Okay, I can not beleive I found this site and am asking this question... Do dental problems kill???????

I am a 35 year old female with severe phobia of dentists and a major problem. I have rotted teeth (maybe wisdoms) on both upper and lower right and left side. I also have what may be an absess on my lower right side in the back. I have a "sore" that has grown since February it is big and white kinda like... cauliflower? hey it is weird looking. This cause pain in my ear and down ito my throat as well. I can no longer open my mouth as wide either.My jaw on the right side feels like it is "slipping" over to my left side. I know I have to go to a dentist. If I just knew better what to expect to start out I would take the leap of faith. Can anyone help me? I am afraid!!!!

Wow the pain you must be in can't be anything veres what the worst dentist could do. Ask around for someone who is gentle and let the dentist know about your severe phobia. And yes infections that result from poor dental hygeine can definitely kill.

The pain you must be is a lot worse than anything you will have in a dental office! First of all, having your body constantly fighting infection lowers your immune system which makes it easier for you to catch other nasties. About the infection... it is slowly eating away the bone in your jaw. Abcesses can get bad enough to kill, and if not, can leave you with no jaw bone if it is on the lower. I work in the dental field and I have seen some awful results because someone was afraid of the dentist. They can sedate you if need be, just get to a dentist!!! you will feel a lot better when your mouth is better.

My first dentist that I had gave me a phobia, he should have been a horse doctor, didn't care less if it hurt or not and totally screwed up a root canal.
Many years went by until I just couldn't stand the pain anymore, by the sounds of things my teeth were in the same condition as yours, so I finally went to see a different dentist that refered me to a dental surgeon. It was just a matter of spending the afternoon at the local hospital. Got sedated, woke up as if nothing had happened, there was absolutely no pain, it was incredible. I highly recommend this procedure. Go talk to a dentist before things get worse......TRUST ME it's painless.

Hi

Go for it, get help now I would imagine any dentist would refer you straight a dental hospital or oral surgeon. Ask for any treatment (removals) to be done under iv sedation or general anaesthetic.

You shouldn't not even contemplate continuing in this state. Have you a trusted friend or relative who knows the problems you have to go with you and support you?

You are not alone.

Fudge

Servant if l were you phobia or not which i do have id be there like a shot http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/bang.gif theres noone gonna do anything nasty to you, if there rotten they will be easier to get out you will probally be given something to calm you down and you will no nothing, dont suffer anylonger, l know easier said than done but you sound in such a horrific state please tell someone please get help im thinking of you http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/heart.gif

Servant, i don't know whether you have seen any of my posts but i have been in a terrible state over my teeth and have been in extreme pain. Today i went to the dental hospital and told them exactly how i felt and how frightened i was, they were so understanding and now i will be going back and having all my treatment including at least one extraction under iv sedation. I promise you that when you take this first step to getting help you will feel so much better. I know how depressing and stressful this all is for you but if i can do it so can you. there are some great people on these boards who offer great support and this really helped me too. Please let us know how you get on and make sure you ask about the sedation.

kind thoughts

Maz

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Maz

Thank you so much to each of you that replied to this message. Your words of encouragement have been a strength to me. I will be going to my first appointment in January. I know they do things a bit different here in the USA. I am sure I can get IV sedation; however, it comes at a great expense to me since my insurance does not cover it. I think it is worth it though. I know I am going to triumph now and feel better soon. Thanks to each of you and may God bless you on this journey called Life. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/angel.gif
Liz

Hi Randi

yes the hospital is a teaching hospital so i am ok there but i am a little concerned about this jaw pain I have read the many posts regarding jaw bone infection and know that it can turn quite serious after a extraction. I also believe that most of the trouble originates from wisdom tooth extraction, is this true? as at the moment i am just getting one large upper molar pulled (the wisdom will come later).

Servant, further to my earlier post to you i am just checking that you are ok and are you getting things sorted? ie iv sedation, i am still waiting fir my appointment and have taking many antibiotics for this current infection but i read somewhere that garlic works really well as a natural antibiotic so i bought some capsules (300mg strength) and i must admit i do feel better, i don't know if this would help you or not but i thought i would let you know.

Kind thoughts



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Maz

Thank you. I am going to get some garlic and try it today. I will not have my appointment until in January. I have a lot of excellent questions thanks to this site. I feel much more safe and confident going in with my eyes wide open. Sometimes fear is about things that are unkown. Again, thanks so much for everything!
health and happiness to all,
Liz

Wow, I TOTALLY understand, completely! I'm in a similar situation with the loss of most of my teeth and bunch of ill-fitting temporaries in. I also have severe dental phobia (same thing, it was several dentists who told me to just suck it up and "it's almost over" so many times -- that made each effort to go back that much harder than the prior one and made the dental anxiety worse and worse!!)

I can't afford it either! I have dental insurance but it covers the cost of one full root canal. Big woop when you need your whole mouth reconstructed.

I have bone involvement too, and ear pain and jaw pain and sinus pain and headaches. My last dentist told me that I was wrong to assume there was a correlation between dental problems and ear pain!! (Can you believe this?)

I think when you go in there with a lot of problems that some dentists feel overwhelmed and don't want to deal with you. I mean, that's how I felt. The cost is forcing me to postpone getting work done, and in the meantime it hurts to eat and even talk.

So I've been looking for dentists who use nitrous (many don't do that) or IV sedation (I've not had any luck, -- my last dentist told me they don't do that). I've found two who do "conscious sedation" -- but I think it's the equivalent of giving you something like valium. I've been down that road too, and it didn't work well for me.

I just want to be knocked out and get the work done. The anxiety and panic is so severe it affects my breathing, heart rate, etc.

This board is the FIRST place I've ever seen where it seems like real people deal with real issues, and it isn't just filled with people worrying about a filling -- but people dealing with serious issues. At least it helps to not feel so alone when you've got embarassing, painful, expensive dental issues and feel very afraid.

I've "heard" they do IV sedation, so if you can find it, I'd say go that route (you sound like me with your fear, so you and I would probably do best with something like that!)

Good luck!

YES, Servant the bateria and infection can enter your blood stream and you could die. The dentist is not that bad really. I get a little nervous when I go in but I know what ever the problem is will go away if I go so I do and it does and I'm happy and you will be too http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif


Ps Just put yourself on auto pilot, sometimes you jsut gotta do that http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by DedeMN (edited 12-14-2002).]