MOTHER OF GOD. I had my dental appointment this morning to begin to repair the tooth damage that my meds have created (medication causes dry mouth which causes tooth decay).
I have eight cavities. All but one are small.
We tackled the big one today (and two of the small ones.)
Right now, IT STILL HURTS.
ARGH. It didn't hurt BEFORE he filled it. Actually, it didn't hurt most of today, but I'd taken a bextra and it must've run out. I just took another. But DAMN. This thing is all hurting. And the actual drilling? IT EFFING HURT!
As in, completely tense nearly tearing up hurt.
At least it wasn't a root canal?
But cripes, I still have five more to do. And it isn't like I'm being punished for bad dental hygiene--I HAVE GOOD DENTAL HYGIENE!
*sigh*
So my tooth hurts. The right top back molar. Ow ow ow ow.
Before the dentist, 'cause I knew afterwards I wouldn't be eating for awhile, I decided to get a bagel from dunkin donuts (they're huge and too big for breakfast, usually).
Lo and behold!
THE BERRY BAGELS ARE BACK!
Rejoice.
The wait in line was worth it. After months and months of no berry bagels, I had in my hands a berry berry bagel. With the specter of drilling ahead, it seemed a just reward.
I put the cream cheese on one half. Set the other half aside. Put cream cheese on other half and then KNOCK THE OTHER HALF FACE DOWN ON THE CAR FLOOR.
Which, of course, was covered in dirt and sand.
So. Had the rest of my day. Came home.
Fencing gear has arrived!
But ooooooooow. My tooth STILL hurts.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Codiene, my best friend after my root canal. Had to get off that prescription tho. It caused me to be in a bad attitude all day. I didn't like it when I yelled at a friend of mine and having no control. But it is good stuff. oh....Morphine is good too. Hope it doesn't hurt so bad after the other ones.
Posts: 2208 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Drilling a tooth should not hurt. That's what novocaine is for. If it hurts, tell the dentist to stop and inject you again. I metabolize painkillers quickly. For some reason, local painkillers don't work very well on me or something. The dentist usually has to give me twice the normal amount and work really fast, before it wears off. More than once I've had to stop them to re-inject me.
No way should you deal with pain during dental work. They've got drugs for that!
I'm jealous on the fencing gear. That sounds so cool!
I don't eat bagels so no comment on that one.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Belle, some people's brains (10%? 20%? I forget) interpret "pressure" signals as pain, not just the "pain" signals. And anesthetics don't fully block pressure nerves, so there is much LESS pain with anesthesia, but still some.
It's a problem I have (as well as the fast metabolism of drugs ), and ASFAIK, there's not much that can be done about it with drugs. Relaxation techniques help, but need to be practiced beforehand.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Yeah. It wasn't his fault--the novocain kept wearing off too quickly. Even he was shocked. "I filled it up! You shouldn't be able to feel your mouth for hours!"
Not so, grasshopper. Not so.
Bextra helped, by the way. I feel MUCH better. Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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I have had to convince more dentists and doctors that drugs have worn off! Sheesh.
With my first kid, my OB didn't believe I could feel her stitching me up. When I proceeded to "ow" each time she jabbed me with the needle, it only took two jabs before she gave in and got a different needle (with a local).
She didn't argue with me after kid #2. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Oh. I got a starter kit that psychotriad recommended.
Triplette...so I got a TCS french foil, front close jacket, 183 punch mask (I think that's what it's called and I'm too lazy to get up and go look right now ) and a padded glove.
Two more weeks!
And Rivka, my dentist completely believes me about the novocain. He did his best and went fast and used the non drill pick thing when he could.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Oh, they've all believed me. Eventually. And I'm sure there's a note on my chart -- because I've NEVER had to convince the same one twice, even if they haven't seen me in a long time.
But I've changed dentists several times in the last few years (insurance issues and dissatisfaction), and each time I tell 'em I'll need extra Novocain. And they smile, and nod, and never believe me until they SEE the pain on my face. Good thing I have expressive features . . .
*sigh* Too bad my cousin retired. He was a great dentist. He did used to give me a (joking) hard time because my mom does drilling with NO Novocain. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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[Edited to add: way cool on the fencing gear! I want a full report! Nathan and I will take fencing together ina couple of years. I figure it will be a good mom and son bonding activity. ]
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Yeah, my mom tends to have VERY bad reactions (not quite allergic, but really nasty) to Novocain and other local anesthetics. She's had facial tags removed without anesthesia too.
She's very good at relaxation techniques, just short of self-hypnosis, I think. Don't ask me how she does it -- she has been trying to teach me with only a little success for years.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Yay for fencing gear! You do know they're going to be endlessly drilling footwork for at least the first month, right? Ken's club doesn't let the freshmen touch any sowrds for the first semester or something.
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never purchased it, mack. competitions provided it. There was no need for it in practice or drills.
PS. It is a nice sport, if anyone has the hankering. The learning curve is pretty steep (being an uncontrolled spaz can win lots of bouts but not respect). Gotta have good ligaments in the hip area for the lunges though. Long reach, style, respect, and good hip ligaments.
Posts: 3061 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Mack, I have had several toothaches in several different teeth, but none have EVER been in a tooth without a filling.
I almost suspect that the whole dental industry is a sham!
I'm an anti-dentite .
My new dentist seems like a very cool guy though. He charged me only 40 bucks for the visit, the x-ray, the drilling out of the old filling, and installation of the temporary one.
Of course he will probably charge me full price or the permanent filling I need to go back for soon, but he still bought my loyalty.
Oh and he has a portable CD player and headphones for you to listen to while getting drilled to give you a distraction. You can still hear the drilling (since bone conducts sound really well), but it still was nice . I listened to The Joshua Tree.
[ March 11, 2004, 05:09 AM: Message edited by: Ghost of Xavier ]
Posts: 80 | Registered: Dec 2001
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My childhood doctor didn't believe in giving novicaine to kids (side effects, or maybe just latent sadism).
As a result, I despised dentists.
I once had a situation where an adult tooth wasn't coming in because of the way the baby tooth was situated, so what did he do? Well, during what I thought was a routine cleaning, he took his thumb (gloved of course) and applied a lot of presure to the baby tooth. Viola! No more obstruction.
And then there was the time a filling cracked, and it needed to be refilled. So he drilled it all out, and refilled it, with no pain killers.
Mack, my dad is a lot like you, novicaine just doesn't "take" with him easily, and he needs double or triple doses to get through a simply cavity filling.
I hope your painkillers kick in soon, Jamie. I had to have all three of my wisdom teeth pulled (the fourth was never there) and that was a nightmare. I've had some other dental work done too, and I think I must be one of those people with the pressure/pain difficulty--my jaw would be so numb it took hours to feel it again, yet I could always feel something the dentist was doing as a stinging sensation.
And of course there are always people who just react abnormally to certain meds. After my back operation, I was sent home with Tylenol-3, which had no effect whatsoever--but ordinary Extra-Strength Tylenol worked fine. The same medication made my sister loopy when she broke her arm; she almost failed several classes because she was barely conscious during them.
Posts: 1041 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Hope the painkillers kick in quick.![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
), and ASFAIK, there's not much that can be done about it with drugs. Relaxation techniques help, but need to be practiced beforehand.
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. I listened to The Joshua Tree.![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
