Oh, what a problem...

[WillParkinson]

I have bad gums. Got them from my mom. She lost her lower teeth when she was younger than I am now.

Now, however, my teeth are starting to loosen. I also have a painful infection.

Go to the dentist you say? Oh, sure. That would be easy. Except my insurance only covers dentists at a particular location.

I went to him for my wisdom teeth extraction and ended up in the emergency room where they gave me shots directly into my mouth to stanch the bleeding. I hate needles. I get woozy just seeing them so you can guess how much I loved that. I went to a different dentist (but in the same place) and he told me that I would need a deep cleaning. This required shots to freeze the area. I panicked in the chair but they gave me the shots. Unfortunately they didn't work too well and they had to do more. Joy. So they got the general area numbed and sent me off to the chair.

The tech started cleaning my teeth and hit a sensitive spot. Well, says she, the way the nerves are in the general area they sometimes criss-cross and it may require more shots to totally numb it. I couldn't take any more shots so I just sat there and went through the pain.

That brings us back to today. I can't go back to that dentist. They gave me a prescription for some pills that are supposed to mellow me prior to coming in but just remembering being in the emergency room and the attitude of the tech makes me not want to go there.

I asked Paul to call his dentist (whom Paul says is great) tomorrow and see if he will take me without insurance and let me pay the bill myself.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[avtho]

1. That's why I love my plate

and partial. Only have 4 teeth left just enough to hang the partial. Had 'em for 40 years, dental trip only if I break or chip a tooth, no more pain, no more problems.

[REP]

2. See Corarose's Posts about Her Teeth

and see the dentist.

I feel about the eye doctor the way most people feel about the dentist, but it's too important to NOT go.

[Raven]

3. Ditto! See the Corarose post and

don't be foolish. You can die of that sort of thing...really!

[LuLu550]

4. floss, floss and floss again!

and use Listerine all the time!
It really helped me and I started getting gum disease at 16..I'm now 53 and still have most of my own teeth!
Also, ask your dentist about a drug called Periostat...it is a low-level antibiotic that kills systemic infections that wind up in your gums. That really helped me, too.
You need to be careful with gum infections, they can wind up damaging your heart!
Good luck!

[nuxvomica]

5. I always tell people who fear going to the dentist...

To take arnica montana 30X before the visit. This remedy is indicated for the fear of pain, especially dental pain. It can also help to lower your pain threshhold.

[trof]

6. Magic Mouthwash

I also suffer from periodontal disease. This won't cure it, but will help keep it at bay. I've been using it for 25-30 years.
1/3 peroxide
2/3 Listermint or whatever you like.
You CAN rinse with straight peroxide, but it taste like yuck.
Don't be surprised at the amount of foaming when you first start. That's killing the germs.
I brush with it 3 times a day. Kills a lot of the germs and bacteria.

I lost my dental coverage last year (long story). Here are a couple of suggestions:
1. Most dentists will work out a monthly payment plan with you. Or put it on a credit card and do your own payment plan.
2. Get as much work done in a single tax year as you can so you can write more of it off.

Periodontal denistry has made huge strides since I first began to suffer in the 60s. You need a periodontist. As far as I know, there is still no "cure" for PD, but the periodontist's job is to clean you up and help you keep what you have for as long as possible.
Good luck.
It ain't fun.

[MidwestMomma]

7. You must find a dentist that uses nitrous

I have severe dentist phobia caused by many years of novacaine numbing just not working for me. I too have experienced the mind-killing pain of the tech cleaing my teeth and hitting a 'sensitive' spot and can relate to your pain.

I finally found a dentist that would give me nitrous while cleaning my teeth and it has saved my teeth. The thing about nitrous is that you just don't care if it hurts! (It's not called laughing gas for nothing.) Also, somehow, nitrous alters your sense of time so it doesn't seem like you have been in the chair an eternity waiting for the whole unpleasant process to be over. (It's very hard to explain.)

The problem is that many dentists/techs do not like to use nitrous so you have to call around. Ask if they use nitrous and if you can have it for things like teeth cleaning. If they answer yes to both questions, you have found the dentist for you. (And if you can find one that doesn't make you feel like a freak for asking for nitrous for cleanings, you have found a winner!)

I have had crowns put on with and without. Without was an excrutiating process of pain and fear. Of not knowing when the dentist was going to hit the one undeadened nerve that would make me rise up out of the chair. With nitrous was an entirely different process mostly because it eliminates the DREAD/FEAR of the whole procedure. (You still won't like it, but you won't dread it to the tips of your toes. You know the feeling.)

Your tech is correct. Some people have screwed up nerves in their teeth and the shots just don't work. (Unfortunately, a lot of dentists will treat you like the pain is all in your head and to toughen up. This is what led to my dental phobia.)

But if you get the shots plus nitrous, you will be able to face going to the dentist again. I'm not saying it will be something you will look forward to cause that's not going to happen, but you will be able to go. (As opposed to not going at all, which is what I did for many years.)

One more word of advise. Some dentists will try to charge you extra for nitrous. Try to avoid these as the charges can add up. You can find dentists that do not charge extra and that consider it as part of the procedure charge.

If you lived in Kansas City, I could give you a name.

[WillParkinson]

8. The guy who pulled my wisdom teeth...

Gave me a set of 'magic pills'. They put you into a sort of waking sleep. No pain, no muss, no fuss.

I could have been very happy going back to him if it wasn't for that pesky bleeding, emergency room, shots, fainting, more blood stuff.

It's always the little things, you know.