I hate going to the dentist. Does anyone actually not hate it?

[Bouncy Ball]

I hate getting my teeth cleaned. I drove there the whole way thinking "Please don't let me get Redonda, please let me get Janet this time, pleasepleaseplease."

I got Redonda the Dental Hygenist.

She scrapes your teeth and gums like she's mining for gold, and she smiles the whole time. My mouth was a bloody mess. The air and water thingies hurt because I have sensitive teeth but she didn't seem to care.

Then they told me I have a new cavity, teeny tiny, but needs to be fixed, dammit.

I have had seven root canals, 40 + cavities (some on the same tooth), and nine crowns (a couple of crowns split and had to be replaced).

I've spent about $10,000-12,000 on my teeth since I was about 17 years old.

I have dental insurance now (didn't always) but it's a crappy reimbursement program where they pay you back 100% of the first $100 per year, 80% of the next $200, 50% of the next $500, etc. A cap of $3000 per person per year. And it's $57 a month to have it. They take forever to reimburse you.

It sucks. Teeth suck.

My husband's never had a cavity in his life. My daughter never has either, knock wood. I seem to have incredibly thin enamel. I brush twice a day, floss, and avoid sugary and sticky foods like the plague.

It's ridiculous. Oh well, pity party over. At least it was just one tiny cavity and not "you've got two cavities and two teeth that need root canals and this crown needs to be replaced" like I heard two years ago. Last year, for the first time ever, I actually heard "Guess what? No problems!" I was so thrilled, I actually teared up.

Did I mention I hate teeth? And the dentist?

[JohnKleeb]

1. Everyone hates it

but i dont have a problem with my dentist.

[Guaranteed]

2. I actually feel a lot better after going to the dentist.

My teeth are really important to me. I have the worst nightmares about losing them.

I don't go often enough, probably. I don't take good enough care of them, at all.

[Bertha Venation]

3. the last time I went it was because I was in pain

and a tooth was removed. That was four years ago.

Same for the last time I went before that -- seven years ago. Root canal.

The time before that was for the same reason, and that was in the 80s.

Yes, I really, really, really hate going to the dentist. Some habits you grow up with are extremely hard to break.

[Bouncy Ball]

24. I feel ya.

Back in the day, if the pain didn't force me to go so often, I wouldn't have.

[Bertha Venation]

31. I need to break this habit. I am an adult, nearly 42 years old.

I've already broken innumerable patterns I was born destined to repeat. Time to grow up and get my ass to the dentist.

[Bouncy Ball]

34. Maybe this thread will be just the motivation!

Think about how good you will feel after.

I used to work with a woman who told me it had been 17 YEARS since she had been, and she knew she had some problems and needed to go. I recommended my dentist (who really is fantastic) and kept bugging her until she made an appointment, then I kept urging her to keep it. She did and felt a lot better after. She had to have quite a bit of work done, but just taking that first step helped.

[JimmyJazz]

4. I take my portable CD player and listen to music

while I'm there - It really does help to make the time go quicker and blocks some of the scarier noises.

[JohnKleeb]

7. yer allowed to do that?

I just cross my fingers and bite my teeth down.

[JimmyJazz]

11. Yes, you are allowed to do that and it really does help. n/t

[JohnKleeb]

14. hmmmm when I get my MP3 player working, I got me an idea

[Bouncy Ball]

22. I didn't know I could.

I guess that's something I need to do next time. I try to think about other things, close my eyes, etc. But closing your eyes just makes the stuff going on in your mouth more vivid.

[Serial Mom]

28. Our dentist offers TV on ceilings,

Headphones with a large selection of CDs, an arcade room for the kids to play games while waiting.

He's really a good dentist - so busy that when you want to make your next 6 month check up appointment, he's booked out for 7 months!

(Hey JimmyJazz, CLW's mom here!)

[JimmyJazz]

39. Well, hello there! Where has CLW been?

I haven't seen her around so much. Tell her I was asking for her, please.

[TlalocW]

5. I've never had a problem with it

I think I have a high tolerance for discomfort if not pain. I had to get two root canals once because I had bumped my jaw on the ground falling from a horse, and it killed two teeth, and I fell asleep during both of the operations. So going to the dentist is no big deal - especially the guy I go to now although I think he gets pleasure from asking you questions when you've got his hands in your mouth.

TlalocW

[Bouncy Ball]

10. Oh I don't mind the pain

(except the Evil Redonda, ug). I have a high tolerance for it, too.

And apparently a high tolerance to Lidocaine. Every time I get it, it wears off quickly and they have to keep giving me more.

I have fallen asleep during root canals, too. They aren't nearly as bad as people think and they are quite boring to me.

The endodontist was pretty surprised when he heard me snoring, though.

[TlalocW]

18. Yeah...

I woke up with a surprised snort to see the orthodontist and his assistant staring down at me with weird looks on their faces.

TlalocW

[Bouncy Ball]

20. OMG that is exactly what happened to me!

I even remember having some funky dream.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

6. i dont

my dentist generally compliments me on my teeth...so i am ok with the whole visit.

[physioex]

8. I used to enjoy getting those cheesy tooth stickers as kid......

Na it not so bad. Grin and bear it, you certainly don't want dentures do you?

[Bouncy Ball]

15. I do grin and bear it.

I go once a year. Back when my insurance paid for it, I went every single six months on the dot. And I'm not in danger of dentures anytime soon.

My teeth just happen to be a huge pain in the ass.

[physioex]

I am in the same boat....

I also go once a year and pay for the costs myself. I use to go 6 months on the dot as well when I had insurance. But I think once a year is sufficient when you are financially strapped. Ofcourse you aren't in danger of dentures but it's better to take care of things now than to have regrets later.... :)

[Fleshdancer]

9. it doesn't bother me

what I hate is making the appointment. It's like that for any doctor...taking the time to make the call is what bugs me for some odd reason. If I had to choose a check up procedure I don't like it would be the Pap smear. Not fun.

[Bouncy Ball]

12. Well that's a whole other thing I don't like.

The "girly doctor" as we call it. That's definitely a grin and bear it kinda thing. Or maybe don't grin, that might be kinda weird.

[Fleshdancer]

37. Yeah, I'm tired of them practicing their love on me!

lol

[mhr]

13. Geez - Doesn't Everyone Enjoy Pain

eom

[Bouncy Ball]

17. Odd that the cleanings are far more painful

than anything else I've ever had done.

Except that one root canal when the lidocaine suddenly wore off and I could feel everything. Dear God, that was horrible.

[Fenris]

16. I would rather visit a proctologist every 6 months than a dentist

Even a bad proctologist.

[Bouncy Ball]

19. LMAO!!!!!!!

I've been to one. Can't tell you if he was good or bad, as that was the only one I ever saw.

I won't go into it. Let's just leave it with: weirdest doctor visit I ever had. And I'm a woman.

[jdonaldball]

21. This guy knows how to make the most of it:

Here he is, video of Heavy Metal Guy at the dentist:
http://web.dkm.cz/koplih/hmg/05-Doctor%20Torture.swf

on edit, sorry, mistyped the link first time

[Bouncy Ball]

23. Link doesn't work.

[jdonaldball]

26. fixed link

[Bouncy Ball]

29. That was funny.

Wish I felt as good as that guy after Lidocaine.

[RevCheesehead]

25. I found a great dentist who advertises "gentle dental."

And he really is wonderful.

However, that didn't prevent me from letting out a blood-curdling scream when he hit my cracked tooth with a blast of air. It was so bad, I nearly passed out from the pain.

(I had a bad fall last year and cracked my jaw on a railing...and it took a while for the cracks to appear. Two root-canals later, my dentist and I are on a first-named basis. Hell, I probably bought him a big-screen TV!)

Seriously, I told him that I am highly resistant to Novocaine. He gave me a shot, waited 10 minutes, then blasted my tooth with air. That's when I nearly fainted.

It's not one of my favorite pastimes, but I do want to keep my teeth.

[Bouncy Ball]

27. I'm resistant to it, too.

My dentist knows. I've had the same thing happen. God that cold air is the worst.

[Left Is Write]

30. I don't mind going to the dentist. What I hate is paying for it.

I've had three root canals and need two more.

I have some 30-year-old fillings that need to be replaced.

And I've got a crack in one of my crowns, so that will need to be replaced.

This is adding up to thousands of dollars, and I'm on a waiting list to see an insurance plan approved dentist.

Meanwhile, my son managed to knock out one of his front teeth. He's three. We are going to the dentist in an hour.

And my five-year-old daughter has EIGHT cavities - two in each quadrant - and will require four appointments to fill them. She may need a crown due to the placement of two of the cavities in between tightly wedged molars.

My children and I inherited soft teeth.

[Bouncy Ball]

32. Oh gosh I know about that.

Get this: my husband is STILL paying on a dentist bill from back when we didn't have dental insurance and I had $6000 worth of work done (had to be done, emergency stuff).

It's now down to $3000. Thank goodness no interest and the dentist is wonderful and lets us pay $50 a month or more, whatever we an afford. Can't wait to have that paid off, though.

Did you say you will get insurance? Because that will be good.

I had one dentist tell me I had some of the thinnest enamel he'd ever seen. My husband jokes that if I were to drink a Coke and go to bed without brushing, I'd wake up with five cavities. I'd never do that, of course.

[Left Is Write]

36. We do have insurance now, and it's good, but

You can only go to certain dentists, and it's a long wait for an appointment. I just hope my teeth don't abcess before the appointment!

I also need root planing, as I have mild peridontitis. They caught that pretty early. Still, my sum total is somewhere upwards of $5000 worth of work needed.

I have NO idea what Julian's issue will cost. I have to leave in about 10-15 minutes to take him in.

[barb162]

33. I hate dentists, fear them, etc. Plus watch out for the liars who tell

you you need dental work and you don't need it. There are a lot of them like this IMHO. Just happened to me again this past summer; I was told I needed gum work for periodontal disease. So I went to a periodontist who told me I have no PD.

[Bouncy Ball]

35. I have had that happen and my brother has, too.

Well, not gum work, but I was told I needed all my silver fillings replaced and the next dentist I went to told me I probably did not. My fillings had been fine, weren't causing any problems, had no space around the margins, but the first dentist made it sound so urgent, I agreed to it.

Same thing happened to my brother.

The only good thing is now, when I open my mouth, you don't see tons of silver. Just looks like normal teeth.

[barb162]

40. I know a lot of other people these things have happened to. Oh and

the gum disease thing, I was told by a friend whose brother is a dentist, that they talk about this at dental conventions..."find" gum disease: make big money fast. Oh and I had the thing happen to me too about replacing fillings. I probably never needed them replaced. And what happened as the one filling was being replaced the dentist hit the nerve of a perfectly good adjacent tooth. I had to have a root canal done on it. I should have sued the bastard.

Now when I go to a dentist and whatever I hear about work having to be done, I check it out with a second dentist. I got rid of the dentist I just had for ten years because he said I needed periodontal work (he also just happened to get a new laser drill which n cost big money).

Yes they have to make their big money somehow; replace fillings that arent necessary, gum disease which doesn't exist, etc.

Oh and here's a hot one; this one dentist wanted take out my wisdom teeth as they can could trouble later. I was told that about 20 years ago and to date they have never had a cavity or caused any problem. I guess we should all have our appendixes out as we may get appendicitis.

[motely36]

38. Here's a guy who was probably glad he went to the dentist!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x2446544

[IcyPeas]

41. Seriously, dentistry hasn't...

evolved much since the dark ages. in this day and age why haven't they come up with better (less painful) procedures? I mean medicine has come so far in other areas, yet dentistry is still this scary, awful, painful experience. Oh, and it's too expensive to boot. Put me in the "I don't go until I'm in dire pain" group.

[cags]

42. I hate it so much, I haven't been back for 13 yrs. Bad experience

at my last dentist. Now I'm terrified. I do need to go though

[nutsnberries]

43. I don't mind it at all... it's my most-least-detested medical thing.

other appointments make me sick with anxiety, but dental appointments don't really bother me.

[Zan_of_Texas]

44. I don't hate it.

And, it's not cause I skate off with no work done either. Had cavities on cavities as a kid. Had to replace one tooth that came out, and shore up another. Had the last wisdom tooth out at a rather mature age.....

I go every three months for cleaning and checkups, even though I have ZERO dental insurance. And it's not cause the dentist is cute, either. <G>

Here's the deal: your dental health is inextricably tied to the health of your heart. Not widely known yet, but true.

The gum disease leads to tiny openings in your skin (gums), that let little germ raiders into your bloodstream. Your heart doesn't like that -- it's a cause of inflammation. Inflammation is one of the new areas of research in health, and seems to tie a lot of bad stuff together. Like heart attacks, for instance.

Anyway, a nice clean mouth with intact gums is really important to your health, not just to keeping your teeth.

"Many people with no outward signs of anything wrong have high levels of internal inflammation. It is the same thing that causes swelling, heat and redness during infections or allergic rashes.
Doctors believe the internal inflammation has many possible sources. Often, the plaque itself becomes inflamed as white blood cells invade in a misguided defense attempt. But inflammation that arises elsewhere apparently can be as bad, for it bombards the plaque with damaging chemicals.

For instance, fat cells churn out these inflammatory proteins, which helps explain why being overweight is so bad for the heart. Other possible triggers include high blood pressure, smoking and lingering low-level infections, such as chronic gum disease.
--Houston Chronicle, SUN 08/04/02, "Inflammation a chief culprit in heart attacks, experts say"

Anyway, if you want more articles, they are out there. Check for "gum disease" + "inflammation" or "heart disease".

[Sequoia]

45. My ex- dentist watched a tennis match while in my mouth,

I hate tennis now too. I always dread to go. My co-worker set me up with "a babe". Hardly. Who cares, he's hurting me, and he charges WAY too much. I'm looking elsewhere. I had those steel braces as a kid and got them tightened up with plyers...ouch. However, I made sure to schedule those appoinments on liver day so I wouldn't have to eat the dreaded meat since it cause pain on my just tightened teeth.

[alarimer]

46. it doesn't really bother me

I have good teeth. I sometimes have cavities that need filling but I have not had anything worse happen (except wisdom teeth removal- yuck) I try to take care of my teeth because both of my parents have lost theirs through gum disease (they were in the 40s at the time). I guess they must not have taken care of theirs very well when they were younger (or couldn't because of the cost). I don't know if the tendency for gum disease is hereditary or not but I am taking no chances.