Stocking up on dental floss
Well, I haven't cleaned out the refrigerator or scrubbed around the edges of the kitchen faucet yet. But I have done quite a bit of decluttering in the kitchen, as well as staying caught up on dishes and laundry. And, over the last couple of days I've done crafts with the kids and cut out some fitted cloth diapers to sew. So that's something, right? We've been staying very busy, working hard, and staying up far too late. :)
I just got home from getting three fillings done at the dentist. I can't feel my upper lip, nose or cheek. But my mouth, jaw and neck hurt. The underside of my tongue is as sore as anything else, from the little vaccuum tube attempting to suck my etire tongue into it. The novocaine hasn't even worn off yet, and I'm miserable. I took two Advil, but they don't seem to be having a whole lot of effect.
My teeth didn't hurt before I had them worked on. How's that for irony? Make your teeth hurt now so they won't hurt later. Also, only one corner of one top front tooth now touches the bottom front teeth. Actually, it's a corner of the filling, not the actual tooth, that's the only thing making contact if I try to bite with my front teeth. Is that a problem?
I hate going to the dentist. I've had a number of pretty bad dental experiences and I tend to get pretty nervous. I picked this dental office specifically because they advertised chairside movies, needleless shots, and air abrasion technology. But apparently it's only the other dentist in the other side of the building that uses these things. The dentist I have doesn't do any of them. He's very nice and seems pretty good at what he does. But I feel a bit like it was false advertising when the only doctor they have that's taking new patients doesn't do any of the things mentioned in the ad.
They did tell me that if I made the request ahead of time, they could borrow the movie viewer from the other dentist. So I made sure to request that when I made the appointment on Wednesday. Both the hygienist and the scheduler assured me I would be able to have the video apparatus. When I got there this morning, nobody knew anything about it. No note in the chart, no request put in, no video. So we listened to a radio talk show about misheard Christmas song lyrics.
Two of the three fillings I had done today (the two worst cavities) are spots I was concerned and asking about at my last couple of appointments. Which means they've been going on for at least a year.
They kept telling me they were fine and nothing to worry about, and never even made a comment in my chart about them. Now all of a sudden they're really bad cavities that are close to needing a cap or a root canal.
Wouldn't it have been better to take care of them a year or six months ago when I first noticed them? One might think so.
The biggest cavity, the dentist didn't actually spot this time. The hygienist saw it and pointed it out to him.
The cavities were between my teeth, so I guess I really need to floss more than the few times a week I usually do. I do brush well, but don't floss as often as I should. I also think I'm not getting enough calcium for pregnancy and nursing along with my own body's needs.
When I sat down this morning, I reminded the hygienist that I can't have epinephrine in the novocaine. It's written in big red letters on the front of my chart, too, along with notations of several other allergies I have. We discussed the need to avoid epi with the dentist as well. Epinephrine, because it constricts the blood vessels, causes me to have migraines.
My migraines aren't really headaches; they're more like small seizures--visual and speech disturbances, shaking, numbness/tingling, loss of motor skills, disorientation, etc. Certainly not something to mess with. They're caused by a constriction of the blood vessels in my neck and brain, which causes electrical short-circuits in the brain. So a vasoconstrictor like epinephrine, which is intended to constrict blood vessels, is an obvious trigger. Thankfully, I haven't had a really bad migraine in years, but I'm not interested in causing one.
The dentist kept having to give me more and more novocaine. For some reason, the shots weren't working well. The shots themselves hurt, and then he'd start drilling some more and that would hurt too. It takes a lot to numb my teeth, but then it takes days for the effects to wear off on my facial nerves and muscles. Last time I had novocaine couldn't fully blink one eye for about 2 days.
I think I must have had 7 shots, at least two of which were actually in the roof of my mouth instead of the gums. My gums kept bleeding, the worst cavity turned out to be nerve-deep, and the dentist was having trouble getting the fillings to stick. So he had to take them out and redo them. It took a long time. Then the novocaine that had finally taken effect started to wear off.
At one point, the dentist asked the hygienist for more novocaine and she said she had to find some more without epinephrine. He said, "Well, I just gave her a shot of epinephrine."
Lovely.
I said, "Well, if I start getting all loopy on you, you'll know why."
The dentist said he "had to" give me the epinephrine to "control the situation" (i.e. bleeding). Actually, I think he forgot. All I could say was that it was a really good thing I wasn't allergic to it to the point of being anaphlactic.
I was really dizzy and shaky when they got done. I had to sit there for quite a while and drink some juice before I could walk. I still feel like I'm fighting a migraine, so I really hope it will just go away. I'm thankful for spell-check at the moment--i keep garbling my typing in really odd ways. It's a good thing that only one of the shots had epi in it--I'd be in really bad shape if I'd gotten 7 shots of epinephrine.
The fillings look good, and the dentist seems to have done a couple of extra little cosmetic things which are nice. But I just found a sliver of one filling in my mouth and now there's a funny little gap or edge there. So I'll have to ask about that when I go in for the fourth filling that needs to be done. I'll have to wait for a few days to see if the worst one still hurts badly. If it doesn't get better, it could need a root canal.
What fun.
I can't believe my father-in-law gets all dental work (including root canals) done with no painkiller whatsoever. I can't imagine putting myself through that much pain on purpose.
I really think I'll start flossing more, and work especially hard to make sure the kids are flossing and brushing well.
I just got home from getting three fillings done at the dentist. I can't feel my upper lip, nose or cheek. But my mouth, jaw and neck hurt. The underside of my tongue is as sore as anything else, from the little vaccuum tube attempting to suck my etire tongue into it. The novocaine hasn't even worn off yet, and I'm miserable. I took two Advil, but they don't seem to be having a whole lot of effect.
My teeth didn't hurt before I had them worked on. How's that for irony? Make your teeth hurt now so they won't hurt later. Also, only one corner of one top front tooth now touches the bottom front teeth. Actually, it's a corner of the filling, not the actual tooth, that's the only thing making contact if I try to bite with my front teeth. Is that a problem?
I hate going to the dentist. I've had a number of pretty bad dental experiences and I tend to get pretty nervous. I picked this dental office specifically because they advertised chairside movies, needleless shots, and air abrasion technology. But apparently it's only the other dentist in the other side of the building that uses these things. The dentist I have doesn't do any of them. He's very nice and seems pretty good at what he does. But I feel a bit like it was false advertising when the only doctor they have that's taking new patients doesn't do any of the things mentioned in the ad.
They did tell me that if I made the request ahead of time, they could borrow the movie viewer from the other dentist. So I made sure to request that when I made the appointment on Wednesday. Both the hygienist and the scheduler assured me I would be able to have the video apparatus. When I got there this morning, nobody knew anything about it. No note in the chart, no request put in, no video. So we listened to a radio talk show about misheard Christmas song lyrics.
Two of the three fillings I had done today (the two worst cavities) are spots I was concerned and asking about at my last couple of appointments. Which means they've been going on for at least a year.
They kept telling me they were fine and nothing to worry about, and never even made a comment in my chart about them. Now all of a sudden they're really bad cavities that are close to needing a cap or a root canal.
Wouldn't it have been better to take care of them a year or six months ago when I first noticed them? One might think so.
The biggest cavity, the dentist didn't actually spot this time. The hygienist saw it and pointed it out to him.
The cavities were between my teeth, so I guess I really need to floss more than the few times a week I usually do. I do brush well, but don't floss as often as I should. I also think I'm not getting enough calcium for pregnancy and nursing along with my own body's needs.
When I sat down this morning, I reminded the hygienist that I can't have epinephrine in the novocaine. It's written in big red letters on the front of my chart, too, along with notations of several other allergies I have. We discussed the need to avoid epi with the dentist as well. Epinephrine, because it constricts the blood vessels, causes me to have migraines.
My migraines aren't really headaches; they're more like small seizures--visual and speech disturbances, shaking, numbness/tingling, loss of motor skills, disorientation, etc. Certainly not something to mess with. They're caused by a constriction of the blood vessels in my neck and brain, which causes electrical short-circuits in the brain. So a vasoconstrictor like epinephrine, which is intended to constrict blood vessels, is an obvious trigger. Thankfully, I haven't had a really bad migraine in years, but I'm not interested in causing one.
The dentist kept having to give me more and more novocaine. For some reason, the shots weren't working well. The shots themselves hurt, and then he'd start drilling some more and that would hurt too. It takes a lot to numb my teeth, but then it takes days for the effects to wear off on my facial nerves and muscles. Last time I had novocaine couldn't fully blink one eye for about 2 days.
I think I must have had 7 shots, at least two of which were actually in the roof of my mouth instead of the gums. My gums kept bleeding, the worst cavity turned out to be nerve-deep, and the dentist was having trouble getting the fillings to stick. So he had to take them out and redo them. It took a long time. Then the novocaine that had finally taken effect started to wear off.
At one point, the dentist asked the hygienist for more novocaine and she said she had to find some more without epinephrine. He said, "Well, I just gave her a shot of epinephrine."
Lovely.
I said, "Well, if I start getting all loopy on you, you'll know why."
The dentist said he "had to" give me the epinephrine to "control the situation" (i.e. bleeding). Actually, I think he forgot. All I could say was that it was a really good thing I wasn't allergic to it to the point of being anaphlactic.
I was really dizzy and shaky when they got done. I had to sit there for quite a while and drink some juice before I could walk. I still feel like I'm fighting a migraine, so I really hope it will just go away. I'm thankful for spell-check at the moment--i keep garbling my typing in really odd ways. It's a good thing that only one of the shots had epi in it--I'd be in really bad shape if I'd gotten 7 shots of epinephrine.
The fillings look good, and the dentist seems to have done a couple of extra little cosmetic things which are nice. But I just found a sliver of one filling in my mouth and now there's a funny little gap or edge there. So I'll have to ask about that when I go in for the fourth filling that needs to be done. I'll have to wait for a few days to see if the worst one still hurts badly. If it doesn't get better, it could need a root canal.
What fun.
I can't believe my father-in-law gets all dental work (including root canals) done with no painkiller whatsoever. I can't imagine putting myself through that much pain on purpose.
I really think I'll start flossing more, and work especially hard to make sure the kids are flossing and brushing well.
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 10:54 AM[Permanent link]
9 Comments:
That is *outrageous*, PK. Unforgivable. It's in your chart; he was reminded before the procedure. There's no excuse for that, none.
If you can, please get a new dentist. God knows you don't want to be treated by someone who's prone to those kind of unacceptable errors. Next time it could be something to which you have an anaphylactic reaction.
(And, yes, you'd better believe that this one makes the carnival! If only there was a medical malpractice carnival for it, too!)
PS, the sad thing is that this dentist is a big improvement over the last couple I had. Which says a lot. I'm beginning to fear finding really excellent dental care in this area is impossible.
I've had a few great hygienists, but not a lot of really good dentists in my life.
Wow, that was painful to read, much less experience. It sure makes me realize how blessed I am... my parents found a great dentist (that I still go to rarely) that uses Bell glass (et al.) and is open to alternative approaches.
I hope you feel better soon and everything works out for the best.
Oh, ow, I can't stand incompetence--especially in the medical profession. I am sorry they didn't catch it.
I hope you get better help in the future. Hugs to you, that sounds awful.
I hate the dentist..well, not him but his occupation. My front teeth used to be able to touch, but after I had some fillings and work done on the ones in the back, only one of the front ones now barely touch...
I really am paranoid of going to the dentist and I finally found one with a lot of compassion and understanding. He is very gentle and explains things, etc. And when I had to have a root canal a couple years ago (I've had 2 now) and one out, he gave me a prescription for these pills that would knock me out...otherwise there is no way I'd have gotten anything done. Apparently these pills are given to people who suffer from insomnia and they are highly addictive...so you have to be careful with them. However, thankfully God has not allowed anything bad to happen.
Basically, when they kick in I get really tired and fall asleep. There are things I don't remember happening, I walk like I'm drunk or something and I end up sleeping for hours when I get home. However, the time passes by fast and I am actually able to get the work done on my teeth without having a heart attack or stroke like I no doubt would if I hadn't had the medication.
BTW, I only take 2 and no more because they are a strong working pill and like I said, highly addictive. I don't want to become addicted to them, so they are only ever used when I go to the dentist for work...which has only been 3 times I've had to use them...and that was in a 2 year period.
If it was that bad, why go back? Surely there's a decent dentist within a reasonable drive. Ever try Mr. Stuart? I think the Fasts went to him if you want a recommendation.
Doug
Thanks, everyone. I'm thinking I probably will get a new dentist. I just hate to be a picky and "difficult" patient, so I probably put up with more than I should.
Hey--just a note on a part no one else has commented on yet: It is a problem if your teeth don't line up the same way anymore. It can cause the fillings to fracture, and damage your teeth. You need to go back (or elsewhere) to get them filed down again, which ought to be done using one of those little red marking sheet thingies.
You probably know this already, but just in case: I had that happen once with a lot of fillings in my molars, and didn't know better and let it go--that was 8 years ago and I am still dealing with toothaches, and my bite is permanently different.
I too HATE the dentist. I went today and had a tooth pulled. She had it out in about five minutes. They put something in my mouth to help numb it so that the shot isn't as uncomfortable which is nice.
But it doesn't mean that I like the dentist any better. Right now I'm still numb but fast becoming tingly.
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