Say Anything.

Sorry to hear about your mom, but good luck on your endeavor to donate! I can only imagine what you must be going through. *hugs*

Zoinks darsa! That's a damn good reason to lose the weight, if not for yourself but to help your mother. We'll be thinking about you both. /hug

That is absolutely amazing, Darsa. May you be blessed into being able to help her very soon.

So I've been dealing with getting a lot of major dental work done, since last May. I had implant surgery for 2 teeth and a lot of other stuff. Today was my last visit I am finally all done except for regular cleanings/checkups now yay!

I hate going to the dentist. Every time I went, it was 3 fillings and a cap. I swear I put his kids through college. My fault though - rarely brushed at night and only flossed whenever I ate meat =/ I admit it, it was nasty. So after I had a tooth yanked (because I couldn't afford ANOTHER cap and root canal) I started brushing better and flossing every single night. This last time I went, I thought I was going to have a panic attack.

Dentist looks in my mouth and then leans back.
'Well...?'
'Huh?'
I slouch my shoulders and glare at him. 'My teeth?'
'Oh, you're fine.'
'Fine?'
'No cavities. You're fine.'

I could have kissed him. I reached up into the air and yelled, 'YES THANK YOU GOD!'

Heheh. Going to the dentist isn't too terrible for me (at least it hasn't been). My dad's my dentist. lol

My problem was an extreme fear of the dentist. I hadn't been in probably 10 years. It took me breaking a tooth to finally break down and go, and by that time it was REALLY expensive.

When I was a kid, I had to have oral surgery at 6 years old because of a tooth that wouldn't come in on it's own, and then had to have my eye teeth pulled because I did not have room in my tiny sized mouth for my normal sized teeth. Thankfully I was put under for the surgery, but I wasn't for the teeth pulling, and I wasn't given enough novicaine either. As a matter of fact, I was NEVER given enough novacaine for ANYTHING my dentist did when I was a kid, therefore as an adult when it was now my choice, I just didn't go.

My dentist now is wonderful tho. He will shoot me up with enough novicaine to numb me till Chirstmas if I ask for it, and he puts Demoral in the shot too just cause he thinks I need "a little something" to calm me down.

I just got the healing cap in for my dental implant, and I should have a real tooth by the middle of February! Even just for this one tooth it is freaking expensive, and my insurance hasn't covered a penny of it. If it weren't one of my front teeth, I would have had a bridge put in.

Darsa -- congratulations on your weight loss, and I'll be thinking good thoughts for your mom!

Mine is both of my front teeth I got implants for. I have 2 bridges in the back, and I have to say I am extremely pleased with the implants over the bridges. To me right now they are well worth the extra money. They look fantastic and I don't have to worry about getting crap stuck underneath of them. If I ever become independantly wealthy I would seriously consider going through this again to get those bridges replaced with implants even tho they are in the back.

you people all scare me with the dental horror stories... I have been putting off going for a few years now, and I have several cavities. Which sucks because I used to have beautiful teeth but they are all messed up now... when my wisdom teeth came in they impacted some of my molars and broke them up, and then the wisdom teeth came in crooked. I still have a few of those to get pulled, but after one dentist kept trying to numb me despite the fact the broken tooth was infected, and something like 15 shots hadn't stopped me from crying and ripping up the pads on the chair's arms while she was still just exploring and doing suction (she did NOT finish thank heavens) I just am terrified of dentists now. Plus now one of the cavities is in my front tooth and I am scared at how much they will say is wrong :( I have insurance who knows, but it may not cover much. And I have a seriously low pain threshold. GAH!

Make sure you go to a dentist who will knock you out completely. Or at least crank up the nitrous oxide.

Unfortunately in most cases, dental insurance is a crock. By the time you compare your savings to what you paid for the coverage to begin with, you really end up saving very little, because they usually only cover a % of each procedure, up to a max amount per year. Unless you are insuring a family of 12, all with horrible teeth, you don't come out very much ahead really. if you can find a dentist you like that participates in one of those discount plans, those tend to save you more money than insurance does when it comes to dental.

The gas isn't usually that expensive - like 40 bucks a visit at my dentist. You could go to a specialist and not feel a thing, but it is uber expensive. Dental, as a rule, sucks. =/

I got novacaine and demoral. No gas, but I still wasnt feeling much hehe

The worst thing I've ever experienced at a dentist is these pieces of thread that are soaked in adrenaline or something. They shove them up in your gums when they are taking molds for crowns. I have anxiety... issues... so I'm already not having a good time, laying down with people leaning over my face staring into my mouth. I have TMJ, so I'm either in excrutiating pain, or I have my mouth propped open with a rubber bite block (and then only in severe pain, not quite excrutiating). So whenever I'm at the dentist, I'm pretty much stressed out by default. So they shove these things up in my gums, without telling me what it is, and a minute or so later, my heart is racing and my legs feel cold, and I start to panic because I think I'm having a heart attack or something... NOT FUN.

I cant get cavities if I tried. Back when I got braces when I was like 6, they put this stuff on my teeth that cost more than the braces did that prevents them from getting damaged by cavities etc......Ive dipped snuff since I was 16 and im 32 now and I havent ever had anything wrong with my teeth....they are always perfect and white etc

It pisses my GF off hardcore hehehehehehehehehe

Anyway, about the only thing ive had wrong with my teeth over the years...was getting all four of my wisdom teeth pulled back when I was 17. It was horrible....One of the roots of one of the wisdom teeth was rooted around one of my back teeth roots...and they had to go in and bust the root up into pieces and do a root canal of sorts.....The next day, I looked like I had gone through a 10 round boxing match with Mike Tyson. My face was all bruised up and black and blue and shit....I had to eat out of a straw...I couldnt talk for like a week....god it sucked.

I miss my old dentist back in North Carolina. I always got little happy pills to take 30 min before my appointment.. and usually the last thing I remember is DH driving down the highway..then later in the evening.. hours after the appt is over. LOL The rest is total blank.

These pills, whatever they are, don't really knock you out unconcious. You're full awake, can walk, talk, etc... but you don't have memory of anything or feel anything. During the dental visit, they will crush it into powder and sprinkle it under your tongue as well. After being able to have that.. there is no way I will ever go to the dentist again and only get novacain or gas. Knock me the fuck out or I'm not going.

Speaking of happy pills.

The first time I flew here a cpl years ago - I was so nervous. I took a xanax before I even got to the airport. God what a mistake.

They did that to me Fri morn before they put the crowns on my implants. My gums are still sore from it. I think he must have been aiming for my nostrils with the crowns lol

See, I would be terribly uncomfortable doing that. They could ask you anything while you're in that state, and who knows what you'd answer with!