triggers"). Novocaine is lidocaine + epinephrine. None of my other dentists ever said that my passing-out could be related to that; my previous dentist said I was "allergic to novocaine" and so as a result I went through about 10 years of fillings etc with NO numbing! But my current dentist, when I explained my problem at the first visit, knew right away it was the epi and that many people have reactions to it. As a result, she uses only straight lidocaine for everyone -- just in case. And I've never had a problem since. Too bad I had to go through about 40 years of horror visits previously though!

Yes, the dentist, me too.

I have NEVER had a good dental experience and by not good, I mean always painful, always with complications and sometimes seriously dangerous.  The penultimate experience was when I had a root canal done. Well, it didn't work so I had to go to a specialist, an endodontist.  He punctured my sinus while doing it,  I inhaled some bacteria, and ended up with such a bad case of pneumonia I had to spend a week in the hospital on IV antibiotics.  The infection had reached my bladder and kidneys and my lung collaped.

That was after a lifetime of bad experiences, and I vowed I'd never go back.

Then I got cancer, and had to do chemo.  I was told that people should clean their teeth before chemo otherwise they could get sick.  So, knowing I hadn't been to the dentist in over eight years, thinking I was an adult and lightening wouldn't strike 10 times, I reluctantly made an appointment.  I chose a sedation dentist, and figured I'd fix a cracked cap with a veneer at the same time  I'd do the deep gum cleaning necessary  - do everything in one day, under sedation.

I chose the best dentist in my town, costs be damed.

I did get sedation and ended up not remembering a lot of it.  Good!  Even though I hadn't been in many many years, my teeth were in relatively good shape.  They called me the next day when I was on my way to work to ask how I was, and I said fine, but asked,  "when is the numbness going to go away?"

What? 

Well, apparently that numbness wasn't normal.  The dentist had damaged the linqual  nerve with an injection.  I was left  with a numb tongue, shooting pains,  and no tastebuds whatsoever - everything tasted like metal a month before chemo.

It was a preview, I hoped.

Oh, I am a foodie and consider myself a gourmet cook.  I can taste subtleties in food that others can't.  Not being able to taste is a big loss for me - I should have been a chef.

I went back one more time a few weeks later to get the vaneer.  I did sedation again, and this time they couldn't get me under. Also, the gas didn't work, nor the novocaine.   So, it was a horrible experience.  It took hours and I was clutching the arms of the chair the whole time.  Horrible horrible.

Get this:  I got a call a bit later because They wanted me to go back - he accidentially left a piece of cement under the vaneer that needed to be removed.    Seriously!

You can imagine my answer to that.

I was told that if the tongue didn't recover in three months, odds were it would not.  So, three months later I'm in the middle of chemo and all I can taste is metal on metal and no improvement.  Five months later, I was done with chemo - no improvement.   None months - no improvement.  So, I figured that was a permanent loss and it was worse than losing my breast.

But, it's now been a year since that dental surgery and my tongue is recovering.  Maybe chemo made it delayed or maybe it's just one lucky thing.  . It's only been the last month that I've been able to taste and I still occasionally get that metal thing and some shooting nerve pain but it is almost back to normal.

Will I ever go back to the dentist?

What do you think?

Not even if I have to do chemo again.  I would do chemo any time over the dentist.

Edit:  I forgot to add.  My stepdaughter married a man and worked as a teacher to put him through dental school.  As soon as he got his own practice, he cheated on her and divorced her leaving her with nothing but her teacher's salary.

Dentists come from the bowels of hell.  Steve Martin in his portrayal in "Little Shop of Horrors" is pretty accurate, in my opinion.

SB-- Ditto

Dentists -- anyone here remember Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier?  I asked my dentist once if he'd ever seen it and he said "No, and I'm never going to"!!

I was horriby afraid of going to the dentist as a little girl -- problem was, he wasn't a very good dentist but he was a good friend of my dad's, so......

The worst thing about being in the dentist's chair (IMHO) is the noise.  No matter what drill is being used, the sound of it reverberates and is much louder because it's so close!  The second worst thing is always waiting (despite freezing) for it to hurt and send that ping of pain into your mouth.

Nitrous oxide has had strange effects on me.  A former dentist (before we moved) was tall dark and handsome with one of those beautiful soothing voices.  I wanted desperately to take him out to lunch (etc.) right up until the N.oxide was turned off.    Careful, ladies!!!

And yes, I hate showers too (unless they bring May flowers LOL).

Thanks to this thread, I have been singing, "I am your dentist" from Little Shop of Horrors.