In our family, some of the kids were blessed with good teeth and others weren't so lucky. I happen to fall into the not so lucky category! No matter how much I brush, floss, waterpick, etc., I am doomed. I have suffered a lot since I was a child with dentist visits and absolutely hate each appointment. I get so worked up over just a simple visit.
Since October, I have been to the dentist a total of 5 times and I have another appointment next week. (last one this year...thank goodness). About 4 years ago, I had a filling fall out of a tooth (wisdom tooth). I was pregnant with Sabrina and didn't think much of it. I neglected getting it refilled and soon the tooth began breaking away in all directions. I would clean it out with the waterpick everyday and it never really hurt or bothered me. In October, the tooth broke off while I was brushing leaving just a little part of the tooth and the entire root system. I have dental insurance so I started looking around so see which dentist in this area are covered on my husbands plan. I found Dr. Eric Dahle in Ontario. He shares and office with Dr. Wettstein. (who I used to go to) I saw he did sedation dentistry and I was sold! Knock me out and get 'er done! He looked at the tooth and said I needed all 4 wisdom teeth out ( I already knew that...) and some cleaning done plus refill 3 fillings that had fallen out. I was scared to death and so I scheduled all of my cleanings first and left the extraction and other work until now....like yesterday! I dreaded seeing December 7 come.
About and hour before my appointment, I took the sedation pill. It took about 15 minutes and I was feeling a little fuzzy and knew it was starting to work. I arrived at the dentist office, signed in and they opened the door and called me back. I was 10 minutes early and had no time to sit down and catch my breath. Before I knew it I was in the death chair with cotton swabs shoved in all directions in my mouth. The nurse handed me headphones, laid me back with the remote control and I was channel surfing in no time. For some reason bull riding caught my attention and I stopped on that channel. Soon enough came the 1st, 2nd, 3rd needle for numbing. The dentist came in and did a couple more needles. I am pretty sure I counted 10 needles shoved in my mouth..NOT COOL. Everything was nice and numb and the dentist was off...drilling away at a filling that had fallen out of the side of my tooth. I was watching the bull riding intently waiting to see if the guy got a re-ride and next thing I know the high speed drill comes flying out of my mouth, over my lip, blood gushing everywhere. The dentist grabbed gauze and squeezed my lip together and said, "This one may need stitches." What the heck?? What just happened?? Then the stupid nurse had the nerve to say..."You can't turn your head like that or accidents like this will happen. If you want him to stop, then just raise your hand up." Me, turn my head?? Are you serious? I was waiting to see if the guy got a reride. Plus, why would I turn my head to look at the dentist while he was drilling in my mouth? I am not that stupid. I couldn't talk and say anything because my mouth was so numb. In my mind, I did a whole lot of talking though. He hurried through the rest of the work, pulled the tooth, handed me a prescription for vicodin and was GONE. Where did he go?? He was out of there. The nurse gave instruction, walked me to the front counter, told me I owed $95.20 for the visit and that they'd bill the rest to insurance and I left. I got in the car so angry, that I closed my eyes so I wouldn't sit there and cry. I ended up falling asleep until we got home. I walked in, changed the gauze in my mouth and went to bed for 4 hours. I woke up to my sister calling on the phone and I was hysterical that I forgot to pick up Sarah at school. My mom did though! The pain was becoming very intense as the numbing was wearing off. I decided it was time to try a vicodin for the very first time. I have problems taking medication so I was a little scared about how my body would react. Usually 1 regular stregth tylenol will knock me out...and this was a vicodin...repeat...vicodin. It helped with the pain for about 3 hours, but the way I felt was horrible. I laid in bed until 4:00 am with my eyes wide open. Not fun. Needless to say, I have some vicodin that will join the collection of pills in the cupboard!
I am thankful to have the work done, but I will never go back to that dentist again. While I was in the room getting my work done, he was paged with 3 other patients waiting for him. Because he was hurried, I got the blunt end of the deal and of course he isn't going to admit he did anything wrong.
The picture is from today. Yesterday it looked alot worse!! The cut starts inside my mouth and finishes at the bottom of my lip..as you can see. I am so afraid to split it open again. The cut is alot deeper than you can see in the picture.
Nice swollen lips...want a kiss??? Well, you don't get one anyways!
Since October, I have been to the dentist a total of 5 times and I have another appointment next week. (last one this year...thank goodness). About 4 years ago, I had a filling fall out of a tooth (wisdom tooth). I was pregnant with Sabrina and didn't think much of it. I neglected getting it refilled and soon the tooth began breaking away in all directions. I would clean it out with the waterpick everyday and it never really hurt or bothered me. In October, the tooth broke off while I was brushing leaving just a little part of the tooth and the entire root system. I have dental insurance so I started looking around so see which dentist in this area are covered on my husbands plan. I found Dr. Eric Dahle in Ontario. He shares and office with Dr. Wettstein. (who I used to go to) I saw he did sedation dentistry and I was sold! Knock me out and get 'er done! He looked at the tooth and said I needed all 4 wisdom teeth out ( I already knew that...) and some cleaning done plus refill 3 fillings that had fallen out. I was scared to death and so I scheduled all of my cleanings first and left the extraction and other work until now....like yesterday! I dreaded seeing December 7 come.
About and hour before my appointment, I took the sedation pill. It took about 15 minutes and I was feeling a little fuzzy and knew it was starting to work. I arrived at the dentist office, signed in and they opened the door and called me back. I was 10 minutes early and had no time to sit down and catch my breath. Before I knew it I was in the death chair with cotton swabs shoved in all directions in my mouth. The nurse handed me headphones, laid me back with the remote control and I was channel surfing in no time. For some reason bull riding caught my attention and I stopped on that channel. Soon enough came the 1st, 2nd, 3rd needle for numbing. The dentist came in and did a couple more needles. I am pretty sure I counted 10 needles shoved in my mouth..NOT COOL. Everything was nice and numb and the dentist was off...drilling away at a filling that had fallen out of the side of my tooth. I was watching the bull riding intently waiting to see if the guy got a re-ride and next thing I know the high speed drill comes flying out of my mouth, over my lip, blood gushing everywhere. The dentist grabbed gauze and squeezed my lip together and said, "This one may need stitches." What the heck?? What just happened?? Then the stupid nurse had the nerve to say..."You can't turn your head like that or accidents like this will happen. If you want him to stop, then just raise your hand up." Me, turn my head?? Are you serious? I was waiting to see if the guy got a reride. Plus, why would I turn my head to look at the dentist while he was drilling in my mouth? I am not that stupid. I couldn't talk and say anything because my mouth was so numb. In my mind, I did a whole lot of talking though. He hurried through the rest of the work, pulled the tooth, handed me a prescription for vicodin and was GONE. Where did he go?? He was out of there. The nurse gave instruction, walked me to the front counter, told me I owed $95.20 for the visit and that they'd bill the rest to insurance and I left. I got in the car so angry, that I closed my eyes so I wouldn't sit there and cry. I ended up falling asleep until we got home. I walked in, changed the gauze in my mouth and went to bed for 4 hours. I woke up to my sister calling on the phone and I was hysterical that I forgot to pick up Sarah at school. My mom did though! The pain was becoming very intense as the numbing was wearing off. I decided it was time to try a vicodin for the very first time. I have problems taking medication so I was a little scared about how my body would react. Usually 1 regular stregth tylenol will knock me out...and this was a vicodin...repeat...vicodin. It helped with the pain for about 3 hours, but the way I felt was horrible. I laid in bed until 4:00 am with my eyes wide open. Not fun. Needless to say, I have some vicodin that will join the collection of pills in the cupboard!
I am thankful to have the work done, but I will never go back to that dentist again. While I was in the room getting my work done, he was paged with 3 other patients waiting for him. Because he was hurried, I got the blunt end of the deal and of course he isn't going to admit he did anything wrong.
The picture is from today. Yesterday it looked alot worse!! The cut starts inside my mouth and finishes at the bottom of my lip..as you can see. I am so afraid to split it open again. The cut is alot deeper than you can see in the picture.
Nice swollen lips...want a kiss??? Well, you don't get one anyways!
