Comments | shake_the_stars: It's All About Teeth, Teeth, Teeth

shake_the_stars

It's All About Teeth, Teeth, Teeth

Jun 17, 2011 00:01

I went to the dentist today. Due to first a long spell of no insurance, and then a spell of bad insurance that did not cover a dental visit (and the fact that when you have to work shitty retail due to the economy, $80 out of pocket is like a ten-hour shift at your shitty job), I hadn't been in a couple of years ( Read more... )

i feel scared, stupid teeth, things that suck, joy

Comments 11

forgottensanity June 17 2011, 05:58:49 UTC

Having wisdom teeth pulled is the worst. It hurt so much, during as well as afterwards.

Does "general anaesthesia" mean that you're out cold? I've never heard of that practice in Denmark regarding teeth, unless it's a really serious problem. Usually our dentists just use local painkillers. Which did not stop it hurting like crap, even after two injections.

Okay, I'm probably not making the situation any better. However, I do think it's a good idea to remove teeth that are so severely damaged, whether going to the dentist is a phobia or not.

I have one I might still need to get removed, but it hasn't really bothered me yet so I'm ignoring it at the moment.

I hope it goes ... as well as can be expected. That the outcome will be fine.

shake_the_stars June 17 2011, 23:19:06 UTC

I hear it's not fun. I am not enthused about this.

That's what "general anaesthesia" means in the US, yes. It's pretty common here, but a lot of oral surgeons will also use local anaesthesia, so hopefully I can find one who does. (I am not looking forward to the local painkiller when I get the fillings done next month. It may still hurt like crap.)

I'm not phobic about going to the dentist (dentists and oral surgeons aren't interchangeable here). I've never had surgery and the idea that someone is going to SLICE INTO MY SKULL and REMOVE MY TEETH is just really horrifying to me, even though the teeth probably need to come out. It's irrational, but it feels like a violation to me.

I hope to not die. Or kill anyone else.

(The comment has been removed)

shake_the_stars June 17 2011, 23:28:41 UTC

OH GOD, I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN. I won't tell you the horror story from my childhood because you may never sleep again, but I have similar recurrent nightmares that I think are partially related. I don't need to be 100% conscious and fully engaged, but I do need to not be put under. I'm afraid of dying under that shit, which, though it's fairly rare, is a risk you run any time someone is out cold.

I'm actually not phobic about medicine at all; part of this is that I've never had any kind of surgery and I have no frame of reference. Part of it is that I don't believe in the use of painkillers (for myself, other people can do what they want with their bodies and that's not my business) and won't even take aspirin for a headache; I won't take anything unless I'm in so much agony that I can't function. I just find it really condescending and insulting that other people assume they know better than I do whether I am in pain, how much pain I am in, and what needs to be done about it, rather than allowing me to make those decisions and ( ... )

augustuscaesar June 17 2011, 09:02:19 UTC

Ugh, yucky. I am hoping SO HARD that my wisdoms don't decay. I am v.paranoid about buying tiny brushes so that I can get to them as much as possible, but still.

:( Hope you have a relatively easy extraction.

shake_the_stars June 17 2011, 23:30:31 UTC

I hope they don't either. I didn't feel a thing, seriously, other than the spate earlier this year, but it is not an experience that I would recommend to anyone D:

I am still, on paper, deciding whether I will have an extraction, but...yeah, real molars. Close to the leper molars. Not good.

mssithy June 17 2011, 09:21:40 UTC

Wait what at number 2. Are you saying that in the US people get general anaesthesia for just wisdom teeth? D: Holy...It is not done here, just like in Denmark, because the risks are not worth it, unless the patient has a massive phobia or something and can't keep still. I had noticed most of my American friends got general for their wisdom teeth extractions, I figured it was coincidence, I did not know it would actually be hard to find a surgeon who'd use local O.o ( ... )

shake_the_stars June 17 2011, 23:38:40 UTC

Yes, I am indeed saying that the use of general anaesthesia for wisdom tooth extractions is widespread here. My dentist was all, "They'll put you to sleep," and I think he was trying to be reassuring, and I was all, "NO THEY WILL NOT." I have an easy out by virtue of the fact that my insurance won't pay for general anaesthesia unless it is medically necessary, and since I don't have a phobia (other than of general anaesthesia), it's not medically necessary :D I'm not sure if it will be hard to find someone who will use local only or not, but I looked at a couple of surgeons' websites yesterday and general anaesthesia was prominently advertised, which I suspect may be more consumer-driven than anything else ( ... )

mssithy June 18 2011, 09:09:38 UTC

About Ibuprofen, I have been told we generally get less prescribed painkillers and so Ibuprofen 600 and 800 will cut it for us without a hitch. Ibuprofen 600 makes me drowsy and really works for me. I am not sure if this is true, I can only judge from my US friends obviously...I have noticed they generally get painkillers that make me go O.o I guess it's a matter of what you are used to....or we are a nation of pain lovers, I'm not quite sure ;)

shake_the_stars June 20 2011, 03:15:52 UTC

I have never had painkillers prescribed to me, so I have no idea (they generally aren't unless you have serious chronic pain problems or you've just had surgery or been in an accident). OTC acetaminophen works just fine for me when I'm so hurty I can't function.

I think y'all might be less culturally hung up on discomfort than we are--a lot of people are. XD

song_of_copper June 17 2011, 09:55:38 UTC

Ouch, ouch! :-( Tooth nasties = most unpleasant. D ( ... )

shake_the_stars June 18 2011, 00:25:50 UTC

The blessing is that I felt nothing. When my upper wisdom tooth broke, I was all like, "...did my tooth just break? D: I didn't feel a thing." No wonder--it was hollow. There was nothing left in it to be felt.

They're starting to move to the hands-off plan over here, but my dentist is fairly old-school and we talked about removing them in 2006. (No, actually, he talked about removing them, and I said I wasn't going to have it done because at the time, I had no insurance and I certainly didn't have $2000-$3000 to spend on what would have been unnecessary surgery, as both teeth were intact then ( ... )