#dental stuff

[elizabethplaid]

My jaw is so swollen on the right side, from the dental work. I thought I was doing really good, but it's just that pain meds are wonderfully effective. It's very nice to be able to easily tell when it's time to take more.

The swelling makes my jawline look more squared. My rounded face is very adorable. The squared jaw isn't dramatically horrible, but it's odd enough to feel a bit unsettling to see. Just in an uncanny valley sort of way.

It's tough to do 2-handed typing and usual computer use while trying to hold the ice pack in place. I keep imagining that old stereotypical image of a person with a toothache, having a bandage wrapped around their head-and-jaw. I may have to rig that up later.

In other news, I blocked someone that reblogged my chicken video. I threw his blog description into a translator and didn't feel comfortable with the anti-immigrant stance he took. Like, the rest of the blog was generic images, a couple pretty ladies, and the description just... why did he need to say that? Bad vibes; blocked. It could've been a language barrier thing, but I don't want my video on that blog if I have doubts.

#daily notes #dental stuff

[naomiknight-17]

If anyone remembers me freaking out about an acquaintance trying to heal her debilitating dental pain with clove oil, there is an update

Despite not knowing her well, I was absolutely up her ass about going to the dentist, and I don't think I can take full credit or anything, but about a week after our first convo about it, she had an appointment

She had a massive tooth infection and abscess. Needed a full root canal, draining, and course of antibiotics. Last I heard she was still recovering

I'm glad she's getting better now but it's so frustrating to think that she endured 3+ weeks of severe pain hoping it would just go away with clove oil and saltwater rinses

Pseudomedical bullshit makes me so mad and this is a tiny example of why

#what if she kept putting it off? #she could have developed sepsis and fucking died #not even an exaggeration #mod post #medical stuff #dental stuff #tooth trauma tw #ask to tag

[densewentz]

guess what babes your girl had to have more spontaneous dental procedures done and is subsequently more broke than ever 🙃 SO comms are staying open indefinitely rip. IIIIIIIIIIIIII need a break lol

#personal #dense rants #dental stuff

[ladymalchav]

Went to the dentist expecting to get a temporary crown and the dentist said my root canal was so small that it only needed a filling! They didn't even have to numb me up!

Finally something good happens.

#my life #tlw #dental stuff

[beauty-grace-outer-space]

Long embarrassing vent/rant beneath the cut.

Hi, I have OCD (as we know). 

I also have a pretty intense phobia of something being wrong with my teeth. Not the dentist. Not dental work. Something being wrong with my teeth.

Two weeks ago ish I went to the dentist for my regular six month cleaning. They updated my x-rays, said everything looked great, got to cleaning. Yay. 

98% of the way through the cleaning, the hygienist said, “Mm, this spot is tricky” and told me my back molars are misaligned, which. Ok, panic number one cuz I had five years of work done to make my teeth straight and I wear my retainer religiously so what do you mean my molars are misaligned? And then he tells me they always have been. 

So I’m already like, “Uhhh what the hell?” because I never knew this and why wasn’t that fixed with my braces and oh my god have my teeth shifted, my top wisdom teeth never came in, maybe that’s what’s happening? But no that would have shown up on x-rays, and my nightguard/retainer is molded to the alignment of my teeth and it fits perfectly still, so there’s no way my teeth have moved--

And then the dentist comes in to check things out, and he kind of hones in on the same spot, right between my back molars. He asks for more x-rays of that spot. They did six x-rays total before something showed up. And with no preamble at all they said, “Ok we’ll just do a filling at it will be fine.”

And I started shaking. And crying. Because you’ll do what? I’ve never had that done before what does that mean what did you find on my x-rays? How did I fuck it up now? 

And they just... finish up the cleaning and tell me to go home.

As we’re walking out, I am like, “Wait you said... you said you have to do a filling, do you not?”

And the hygienist says, “Oh, no we do. But that will have to be on a different day, we don’t have the time today.”

He told me there’s the “faintest hint of shadow” between the two teeth and they want to do a filling before it gets worse. But to get to the spot between the teeth, they have to go through the top of the tooth. They’ll have to schedule an appointment, numb me, etc. etc. 

And I just... started crying and asked, “But... ok but what does that mean though? Like... what was on my x-rays?” 

And he looked very shocked and sympathetic and said, “Oh. You’ve never had this done before have you?”

And I just kept crying and shook my head.

And I just started panicking. I basically sobbed my way through scheduling, and the receptionist recommended that I do nitrous oxide at my appointment since I’ve “clearly got some dental anxiety”. 

I wait two weeks. I panic my way through each day, scared to eat or drink anything but water because I fucked up my teeth and I’m going to make them worse. I spent $200+ on dental care stuff/restocks (most of the things I already had but I bought more). 

So I’m crying and stumbling through an explanation that I don’t have dental anxiety, I am not worried at all about whatever they have to do to keep my teeth healthy, but in my head I’ve got a running mantra now of, “You fucking failure. You fucked up your teeth. It’s so fucking easy and somehow, after thirty years, you slipped up and fucked them up now and you’re a failure”. 

Then I remember that nitrous oxide doesn’t work on me. They tried to use it when they removed my bottom wisdom teeth because I was scared of the IV for the anesthesia to put me under for the procedure. They upped it until they couldn’t anymore, and I just kept getting more and more panicked until I passed out, still sobbing. And then I woke up, still sobbing.

So she tells me to contact them later to talk to someone about conscious sedation. 

So I schedule. I call. I discuss conscious sedation. It would cost 5x as much that way, but I can’t even make it through the phone call without a panic attack, so I pretty much have to. I reschedule it since I will be basically unable to do anything for 24 hours afterward. 

I sob my way to the appointment. I start shaking as soon as I sit down. Thankfully the drugs kicked in pretty quickly and I got very tired and calm. But the hygienist attendant who was monitoring my vitals asked why I needed the drugs/what I was nervous about, and I still cried even drugged out of my mind. 

They do the thing. I go home. I sleep it off. I wake up.

It feels wrong. It felt like someone slapped wall plaster over and between my teeth, let it leak out the sides, and left it there to dry. It’s rough and sharp and I can’t stop touching it with my tongue, and every time I tough it my brain goes, “You fucking failure” and I have an anxiety attack. 

By this point, I was so upset and embarrassed and anxious I basically just wept in the chair. Full body, heaving, ugly sobbing. The dentist was really nice. He kept asking how he could help me, and I just kept bawling that I’m crazy and I know I’m crazy but I can’t turn my brain off and every time I touch it and it feels wrong it sets off the mental loop again and I can’t do it anymore. 

It was done on a Friday. I had to wait until Monday to go in to have it smoothed/polished. They took off a lot. Apparently they left most of the bonding material just... on my tooth. Some material had gotten stuck to a spot of my tooth they hadn’t even worked on, and having that taken off helped. They also made it a lot lower on the top of the tooth. Just getting that off helped a lot, but it still didn’t feel right. I was still scared to eat or drink anything and it still felt wrong. 

So I went in again on Tuesday. They had the dentist come in this time to adjust it, and it was way better... but after I left I felt pressure between those teeth (probably from sanded off material shifting or something I don’t know) and had a full blown, hyperventilating panic attack. I went back to the office, they took my back again. 

They spent close to an hour polishing and smoothing it down. It wound up being 98% of the way to perfect, but there’s still one spot that’s sharp and bothersome and I can’t help but touch it constantly. And then the mental loop starts up again.

I’m going back in again today to have it hopefully polished again, and I am so desperately hopeful that once that last pointy spot is taken care of maybe my brain will relax for a few minutes and let me rest. 

I haven’t been able to sleep without a sleep aid in close to a week. I have 2-5 anxiety attacks and usually 1 panic attack every day. I’m still scared to eat or drink anything. I can’t eat or drink anything but water unless I have xylitol gum, floss, and a toothbrush with me so I can immediately go clean my teeth. But I also know that brushing your teeth too often is bad for them, so I’ve been limiting how much I eat and when so that I don’t overbrush. 

And at this point I’m so embarrassed and ashamed and upset for being so needy about it all that I never want to go to the dentist again, which would of course make things worse in the long run, which also makes me anxious. 

Even just typing this out, I’m like “Great. Now everyone is going to know I’m a failure who fucked up my teeth.” Which makes no sense. I know (logically) that it’s damn near biologically impossible to make it through life without thinning enamel or the occasional cavity. I know that there are genetic factors, hormone changes, aging, and many other influences beyond our control that can affect our teeth. And I don’t judge anyone for their teeth ever. Because I know all of this. 

I’m so tired. I’m so sad. I’m so angry at myself. My head hurts. My jaw hurts. My tongue hurts. 

This is a totally normal, standard procedure to help keep teeth healthy in a mostly preventative way, and the fact that I made it almost 31 years without having a single one is nothing short of a miracle. 

But my brain is hardwired for illogical thinking patterns and compulsions, and I can’t stop. 

And I’m sitting here anxious and hungry and upset because my appointment isn’t for another hour and fifteen minutes and I don’t want to have to brush my teeth twice before noon because then I will be anxious about brushing them after I eat lunch since I already “overbrushed” this morning. 

And my new fear is that I’m asking them to polish this thing down so much that they’ve started drilling at my actual tooth (since the filling itself is so, so small) and I’m actually causing more damage by trying to be comfortable.

It’s like I just can’t win. And I feel completely insane. 

#yes I'm seeing my therapist again #yes I should be on medication #teeth #dental stuff #supposedly this technically counts as a weird form of #dentophobia #but I'm not afraid of the dentist?? #I don't know. #I'm just crazy #ocd

[oldfangirl81]

Home resting now. My veins 100% didn't cooperate so had to go a different route then sedation. I did okay with the combo of anxiety pill & laughing gas. The tooth came out easy. The numbing stuff is already wearing off so ow. But just got the pain meds the surgeon called in. Got an ice pack on. Hopefully I am doing better in a few hours to decorate cookies or even write.

#medical stuff #dental stuff

[bixbythemartian]

Hey! I hope it’s okay to ask you some questions about dentures? If not, feel free to ignore this

So, I have EDS, and my teeth are kinda shit. I brush regularly and all that but I still get new cavities all the time, and it’s expensive paying for them to be fixed. How did you decide that it was the right time for you to get dentures? I’m pretty sure I’m going to need them eventually, and I’m not sure if it’s the kind of thing I should put off as long as I can, or if I can go ahead and do it at a young age (23 rn) and get it over with.

What was the cost like for you?

You mentioned recovery being difficult—how long did it take?

Do you still have to worry about any dental health issues or is it pretty much fine to eat sugary foods and such now?

Unfortunately, my current dentist is committed to “saving” as many of my teeth as possible, so I haven’t been able to discuss this with her.

Thanks much <3

Hey this answer is long af. (Sorry it took me a few days it's been a very full week.)

The decision to get dentures, for me, was a matter of my ability to consume food. I had some medical neglect as a kid and a genetic predisposition towards bad teeth, and it fucking accordioned into a nightmare mouth situation. I spent years in pain from eating most things. Many of the roots in my mouth were exposed, I had constant infections and was sick all the time. I'm incredibly lucky that I didn't die, so many people die from untreated dental infections.

Ideally, it's better to wait as long as you can to get them, because pulling that many teeth does fuck up all the bone around it, and the jaw bone will compact down over time, impacting your mouth shape and bite strength, or something like that? It's better to wait, if possible. I was just about to turn 29, I think, when I got mine? I'm not sure- and that's young for full dentures, but it was (at that point) extremely necessary. If you can stay on top of filling cavities and such, it's really a lot better to hold onto your own teeth for as long as possible.

I'm really sorry, but I don't remember the cost- I know we had to get care credit and a loan from my (now former) in-laws, and I went to a dentist who specialized in low-income no-insurance situations and basically did the operation for me at cost, because they were worried if they didn't do it I was going to die, and I only went under local anesthetic instead of being knocked out. So it was relatively cheap? But this was around ten years ago and I honestly don't remember the numbers.

Full recovery took about six months, that's how long it takes your jaw to heal from being brutalized. I would say I could eat most things okay about 6 weeks in- you have to be careful and cut everything into little bites when your mouth is healing at first. And that means everything. Sandwiches, whatever. You're not supposed to bite into things until the incisions in your mouth heal. Stick to his as rigorously as you can. You also have to relearn how to bite into things. Also, you're going to bite your tongue a lot- your teeth have changed position and shape. It's kind of a lot, but in comparison to 'I can eat three soft things and my mouth hurts all the time forever', t'was a vast improvement.

I don't worry about my dental health issues, if any, because I don't have dental health insurance or teeth- I don't know if I need any per se, I just don't do it. The only stuff I can't eat because of my dentures is stuff that's real tacky- taffy, gum, chewy caramels. (I actually tend to suck on taffy or caramels rather than try to chew them.) I have not found a gum that works with dentures yet, even the ones that claim they will work. But they don't pull the dentures apart or anything, they're just a pain in the ass to chew and stick to the denture in difficult and awkward ways. (Also, I find puffy cheetohs obnoxious to eat with my dentures- they adhere in awkward ways.)

Hope these answers were helpful! Thank you for your patience in me getting back to you.

#asks answered #answered asks #tathosart #teeth #dental stuff #denture talk

[dreamsofalifeold]

((Just letting you know, I may be gone for a day or two starting tomorrow. I go in to have teeth removed at 8:30 am and usually I do very well with surgery, but I’ll likely be baked and asleep for around 2 days or so.

In other news, I’m very much enjoying the audiobook I’m listening to of Wuthering Heights! The Librivox youtube channel has a version that’s read like a radio drama and it’s so good! All of the voice actors are incredibly talented and it makes the story come alive.))

#out of the grave (ooc) #cryptie shut up (mun speaks) #dental stuff #ask to tag #mouth horror

[elizabethplaid]

daily notes - jan 24, 2024

Got my permanent crowns installed today. I've been joking that I'm now a "triple crown winner". My dentist complimented my gums, that I took good care of them, and I felt very proud. Flossing is still a bitch, so using proxy brushes helps me a lot.

We went to Walmart afterwards. They didn't have the Furby Valentine gift basket, like I've seen some other folks post, so I was very sad. (They had other IPs like Hello Kitty and Paw Patrol, but not Furby.) Had to resist the stuffed animals in the Valentine section. They were very adorable and soft.

My eyes got caught in the clearance jewelry, even with the mostly-empty racks. I snagged 2 multi-pair sets of earrings. One was very tween-girly, the other goth-teen. At the end cap, they had a Claire's display, and I felt very nostalgic. It was so funny that 25 years ago, dad used to take me to Claire's, after we'd eat fast food. And here we were, doing a similar ritual. Very comforting, even if I didn't grab the Claire's-branded items.

Moscow was very clingy in the evening, laying in my lap before and after dinner. I got kitty claws in my leg and the side of my chest, as appreciation for my knead-ability.

I took some Tylenol for potential inflammation when I got home, but my teeth/mouth have been fine. Maybe a little sore on my gums, but only when I poke it.

Overall, quite a good day, yay.

#daily notes #dental stuff

[naomiknight-17]

The dental hygienist I had today knew that I have anxiety issues so she was reassuring me that the x-rays were quick and safe and (between having uncomfortable x-ray equipment in my mouth) I was like, oh no, that doesn't scare me

I know that the x-rays are low-level and quick enough to not cause any damage. Basic radiation safety; time, distance, shielding. My body is shielded (they put that lead-lined drape over your torso) and yes it's close but the exposure is vanishingly brief

And she was like, oh wow, you're kind of brilliant huh? And I'm like, no, I'm just very interested in radiology. I'm hoping to find a job somewhere in that field

She goes, "Really? I find radiology SO boring! If you get a radiologist job, you end up spending so much time sitting in a room alone examining scans!"

That... that sounds fantastic, actually. I would love that. I didn't have the chance to explain that my training would have me in more of an administrative position, not actually doing the radiography but... man. I wish I was doing the radiography

#i also mentioned that i just think it's so cool that science has harnessed something as potentially dangerous and unpredictable as radiation #and made it a tool for good #like. that's so cool. it's like when our ancestors discovered fire you know? #great destructive power. or it can be life-sustaining. amazing #mod post #medical stuff #dental stuff

[ainawgsd]

Welp, that's definitely broken. They've got me booked for a crown on Monday.

#dental stuff #my teeth #my poor mouth just cannot catch a break this year #at least it doesnt hurt right now #but ive apparently maxed out on my dental #so the whole thing is going to be out of pocket #and i still have to finish my root canal #i think the permanent crown for that can wait until next year #dental coverage being different(and optional) from medical insurance is such bullshit

[kydeliusofevirwinter]

i think im in hell (has a cold, has a tooth infection, has a mouth ulcer, has a million cavities and can’t stop drooling because of the numbing medication)

#perosnal #dental stuff #the dragon roars

[ladymalchav]

Not only did the stuff they covered my root canal with fall off, leaving a huge hole in my tooth, but the healed wound where one of my wisdom teeth tried to grow out of the top of my mouth has opened back up! I don't even know how it did that*! Luckily I'm already going to the dentist monday but geez

*apparently diabetes can do it, which, yeah...

#my life #sucks #dental stuff #tlw

[dreamsofalifeold]

((Upd8! I'm doing way better than I usually do after surgery. Hardly any bleeding, no pain, and aside from some numbness and jaw swelling, I feel perfectly fine! I slept a lot so that probably helped lol. Apologies for springing that on y'all, I thought you'd wanna know where I went.))

#out of the grave (ooc) #cryptie shut up (mun speaks) #dental stuff #medical #blood mention #mouth horror

[idontwannapickausername]

“I’m not worried about Wednesday, I’ll be fine” (has three tabs open about the root canal process)

#in all seriousness as long as they just numb my mouth idgaf what happens #dental stuff

[elizabethplaid]

toothpaste woes - daily notes, jan 13, 2024

Tonight's meaningless* panic is over the flavor of toothpaste. I've got a Rx fluoride one, and the first tube was fine - tasted better than the Crest whatever I was using! Second tube? Different manufacturer, worse than Tom's of Maine mint, feels like chalk. Barely held off a panic attack and physically gagging when I used it, due to sensory issues.

My first work-around is to do a tiny dab of Rx and a tiny dab of the Crest on my brush. Probably wouldn't bother with the mix if I was still using the fluoride rinse, but I'm on a different one, because of the crown. (Clorhexadine. Pretty sure I'll discontinue it sometime after my permanent crown is installed.)

Long-term solution would be to ask the pharmacist (in person!) if I could just get this one manufacturer from now on. Between an understaffed rural pharmacy and my nocturnal lifestyle, it's probably not going to work if I just send someone on my behalf. I -do- have another refill available, so it's not like they'd make me wait, necessarily.

I hope they laugh at my empty tube, because I squeezed the HECK out of that bastard. Dental stuff is sensory hell for me, so if I like a toothpaste, I don't want to waste it.

*Meaningless in the grand scheme of things. I know I'll get through this issue. Sometimes, though, the panic blinds me to the possibility of it working out, so think of things in dramatic terms. So, like, I'm trying to acknowledge my panic is a big feeling but not a big reality. I have the power to make it a less-big reality, too. (Gotta hype myself up!)

#daily notes #dental stuff #sensory issues #toothpaste #so glad i'm not as sensitive to toothpaste flavors otherwise anymore #like some of that shit is way too minty #like you're calling it sensodyne and the flavor hurts my brain? how dare you #nah i'm just a wuss when i'm over stimulated #that's why i was on tom's of maine #because it is so bland #if i could go back to ye olde kids' sparkle crest of my youth i'd be happy #yknow cheese and wine samplers? gimme toothpaste samplers #i gotta test it before bothering to spend $$$ on something i won't finish using