Like everything else about me, meaning I just can't seem to be "normal" as far as medical things go, lol, in the dental department it's no different.
As a baby my teeth grew in quickly, on my first birthday I had 12 teeth. It's a little odd looking at my baby pictures and seeing basically a baby baby with a big smile filled with teeth. Sort of reminds me of one of those pictures of an animal that has been slightly distorted, you know the ones I mean, where their eyes are slightly bigger and buggier and they are smiling and the picture has them really pronounced too? Except my eyes were not buggy, lol.
By the time I was 13, most of my adult teeth had grown in except a few, and my wisdom teeth. However some of my adult teeth grew in front of my baby teeth, so they were not lose at all. Well the dentist decided that all of my baby teeth had to come out. This visit is what started my fear of dentists. And if you think my white coat is bad at the doctors, wow, it dulls in comparison with me going to the dentist.
Anyway, that day the dentist gave me three shots of Novocaine, one in the roof of my mouth, then one on each side of my lower jaw. Then he walked away and said he was going to let it work and then he would be back to pull them. So he returned in about 10 minutes. He put this metal thing in my mouth to keep it open, which wasn't at all comfortable, then he started pulling. Problem is, I wasn't numb at all, I was feeling it all. I tried to talk through that mouth thing but really wasn't able to form words, somehow he knew what I was trying to say though because he said, "You have had your shots so I know you are not in any pain. It's okay to be scared, but you don't need to scream and yell. You will scare my other patients."
He pulled 13 teeth that day, I felt every single one of them too. They were only baby teeth, so they were not deep or necessarily hard to pull out, but that doesn't mean it hurt any less.
Needless to say, I changed dentists. 3 years later all of my adult teeth were in, including my wisdom teeth. I did have perfect teeth, but they were starting to shift, so my dentist suggested that I have my wisdom teeth pulled so my mouth would have more room and wouldn't be crowding my other teeth and hopefully prevent any more shifting. Very reluctantly I agreed.
A few weeks later I was back in his office to have all 4 of them pulled. He also only used Novocaine, which by the way hurts like a mother too. But, he made sure I was numb first, and I was, he pulled all 4 in one sitting and I was done. He gave me a script for some pain meds and out I went. I never got my script filled because I didn't need it. I didn't have any issues at all and was back to normal pretty much the next day. The only thing I suffered from for a few days was a bit of soreness in my jaw, but other than that I felt fine. I realize how lucky I was.
A few years ago I had to have another tooth pulled. First Doc took me to his dentist. Before I even left my hotel room to go to the dentist that day Doc made me bend over and take a shot of Ativan. I was already heading into a bit of a panic mode. Once at the office, I again started to ramp up. Those memories of having those teeth pulled without the proper medication kept flooding my mind and scaring the crap out of me. I planned ahead though because I brought with me another vial and syringe of Ativan just in case I needed it.
Doc and I were called back into the exam room. That's where I met my new dentist. He extended his hand and I shook it. I said "hi, Dr. So and So." and he said, "no need to be formal with me as he called me by my name, but a babyfied version of it (for example, if my name was Dan, he would have called me Danny), then he said that Doc had explained that I was his best friend, so please call me "uncle Tom". I shook my head in agreement. Doc mentioned to Tom that I had been given some IM ativan prior to coming and have another if I needed it. Tom said okay.
Then he had me sit in his chair. I was fine sitting up, but when he reclined me back, then brought that bright squarish light down closer to my face, that panic feeling came right back. I started shaking, and crying uncontrollably. Doc was on one side of me holding my hand and talking to me trying to get me to relax. Tom was on the other side and after a few minutes he said, something along the lines of, I know you are scared, but you are going to have to calm down. I will tell you what I am doing before I do it. I was still crying and shaking. Then Tom said, "okay, if you can't relax enough, maybe we had better just send you to an oral surgeon so he can knock you out." Which I actually thought was a bit harsh. Not that I was looking or wanting attention, that was the last thing I wanted.
It took every cell, down to the tiniest of cell in my body not to just get up out of the chair and leave. But Doc took the morning off from seeing his own patients so that he could be with me because he knew how afraid I was and probably would have never been able to handle it alone. I knew Doc had told Tom that I was afraid of dentists, and I assumed he also told him why, but apparently he didn't because Doc on my left side and Tom on my right side, they were making me feel like now above my other issues, a little claustrophobic. Doc then told Tom what happened to me when I was 13. That must have been the missing piece because Tom got a lot more relaxed and understanding of my situation and why I was feeling the way I was.
Next he put his hand on my neck and sort of rubbed my cheek with his thumb and told me that he would never ever try to hurt me or any of his other patients. I actually believed him and I started to calm down. Which was good because now I had been so nervous and shaking that I was dripping with sweat. Now how yummy is that? Nasty!!!!
He was able to numb me up, it took him three tries to numb that side, but he made sure I was NOT going to feel anything before he started. So once I really was numb he went to work doing what he needed to do. I have a few very very minor startings of cavities and he pretty much for lack of better terms "sand blasted" off, then he sort of, and again for lack of better terms, sanded them and polished them. I did have one cavity that the filling was still intact, but it was cracked and needed replacing. So he took some measurements and handed it to his assistant. While she was gone, he again made sure that tooth was numb, and it was, so the got the silver filling out. A few minutes later she handed him a little container with some white stuff i it. I asked what it was and he told me it's the stuff to make your new filling. I was a bit confused with that because all of my fillings have been silver. He told me that they don't use that material usually any more because it doesn't hold up as long as the new stuff, plus we can match it to the color of your teeth which makes it much less visible. I loved that Idea! I hate my mouth and like my feet, both are considered "off limits" to almost everyone.
He had also taken a crap ton of x-rays of my mouth and jaw, so his assistant hung them up on the light board for Uncle Tom to look at later. So he went to work putting that polymer in my tooth. He packed it in then he put in a very thin piece of paper and asked me to bite down so he could see where he needed to add more polymer. In the end, he let it dry for a few minutes and went over with Doc to look at my x-rays. They were whispering, which in my book is never a good thing. And it would turn out that I was right, but more on that in a second. He returned to his seat and then started sanding/polishing my newfilling. Then he asked me to bite down, and it felt great, actually it felt better than it did prior to the old filling being there. So that was a total plus for me, and I still really did't feel any pain at all except from the initial Novocaine I believe.
Then Doc and Uncle Tom again took a seat beside me on both sides. Doc held my hand and Uncle Tommy took my other one. I knew what they were getting ready to tell me had to be bad, and it was. Uncle Tommy said that upon viewing my x-ray reports, they found a crack at the base of one of my molars that had been there for quite some time because the root under it was gone, rotted out and even a root canal could't keep the tooth. Uncle Tommy asked me how that might have happened because it usually takes a pretty harsh trauma to the face to crack a tooth at the root like that. I had to think a minute, but I remembered about 8 years prior, I was in a karate tournament and was kicked in the face. The same tooth bot on the opposite side was missing already from the same kick, however that tooth was knocked completely out. The squad that was handling the tournament took me right to the ER where they took x-rays of my upper back, neck, face, and they did them all in 4 different views so as not to miss any possible hairline fractures or any other fractures in my face, neck or back. They said according to their reports, there were a few noted fillings intact, and very tiny crack noted in that same tooth they were currently looking at, but at the time same time as the accident they noted that the crack was so tiny that it was most likely not a crack from being kicked in the face, but possibly a "growing" line. Well apparently they were dead wrong.
So after explaining all of this to them and what had happened all those years ago, Doc and Dr. Tommy, they said it makes perfect sense why I have an extrema fears of dentists. lol..but like me now, they were wondering why since it was that long ago how it hadn't been caught on other dental visits between then and now, and how I hadn't been in pain or had any other side effects, i.e. pain, swelling, bad breath etc.? I think they thought what they had to tell me next was going to scare me or something because they were both sitting close and holding my hands. Dr.Tommy started to tell me that the tooth was going to have to come out, then he quickly said, "but not today, and not with a local." He got up and pointed to the picture of that tooth and showed me the tooth's good root and how it was very long, curved and was pretty deep into my sinus cavity. He said he wasn't comfortable doing that extraction due to all those factors so he was going to send me to his own personal oral surgeon because he knew I would be in the best care. He also told us that since I am only up there for a week, he would call them today and talk to his friends so this could be taken care of this week. He had also discussed with Doc which day worked best with him since I would need a ride to an fro. Doc also discussed what kind of sedation they used, and to make sure it was okay with them that he be allowed to stay with me during the entire process. So Uncle Tommy called right then and there, discussed the issues and date and time were agreed on with both parties, i.e. Doc and the Oral Surgeon, lol, because no one asked me which day was good for me, maybe I had plans for that night or something? lol. The form of sedation was also agreed on, and they had no problem having Doc with me the entire time, actually they were thrilled he would be with me especially after Uncle Tommy had explained to them a little about my fear of dentists and why. So, we left. I gave my Uncle Tommy a big hug at his request, I thanked him for not hurting me and for his patience and understanding, as well as helping me start chipping away at my fear of dentists. Uncle Tommy hugged me again and then said, "I was my pleasure, now do me a favor and stop smoking". I just had to laugh at that because Doc gets after me about the same thing.
So just two days later I was at the oral surgeons office. I was taken back quickly and I sat in the chair with Doc beside me. The dentist walked in and introduced himself. He went over the sedation, and what would happen from start to finish while I was under. Then he said he would send in the nurse to place my IV site, then when she had it all in he would return and he would get started right away. Doc then spoke up and said "pull up your sleeve sweetie." And I did, which revealed and freshly placed and patent IV port. The surgeon looked at me and said, "wow, the hard part of the job has already been done. Did you do that yourself?" I told him no I asked Doc to place it this morning because of my white coat syndrome, he's the only one I trust to set a line, with all due respect, as I sort of blushed and let out a little chuckle. He said he totally understood. He asked me if I was ready, then asked Doc if he was ready. We both said yes as I held his hand even tighter.
The surgeon went over to the counter and drew up what looked like saline to flush the line. And if I remember it correctly that exactly what he said he was going to do. He wiped the port with alcohol then put the needle in, drew back some blood, then before he pushed it back in he asked, "All ready?" I looked at Doc, then back at him and said, "yep, be easy on me please." The surgeon smiled and said, "that's why Doc is here, I'm going to need another set of hands by the look of how deep and curved that root is, and he's going to make sure you are getting the best care possible." I smiled and watched him "flush" my line with what I thought was normal saline, but in a second I was able to taste that familiar taste of Ketamine, and a second later I was out for the count.
I woke up naked, strapped down to a flat table, arms spread, legs spread. I looked around and both doctors were there naked as well, they were each having their way with me. I was in total heaven.......Just kidding, lol.
Seriously, I woke up in what seemed like a few seconds. I was a little woozy, but I wasn't in any pain at all. The dentist came back in and talked with me. Apparently getting that tooth out was not at all easy. He said usually patients are put out and in 20 minutes they are done and awake. Well again, not quite the case with me. I don't remember how long he said I was out for, but it was way over an hour or so. But I did great he said, Doc said so too. Again my jaw hurt a bit but that was about it. He showed me the tooth and it was a bit on the weird side. The one root like he said was gone, but the other was all twisted up and had almost a 70 degree angle on it, almost like it tried to wrap itself on my jaw bone or something, I was just glad it was all over. On the car ride home I was asking Doc about what happened while I was sleeping. He didn't go into too many details, but he did say that even under sedation I was squirming and moaning, and it was apparent that I was under a lot of pain, and it was a good idea that we had me put under as apposed to just trying to use a local. Doc took me home and I slept until evening as he was coming through my door. All was just perfect then.
Mashie
P.S, And in case you are wondering, I stil have a very strong disliking for dentists, lol.