What bothered me most about dental care was that I don’t really have a large mouth. "Open wider, wider, while they stretch my lips and jaws to the limit, and beyond.
Before I got dentures I had 20 teeth pulled, at one time. I took only one Tylenol 3, and that was it. I remain happy to not go back to the dentist again.
There’s the patient’s sensitivity to pain, and then there’s the dentist’s sensitivity to the patient’s pain. These two levels may be calibrated very differently, and I for one have had dentists who were very interested in pain management, and unfortunately others who… not so much.
I’ve been told more than once what a good patient I am by the oral surgeons who’ve taken out various teeth over the years, especially the back molar extraction where she had to cut down the gum after the tooth fractured during the extraction. I always request Novocain since that works really well for me.
The one time it didn’t was some decades ago when I was having a root canal done and the dentist drilled past the Novocain into live nerve. That’s the one time I reacted badly, with the sudden shock of pain sending me screaming half out of the chair. Then I was sternly admonished by the shaken dentist that I had to stay perfectly still and accept a needle down INTO THAT TOOTH for another Novocain shot so he could finish the procedure. Yeh, it was just as awful as you’re thinking.
That was my second and last root canal; since then if a tooth went bad I had it taken out. Given I got the bad teeth gene in my family, I have very few teeth left, a couple of lower implants, and an upper plate. At least I don’t have many more extractions to anticipate.
When I went to a new dentist nearly 30 years ago, I told him that no dentist had ever succeeded in numbing me completely. He basically said, “Just watch me!” And he was right. He just kept jabbing novocaine into me. After the first jab, I didn’t even feel the others. Of course, my mouth stayed numb for a longer time, but I can live with that. Unfortunately he retired during the pandemic. He was replaced and I still use the same technician, but have had no actual dental work done, so I haven’t experienced his replacement. As for the technician, she recommended I use an electric toothbrush. Since I have done that the cleanings are a lot less painful, since there is much less plaque. I recommend it.
A long time ago I was a massage therapist, and spent about half time working for a very woo dentist doing foot massage while patients were in the chair. He found that it cut the amount of novocaine and gas considerably, and appreciative comments from patients seem to bear this out.
He also provided a room for full body massage so patients could chill before and/or after difficult procedures.
The practice didn’t accept insurance, needless to say. Everybody paid cash. Nice neighborhood.
Omg! All dentists should offer that.
I dunno. I can see the appeal for some people, but part of why I don’t like going to the dentist is because of how vulnerable I feel, lying there with my mouth wide open and someone poking around inside it with sharp objects. I’m afraid that having my shoes off and having someone messing around with my feet at the same time would make me feel even more vulnerable.
I totally get that, but to my surprise very few patients expressed anything other than appreciation. Even folks with little or no previous experience with any kind of touch therapy really found foot massage in particular quite easy to accept.
There were exceptions, but based on my experience they were less common that I expected, maybe 2 or 3%.
And believe it or not, my usual routine involved taking off the patients’ socks and using a peppermint balm with my fingers between their toes, etc. Pretty intimate, but somehow very easy to enjoy, perhaps especially because it offered such a contrast to the invasive and uncomfortable action up top.
I’ve had the same problem. One nice thing about the procedure I just had was that the dentist had a very comfortable prop that I had to open wide for, so it could be inserted between my teeth on the side opposite where the tooth was being pulled, but then I got to relax and it held my jaw open with no effort from me. It was great! I don’t know why something like that hasn’t been used every time I needed work done.
The oral surgeons I’ve had work done with use that thing and it’s so helpful!
Those are great for long procedures.
I had the hardest time holding my mouth open for all my dental repair. For one thing it hurt my nailed together jaw. I’m a belly-acher about extended pain. I looked around and found the dental blocks. Ordered some and brought them with me to my oral surgeon. He wasn’t happy about it. But I set my jaw(
) on it.
He chose one that would be less likely to be in his way. After that ordered them for his whole practice. He said the patient sometimes teaches the doctor.
They use the same for me and it makes it so much better! I can never hold my mouth open as wide as they need for that long.
I’m so ticklish I wouldn’t be able to hold still, so would be accumulating further injuries from dental instruments.
Dentist here. I can say after doing dentistry for over 37 years and seeing thousands of patients, there is a large range of how patients act. I work on kids and adults. Most people are good patients but some are a real chore to work on. I’ve had people scream and say it hurts when I shined the light in their mouth. I’ve also done root canals and molar extractions on people with no anesthetic and they are perfectly fine.
I give good injections. Taken lots of classes on anesthesia. It helps things when one has profound anesthesia and it is delivered with minimal discomfort. As far as number of injections needed, it is not generally a volume of anesthetic issue(except in cases of severe swelling), it is a placement issue. If you aren’t fully numb it wasn’t exactly where it needed to be. This is usually only an issue in the mandible. Of course we all miss sometime. While nerves are basically in the same area, there is a lot of variation in human anatomy. Heck phlebotomists miss sometimes and they can see the vein.
I always try and keep the patient informed on what we are doing and what to expect. If they need a break or are uncomfortable they raise their hand and I stop immediately. I try to make things as easy as possible for them because that makes it easier for me. Some people just refuse to cooperate, wont open their mouth, keep turning there head away etc. Makes me wonder sometimes why they bother to come in. Other people can be weird. I had a guy who used to try and close and suck on my fingers, yuck.
All in all most people even little kids try to cooperate.
It isn’t all a matter of whether you took good care of your teeth. Durability of tooth enamel is genetic. Some people are just a whole lot less liable to get cavities than others.
The novocaine needle hurt worse than anything the dentist was going to do. I learned real quick to say that I’d do without; I wasn’t afraid of needles in general, but I was sure afraid of that one.
But I didn’t need fillings; I only needed braces. The kind of braces they gave you in the 1950’s hurt. – I think the novocaine was because some of my baby teeth got pulled, instead of being let fall out on their own.
Ack. I love back massages. But I hate having my feet handled.
That is so bizarre and unexpected that I am cackling uncontrollably.
And some of us, alas, are genetically more prone, like my younger borther and me.
My guess is the patient had some weird kink. Ick.
One thing i like about my dentist is that she’s a small woman with small fingers. But my teeth and jaw are relatively small compared to my mouth, so really, there’s enough room for the dentist in there.
A foot massage while getting dental work sounds really weird. But having someone rub peppermint oil between my toes also sounds pretty appealing. My feet can get stiff and i really like a massage, enough that i often massage my feet. I feel like I’d enjoy it more if i wasn’t being distracted by dental work, though. 
Yeah, I’m told my enamel is harder than average. Certainly, my grinding surfaces have held up better than my husband’s. I still got some cavities, though, and have Even had a couple of crowns. I also broke a chip off a tooth, once. (My dentist was appalled to hear that i chew up small bones. I’m pretty sure she’s a vegetarian.)
And i did get lidocaine for the grinding before getting a crown, and some other, more invasive stuff. But i didn’t have anything when she cleaned up the chipped tooth, as that wasn’t super close to the nerve.