The Dentist

[harv]

Have got a bloody great big abscess and the left hand side of my face including my eye has blown up like a football

I'm bloody terrified of dentists because when I was a kid my dentist was a fucking sadist so I haven't been for years, probably the last time my pain was worse than my fear around 15 years or so ago.  My teeth are an absolute mess, so bad that most of them have fallen out

Really embarrassing

At least I'm getting them all sorted now I guess.

I look like I've gone a few rounds with Tyson lol

[jman]

I hate the dentist too for pretty much the same reason, I had an NHS dentist when I was younger, her son was in the same year as me at school but I didn't really like him too much... anyway she was bloody awful, deciding once to not bother giving me anesthesia for my first filling I needed doing, her excuse - because she was running late, it hurt like bloody buggery and I've been petrified of dentists ever since.  I moved to a private dentist when I left home and the difference is amazing, they certainly go the extra mile in everything they do and totally reassure you about everything.  But they are bloody pricey!  If you want your kids to make a fortune when they are older, get them into dentistry!!

I had an abscess once too, bloody painful, made my mouth swell up like a golfball, not too dissimilar to what I've been going through lately lol.  I had to have the tooth removed in the end, although that's the only tooth I've lost and its at the back so not visible.

[harv]

My syringe phobia doesn't help matters either. The Dentist I went to was closed for a refurbishment but he was there and had a quick look and gave me some antibiotics and Ibuprofen for the pain. I've had abscesses before but usually just ignore the pain but this one is really bad. I've got my laser surgery on Thursday and am worried that the swelling might be a big problem if it doesn't go down by then, it looks like I've got a black eye without the bruising lol. I look like I've gone a few rounds with Tyson lololol

[Dragontao]

Had to go to the dentist for a check up yesterday, but have had a problem with a tooth for a while. Doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it so it may be an infection that means it might need to come out.

Never had a problem with NHS dentists to be honest. My first dentist, who was my dentist for a long time, was a nice bloke. He eventually went private but still kept his regular NHS patients. Sadly he died of MS a fair few years ago, though he;d have been retired for some years now if he was still alive. He was my dentist for over 30 years.

Since then it's been a few dentists in different places, as one by one they tend to go private. Which is something to think about. Most of the private dentists have been NHS at some point, so they've no excuse for treating patients any differently with regard to their manner.

Current dentist is Polish and he's actually been at the same practice for about 3 years now. Before that practice opened I had a 40 mile round trip to the dentist, might not seem that much but when you;re somewhere the traffic is horrendous, it's a pain.

[larry]

kinell !!

What with you and your abscess. and jmans mumps....... 

Im not a fan of the dentist either but after experiencing many bouts of tooth ache, prevention is better than cure! I think tooth ache has to be one of the worst, just never stops. I'm quite lucky, i'm still on my mums family private denplan thingy. so try and go as as when. I did chip a tooth recently and had to have a root canal done, and a crown to replace the tooth. I think all in all if i'd had to pay for it it would have cost a mere £600!! 

[Late]

Nope, NHS dentist charges are split into three bands. That'd be the highest - band three. £214.

I'm scared of dentists (same phobia as doctors in my book) so only go about once every 5 years - and my teeth are pretty awful.
Had to have root canal work following an infection a couple of years back. Not fun - though to be honest most of the worst of it is psychological. The thought and sight of the needle, the sound and smell of the drilling.
Similar to when I got my tattoo, really. Thinking about the needle was much worse than the actual pain.

[ancelotti]

I can relate to what Late says. Although I'm not too bothered about needles. I just hate the discomfort and the uneasy feeling of lying there while the dentist smashes my teeth apart to get them out (dodgy wisdom teeth were a bitch to get out apparently).

[Dragontao]

Not fun - though to be honest most of the worst of it is psychological. The thought and sight of the needle, the sound and smell of the drilling.
 Thinking about the needle was much worse than the actual pain.

Needles don't bother me, luckily. If you'd seen the size of the one the one they stuck into my shoulder you'd probably have fainted. It had to go right through into the joint and into the tendon. Surgeon said "this might hurt a bit, you;ve got big shoulders and this needles has got a long way to go". He was right, it did hurt.

Needles the dentist uses these days, or at least my dentist, aren't that big at all, plus he uses an even smaller needle to inject some local anaesthetic so you don;t feel the main one going in.

[Late]

I was always scared of needles and hospitals but it got worse when our lass was pregnant the first time. Due to complications she was producing too much amniotic fluid (she's normally a size 8 but was absolutely massive, even when she was just 3 months in), so once a fortnight we had to drive up to geordieland (about 60-90 mins each way) where they'd stick her with a needle attached to a hosepipe (okay, it wasn't a hosepipe - but it wasn't dissimilar!) and drain about 3 litres into a bucket. Every fortnight. She just kept producing it like a sodding factory.
There's nothing like seeing that to put you off your dinner.

[harv]

Think this is going to fuck up my laser surgery tomorrow, my swelling has got worse for some reason. Might be because I took some spare antibiotics I had on Monday in an attempt to sort it out myself to avoid going to the Dentist. It wasn't too bad on Monday but when I woke up yesterday the swelling had gone bloody mental. They were different antibiotics so maybe they've cancelled the ones on Tuesday out or something. Might have to read the instructions.

[harv]

Quite happy at the moment for the first time in ages. My swelling has gone down a fair bit today and have got back from the hospital after having my eye drops in and my eyes photographed before my laser surgery. The woman that was supposed to be doing my surgery took a look at the pics and the eyes have repaired themselves. Going back to have them checked in 3 months so hopefully they're going to be all clear again.

And I was really shitting bricks too.

Hopefully no typos in this post, my pupils are about the size of saucepan lids so can't see a great deal at the moment

[harv]

Might find another dentist though, the guy I saw on Tuesday was a bit careless when checking my teeth and stuck his finger on my abscess which bloomin hurt, and they're in the middle of a refurbishment so they're not actually open for a couple of weeks and my antibiotics course ends in a week. Might go to my doctors because it's a Medical Centre and they do all sorts of stuff there including dentistry.

[AVFCRoss]

Can't believe the sort of timescales you lot have put the dentist off for! I don't exactly treat it like a second home when I'm there, but my dentist is a nice guy and I always appreciate the help in keeping on top of my dental hygiene.

I take a fairly standard 6 month check up, and have always kept on top of keeping my teeth looked after...Nothing more unattractive than a set of pearlers that look like a neglected cemetery, in my opinion!

My mum has always said, "You only get 2 sets of them, and you'll lose most of the first set before you know it!"

Very sound advice. Dental health is important, not just for quality of life, but for image too.

[harv]

I haven't gone back yet either. I really am terrified of the fuckers. My embarrassing syringe phobia doesn't help either.

[jman]

Bloody hell, been having a few problems with one of my wisdom teeth for the past 2 weeks now... problem is where one has broken through the gum, its now prone to collecting food & bacteria where I cant manage to clean it properly.. I brush twice every day and even floss most days of the week, but its still managed to lead to a build-up of plaque which has caused an infection which has caused a lot of discomfort.. even when sleeping.

Went to dentist last week and he cleaned it all out... that killed it off for a while.. but its come back again and had to go back to the dentist again today, been put on a course of antibiotics and he took an xray and told me I should have it extracted as the roots are quite short - so nowhere near the nerve that can cause serious damage and the shape of it should mean it should come out easily enough..... but fookin hell, the only tooth I had extracted was a bloody horrible experience.. I absolutely hated it.. I can still hear that cracking sound to this day!