My wife is having dental impressions taken, and she has got herself completely worked up over it. She has a deep fear of dentists ever since as a child, a dentist broke a needle off in her jaw. She is also burdened with a very low threshold of pain. She knows that any discomfort she may feel (do impressions really hurt, or are they just uncomfortable?) will only last a short time, and that she has to just bite the bullet, so to speak. But she gets sick to her stomach, panics, goes pale, shakes and begins to cry.
Short of taking a valium, which makes transportation to and from the dentist an issue, is there some sort of breathing excercize or anything she can do to distract herself during her trip to the dentist?
I hate to see her get all wound up over nothing, and she knows that she shouldn’t be acting like this (her words). I know it’s a phobia she has, that it doesn’t just switch off when it’s inconvenient, and I don’t want to make it seem like I’m mocking her because I don’t have that fear. I want to be the hero and tell her to try this or try that.
Does she have to use that particular dentist? There are dentists who specialize in people who have phobias. At the very least, she should have someone available to drive her there and back.
Im in the same boat (meaning, I’m like your wife. I don’t go to dentists, but I should). Assure your wife that dentistry has advanced in the last few decades and the asshole who broke the needle off in her jaw is long since dead. Impressions should be a piece of cake. No nasty stuff.
This is the mindset I have cultivated for the impending day I will need to finally go see a dentist.
Actual headline: “Church ends probe of Gay Bishop”
Has she ever used nitrous oxide while at the dentist? I’m a baby when it comes to dental work (I’ve had more than I care to, and I still need more), and my dentist knows it, so he lets me have the gas and novacaine. It relaxes me a whole helluva lot.
Also, he takes a topical numbing gel and lets it sit for about a minute on the spot he’s going to inject the novacaine so it lessens the pain of the needle. (For this reason, I can’t eat cherry jelly beans anymore because the flavor is too similar, blech).
And yeah, impressions are just a littleuncomfortable, not painful.
Ask the dentist if they have nitrous oxide for such a procedure. I hate hate hate the dentist (there aren’t enough "hate"s out there), but I had a filling two days ago–my first in almost 2 decades. My wife suggested I request the nitrous, and even though it didn’t “feel” like it made a difference, the experience was completely painless and stress-free. It also only cost an additional $15 (I don’t know whether that’s standard or not).
I’ve had impressions more than once. NO pain involved. They fill trays with this goopy stuff, and you have to sink your teeth into it until it hardens a bit, which doesn’t take very long at all.
I mean, it’s not something I’d voluntarily do every morning, 'cause it feels kind of strange, but there is, I repeat, NO PAIN. (It can be a bit uncomfortable if you have a stuffy nose at the time, though …)
If she ends up having to have potentially painful work done and her phobia is that severe, maybe you should see if there’s a dentist in your area who uses general anesthesia. There’s one in the KC area, I know. Now, general anesthesia is nothing to fool around with, but you just have to weigh the risks with the idea of being in terror for an hour or so at the dentist’s office.
These panic attacks come on well before the actual trip to the dentist, and it sometimes takes her 2-3 hours after the appointment to calm down.
As far as is it the only dentist she can go to, at this point, yes. My dental coverage, which sucks to begin with, does not extend to her, and we have already begun making payment arrangements. She had 14 teeth removed (the remaining 12 on top, and 2 on bottom) by him about 3 weeks ago, and he’s pretty much putting on the finishing touches. Financially speaking, we have to ride it out with him.
I have to give her credit, though, she’s been one tough chick thus far, considering her fear. I think that she’s been trying to rein in her fears for so long that it’s just getting to be too much for her to take. She’s upset that she can’t tough it out for another few days, especially since the end is a just another visit or two away. If I can help her get through the next week or so, she will be done and over with this procedure for the most part.
She was knocked out when they removed her teeth. That was a selling point for this dentist, as far as my wife was concerned. Hard to believe that when removing that many teeth, there are some dentist who still will NOT use general anesthesia. I guess it’s a liability issue…
It’s also a cost issue. I had a tooth removed in January and he would have been happy to knock me out, for another $250.
Believe me, I am terrified of dentists in general and that particular trip was horrible. I will say, though, getting my teeth cleaned in June was a cake-wake.
She’s had 14 teeth removed?! I’d say she’s one tough cookie.
I don’t have any advice about the hours before the appointment but, nitrous oxide will definitely relax her during. I think it will take care of the after as well just because it won’t have been as traumatic for her with the help of the gas. It wears off very soon after they remove the nozzle (the gas is hooked to a little cap that will fit over her nose with an elastic band around her head to hold it on).
Impressions are not painful in the least. It’s just awkward having the form filled with goo in ones mouth. Like others have said, it just takes a couple of minutes.
I dread dental impressions, as I have a strong gag reflex (no wisecracks, now!). They don’t hurt, by any stretch of the imagination, but they cram a shovelfull of goop up into your mouth and it feels like it’s dripping all the way down the back of your throat and the gag reflex kicks in, overtime. It is not pleasant. I’d keep this news from wifey—no sense getting her even more worked up.
Not only can you take drugs that will calm you down before and while at the Dentist’s office, Dentists now offer drugs that induce a short term memory loss so you don’t rememer any discomfort at all. true.
Start with Valium or Xanax or something to take the edge off and just get her into the door without panic.
Then there’s a great trick I learned as a child with Nitrous Oxide.
I found that it was a great tool to help me push myself so far into my brain that the body (and it’s experiences) were distant and less disconcerting. Take an experience, or a memory, or a fantasy or whatever and push/pull/will yourself into it, stepping away from your body.
Takes a bit of concentration and she might not achieve it on the first attempt. But if nothing else, it gives the mind something else to do instead of concentrating on the anticipation of pain.
Yes, impressions really are a breeze - no pain, no major discomfort, just a lot of goopy stuff in your mouth. You even get to pick the flavor!
I had impressions done before I got my braces on, and it was a snap. They fill the trays with the goop, which is about the consistency of pancake batter when it starts off. Tell her to make sure her nose is not stuffy, because sometimes a little bit will spill out of the side of the tray and drip into your mouth - you don’t want to swallow it.
They will do each tray one at a time, top then bottom. It takes about 20-30 seconds for it to set, and when they come out they make a suction-cup sound.
The worst part of it is trying to pick the little bits out of your teeth when they’re done, but I promise it’s not bad at all!
I have to second Eve; impressions are not painful (I’ve had them to create teeth-whitening molds), but it is very easy to underestimate how strongly your gag reflex might kick in. I don’t think any amount of assurance will stave off a panic attack if she feels the heavy goop slowly sliding down her throat. See if your dentist uses the nitrous.
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