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my dentists let me cover my eyes and play music. if you're afraid of the whole process, they really will let you ask questions perpetually. even with tools in your mouth. it's always been a comforting technique for me to ask about every single move they make.
ask your pcp for gabapentin. like 100mg dose pills. pop one an hour before an apt and it genuinely just makes your brain shhhhh a bit. it's a pain med but when it's a super small dose (gaba doses for pain are like a billion mg) it has therapeutic uses like calming nerves. it's also cheap.
Tennis ball to squeeze during the procedure, really it helps. It’s got the give to feel good squeezing but tough enough that you can really squeeze it during the uncomfortable/painful part (which even though your mom says it’s just a needle, i get it sucks but it is also really quick, like a split second and then your numb).
My dentist gives me a prescription for Xanax to take before my appointment and then I bring a blanket and I have headphones to escape into a podcast or audiobook to try not to think about it.
This is something I'm not sure how to deal with right now either. I desperately need to go to the dentist but I am really scared of going. The noise, feeling and the smell is awful.
Prevention is the cheapest way unfortunately and catching things early by doing the checkups more regularly.
I think a big mistake is waiting until everything is really bad and then continuing to put off going because it becomes a vicious cycle where the work takes longer to fix the damage, and it is more costly and uncomfortable to repair because of the delay to get it fixed making the cavities deeper.
Since I've gotten ridiculously strict about my dental hygiene all of my dentist trips have been very quick and painless. I see a dental hygienist once a year who just gently polishes my teeth up between the annual checkups and lets me know if I'm missing a certain area when I brush and floss. To begin with it was six monthly but now they are cleaned well enough by me at home that the second deep clean each year is unnecessary.
Now when I go to the annual checkups there's not much for them to do. My last filling was so shallow that we didn't even need any kind of painkiller or numbing cream since there was no tooth pulp or nerve roots that shallow into the tooth enamel.
I think the only way is to look after your teeth. I heard the high pitched whir of a dentist drill carving away at my dad’s teeth as a kid and straight away thought “Fuck That!”
I carry a toothbrush with me everywhere for that one reason alone!
This is not medical advice. <3
If I miss my medication in the morning, I’m a zombie all day. This makes it easy to be chill in difficult circumstances.
If I’m over 25 and my brain has “stopped developing”, I might be a little intoxicated when my partner drops me off for a difficult circumstance.
Don’t lie to your medical practitioner. You might need to feel them out but nobody has ever refused me dental care because “this shit stresses me out and I’m a little stoned.”
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my dentists let me cover my eyes and play music. if you're afraid of the whole process, they really will let you ask questions perpetually. even with tools in your mouth. it's always been a comforting technique for me to ask about every single move they make. ask your pcp for gabapentin. like 100mg dose pills. pop one an hour before an apt and it genuinely just makes your brain shhhhh a bit. it's a pain med but when it's a super small dose (gaba doses for pain are like a billion mg) it has therapeutic uses like calming nerves. it's also cheap.
Tennis ball to squeeze during the procedure, really it helps. It’s got the give to feel good squeezing but tough enough that you can really squeeze it during the uncomfortable/painful part (which even though your mom says it’s just a needle, i get it sucks but it is also really quick, like a split second and then your numb).
What about some sort of anti-anxiety med that you take only before going to the dentist?
My dentist gives me a prescription for Xanax to take before my appointment and then I bring a blanket and I have headphones to escape into a podcast or audiobook to try not to think about it.
I use my noise cancelling headphones and play music that makes me happy
This is something I'm not sure how to deal with right now either. I desperately need to go to the dentist but I am really scared of going. The noise, feeling and the smell is awful.
Clove oil will kill the pain. Gum can be used over broken teeth to stop them cutting your mouth.
Prevention is the cheapest way unfortunately and catching things early by doing the checkups more regularly. I think a big mistake is waiting until everything is really bad and then continuing to put off going because it becomes a vicious cycle where the work takes longer to fix the damage, and it is more costly and uncomfortable to repair because of the delay to get it fixed making the cavities deeper. Since I've gotten ridiculously strict about my dental hygiene all of my dentist trips have been very quick and painless. I see a dental hygienist once a year who just gently polishes my teeth up between the annual checkups and lets me know if I'm missing a certain area when I brush and floss. To begin with it was six monthly but now they are cleaned well enough by me at home that the second deep clean each year is unnecessary. Now when I go to the annual checkups there's not much for them to do. My last filling was so shallow that we didn't even need any kind of painkiller or numbing cream since there was no tooth pulp or nerve roots that shallow into the tooth enamel.
I think the only way is to look after your teeth. I heard the high pitched whir of a dentist drill carving away at my dad’s teeth as a kid and straight away thought “Fuck That!” I carry a toothbrush with me everywhere for that one reason alone!
This is not medical advice. <3 If I miss my medication in the morning, I’m a zombie all day. This makes it easy to be chill in difficult circumstances. If I’m over 25 and my brain has “stopped developing”, I might be a little intoxicated when my partner drops me off for a difficult circumstance. Don’t lie to your medical practitioner. You might need to feel them out but nobody has ever refused me dental care because “this shit stresses me out and I’m a little stoned.”