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My husband has a loose back molar on the left side bottom. It's been loose for a year. It's only recently started to bother him. It's been almost 35 years since he's seen a dentist. luckily he was the one that suggested we go to a dentist. he's 51 now. Going tonight actually. His fear of Dentists stems back from his Childhood. His dentist had no bedside manner, he was not especially good with kids. My husbands biggest fear is the needle to numb the mouth and any other kinds of procedure that will cause pain. He said he had to have a tooth pulled once and the doctor came in with the needle hiding behind his back and thought my husband did not see it. My husband was like I see the needle behind your back what the heck are you doing?
At that point he said pull the tooth don't give me Novocain, the doctor was puzzled did what my husband asked. I asked him if he was in pain, he said slightly. From that point on the dentist refused to work on my husbands teeth and told his mom to see someone else. He has good oral Hygiene brushes, flosses and rinses with Listerine every day. My concern is there are other issues with his teeth that could be costly and we don't have dental insurance. We could get it through his job but since my husbands fear is so great he never bother to purchase it. He suffers from Anxiety normally but today it's through the roof. Anyone else have a fear of dentists?
I don't but have met one or two people who were afraid of dentists. I normally feel that fear can become worse than the thing it's afraid of. Better to face up to and deal with an obvious health problem BEFORE it gets worse. Every time you do face up to it you end up being better informed, less fearful, and thus stronger. Knowledge is power. Dental problems don't tend to get better on their own if ignored. If someone puts off treatment because of fear they ended up making simple problems much worse. Which leads to more pain, more time spent in the office of the very practitioner they are afraid of, undergoing more complex treatments. Not to mention a lot more expense. If you don't have dental coverage that's probably the last thing you want.
Lots of people fear dentistry because of a bad experience earlier in life. There are dentists who cater to fearful patients. Your hubs needs to consider all the decades that have passed since his bad experience. The discipline has changed quite a bit since then. Dentists can do a lot these days to ease anxiety about various routine procedures such as injections (they can apply a topical numbing agent so you don't even feel the injection) and offer alternative methods of pain relief. They can also prescribe a short-acting anti-anxiety med to help a patient get through a necessary procedure.
Last edited by Parnassia; 12-13-2023 at 02:48 PM..
I am happy to say everything went well last night. The staff was amazing as well as the doctor. They took into account all his fears. Numbed him with an numbing agent then the needle (4 shots) and then 1 minute later tooth was out. What's strange is my husband was not in that much pain prior to the visit. Just some discomfort eating. There was an infection and he was put on antibiotics right away. No more bleeding as of this morning, says he feels 100% better. now we don't have dental insurance so the visit cost 490.00 which I thought was reasonable for NY. He plans on going back in the new year to have a check up and cleaning. We got there at 5:30 and were out by 6:00 pm. No other patients were there at that time. BTW he's already taking anti Anxiety medications.
I have zero fear of dentists because I've had so much work done since I was an early teen, got a mess of teeth pulled so I could get braces (by an old guy with huge hairy hands), many root canals, extractions, crowns, bridges and implants. Its uncomfortable at times but cleaning is the only thing that ever hurts. I'm glad he overcame his fear and got it over with. Dentistry is a breeze in 2023, and has been for decades. Valium is a wonderful thing to ease anxiety for larger events like wisdom teeth extraction.
I have zero fear of dentists because I've had so much work done since I was an early teen, got a mess of teeth pulled so I could get braces (by an old guy with huge hairy hands), many root canals, extractions, crowns, bridges and implants. Its uncomfortable at times but cleaning is the only thing that ever hurts. I'm glad he overcame his fear and got it over with. Dentistry is a breeze in 2023, and has been for decades. Valium is a wonderful thing to ease anxiety for larger events like wisdom teeth extraction.
He's not over his fear completely. Dentist suggested he take out the other 3 wisdom teeth next year before they become a problem and get infected. His biggest fear is the needle going into his gums. He'd rather be put out.
The lidocaine needle hurts. BUT there's a trick some dentists use that makes it almost painless. They gather a pinch of your cheek and sort of - vibrate the pinch while they're pushing the plunger to send the licocaine through the needle. It's some kind of combination neuro-scientific and psychological effect. A distraction, while also sending brain signals to pay attention to what's going on with your cheek instead of what's going on in your gum.
If the dentist does it right, you won't even realize they've put the needle in, let alone delivered the liquid into your tissues.
I've had varying success over a bunch of different dental professionals with it. But most of them have minimized the pain. One eliminated it every time she needed to do it. And another one dismissed and ignored my request (that one no longer is my doctor).
The lidocaine needle hurts. BUT there's a trick some dentists use that makes it almost painless. They gather a pinch of your cheek and sort of - vibrate the pinch while they're pushing the plunger to send the licocaine through the needle. It's some kind of combination neuro-scientific and psychological effect. A distraction, while also sending brain signals to pay attention to what's going on with your cheek instead of what's going on in your gum.
If the dentist does it right, you won't even realize they've put the needle in, let alone delivered the liquid into your tissues.
I've had varying success over a bunch of different dental professionals with it. But most of them have minimized the pain. One eliminated it every time she needed to do it. And another one dismissed and ignored my request (that one no longer is my doctor).
Yes I remember my dentist doing the cheek thing bit sometimes they may hit a nerve and boy does that hurt!
The older I get (76) the more dentistry I need to have done, and it bothers me more now than when I was younger. Fortunately I get nitrous oxide for cleanings and fillings (dentist), oral sedation for root canals (endodontist) and an iv propofol mix for dental implants (oral surgeon)
The older I get (76) the more dentistry I need to have done, and it bothers me more now than when I was younger. Fortunately I get nitrous oxide for cleanings and fillings (dentist), oral sedation for root canals (endodontist) and an iv propofol mix for dental implants (oral surgeon)
Funny how increasing your risk causes you to feel better about it.
My concern is there are other issues with his teeth that could be costly and we don't have dental insurance. We could get it through his job but since my husbands fear is so great he never bother to purchase it.
Have him get it through his job right now, in case it's still within the open enrollment period where pre-existing conditions don't count.
You're right, there could be other issues.
I had two loose upper teeth several years ago due to abcesses (infections). They got pulled. When a tooth gets pulled and leaves an empty space, the neighbor teeth could get out of alignment.
I elected to have implants. They cost me $8000. That was 7 years ago. I don't regret it. It was very disconcerting feeling the empty spaces with my tongue.
The alternatives: Denture that has to be taken in and out for cleaning or a bridge that connects to the neighbor teeth that could erode the neighbor teeth. Or live with the empty space. Many do.
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