Reoccurring dental nightmare

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You may have read that I have been facing my dental fears and getting my teeth sorted.

The first extraction went great, the staff were amazing, understanding, patient and reassuring.  My mouth was painful, I have avoided the dentist for years so this was an emergency.  The injections were easy and they took away the pain! It took the dentist literally two minutes to remove the tooth, no pain, no pressure. I felt relief but also embarrassment why had I built up soo much fear? Why had I let my mouth get into this state?

I took to twitter and declared my trip a major success! I encouraged others to do the same, hash tag dentists aren't monsters was where I went on about how happy I was with my treatment.

Now one extraction wasn't going to sort out my mouth, so I signed up for more treatment.  My next appointment would be in 2 weeks.

These weeks came round fast and on the day of the second extraction, the stress came flooding back.

The empowered feeling that followed my first visit was completely gone and I was right back in fear central.  Again the staff were great but this visit didn't go so smoothly.

The tooth was down to gum level (my fault for avoiding dentists for so long) and posed difficult to remove.  Lots of pushing and pulling followed. Finally it was out, no real pain but my mouth felt like she had tried to climb inside.  Again there was some relief I managed to go through with it and although not as easy, I did it!

The same advice, pain killers, don't eat for few hours, no rinsing, no exercise etc etc.  Hubby was away so no resting on sofa had to go walk dog.  Anyway long story short I managed to not follow any of the aftercare advice and ended up with dry socket and then an infection.

So every few days I've HAD to go to dentist, in agony, getting the socket cleaned out and packed with a dressing that tastes and smells so vile even my dog was avoiding me!

The moral of the story, I did it! I proved to myself I can face my fears.  For me I need to concentrate on this achievement and would still sing the praises of the dentists.

I stand by my #dentistsarenotmonsters, and I'd like to think if I can get through this nightmare, I can get any treatment  I need done!

Oh yeah and do what your told!! The aftercare is given for a reason, make it easy on yourself and take your medicine.  Again a good lesson for me to learn.

I have now been in that dentist chair 4 times in 9 days!!  Is it getting easier? Not really?

This week has taken it's toll not just on my mouth but my mental health too.  I have been drained, not sleeping and not able to do the things that keep me on in balance.

It was scary how easy it was to slip back into the dark hole.  The sofa was the only thing that gave me comfort, I was avoiding the shower, avoiding going out, not eating properly, not sleeping, staying up late and just generally losing my grip.  In fact I had a mini melt down, but I think that may be worthy of a post on it's own.

My mouth is just healing now after dressings and antibiotics, and guess what? It's coming round to my next appointment for my final extraction!

I am going? Hell yeah! Because I need to learn to follow through.  This is a great challenge, but with great test comes great victory.  The achievement, the smile, the confidence I need this.

Did you know it's oral health month? Glad to see I'm doing my bit to raise awareness! Lol

Love Mrs Brown xx

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