My Trip to the Dentist

Today, I had to go to the dentist. Not my favorite thing as I have posted here before in Doctors and Dentists and Such I put off going until I can no longer avoid it. It doesn't take much to have an excuse not to go.

The most common one would be money. It's so easy to say I just can't afford it. Dave's insurance has only covered $1500 a year which doesn't go that far with the kind of work I need done. One crown and a cleaning is usually the max. Then I can safely tell myself I can wait for the new year with it's coverage.

The New Year came and went and I talked about getting another crown done but did nothing to get that appointment. However, this year, since Dave's lost his job his benefits will end April 1. That meant I had to squeeze in the work I could before I lost the coverage all together.

Today was the day. I have been having problems with one of the teeth left to crown so I knew I needed it fixed before it got worse. Dave made the appointment and even escorted me to my appointment today.

I'd like to say I got through it OK but then I'm not really sure what OK means in the context of me and the dentist. It's never a good experience just something I get through, sometimes better than others. I always seem to have flashbacks of childhood appointments no matter what but sometimes other things happen as well.

Today, I had problems with sensitivity returning before the work was done. I tried to get through it without asking for more meds because of how sick the Novocaine makes me but I just couldn't hold out. I got to the point the pain was triggering flashbacks and I was really struggling staying in the chair. This was before we ever got to the REALLY hard part.

The whole process of taking impressions pushes all kinds of button for me. I feel like I'm going to suffocate with that gunk stuffed in my face. It's all I can do to not rip the thing out of my mouth and head for the hills.

I try to concentrate on deep breathing techniques to get me through the allotted time. I also try going to a safe place in my mind, counting backwards and a dozen other tricks I've learned over time. But today none of those things was working for me.

Thankfully the impressions didn't have to be redone like they did my last appointment. I'm pretty sure I couldn't have gotten myself through another round of those things. I ended up gagging and nearly threw up as the thing was removed from my mouth. At least once it was gone, the panicky feelings left.

I'm not really sure if things got so bad due to the length of the nearly 3 hour appointment or if it was the fact I experienced the pain in the early part. Whatever this was the toughest dental appointment I've had in several years. I'm pretty sure it's going to be even tougher to get me back in for anymore crown work any time soon.

Now, I'm dealing with the aftermath of the I am allergic to the adrenaline that is in Novocaine. How badly I react is directly related to how much of the drug I am administered. Today's extra dose made for more than my usual discomfort.

It's been over six hours since I left the dentist's office and I still have chills and a bad headache. Since the symptoms are still as strong as they are I suspect they won't be gone until I sleep them off overnight. Just another reason it makes it tough for me to get myself to the dentist in the first place.