To be absolutely shitting myself about the dentist.

[Absofuckinglutely]

Hoping dentists or mumsnetters who've had similar can make me feel better.

Had pain for a week or so now, intermittent and definitely bearable, but worsening. Saw dentist a few days ago and he thought it was coming from my upper left wisdom tooth (it's needed a filling for about a year but I've been procrastinating due to major dental fear - had horrific root canal a few years ago and am terrified of the dentist now, but that's another story). Of course now I'm kicking myself as should have had it done.

Dentist didn't do any x-rays which I was a bit uncertain about (am NHS) and said he will fill the tooth (next week is the first appointment i can get) but he suspects the decay may be too deep if nerves are now involved and he may have to remove it.

Problem is, I'm not certain it is that tooth as the pain also seems to be on the bottom molars on the same side and I really can't make up my mind where it's coming from as it's also sometimes in my cheek or neck too.

Anyway, I'm crapping myself and can't even sleep for worrying about it. I'm posting in aibu for traffic and hoping that someone can hold my hand with some positive stories of wisdom tooth removal, pain on bottom that comes from the top. Also, I'm in my forties and everything I read says wisdom tooth removal is much worse when you're older, also possible nerve damage etc. Aargh, total panic stations here, am such a wimp!

Can you afford to go private? I just started at a new dentist and it was £47 for a half price new patient exam and £18 for x-rays. They also have fliers about payment plans for more expensive treatments. I got an NHS dentist after a year on the waiting list and after one exam i went back to private. Old equipment, creepy dentist, dirty carpet and walls. it was like something out of a horror film.

If the problem is with that tooth the pain might be referred pain from that which feels like it is coming from a bottom tooth or the side of your jaw. I had that when I had an abscess resulting in an extraction and the extraction site became infected. The pain from the infection felt like it was in the side of my jaw and bottom molars but the dentist had no concerns about those teeth and it cleared with antibiotics. Good luck, I hate the dentist too!

Thanks, though not sure it would make any difference, and dentists are hard to come by here. My actual filling will be private as it's a white one, and my dental practice seems perfectly nice and modern. The dentist is young and I've only seen him once before, I'm also scheduled for x-rays but only after the filling as I've not had any in a couple of years.
I'm not sure a private dentist would make me feel any better at this point.

Thanks @Seren85 it's ridiculous really. I managed to give birth to a 9lber without any drugs, but am scared stiff of the dentist.
The dentist also thinks it's referred pain, I really don't know at this point. Just going to have to push myself to go to the appointment next week as the pain is definitely getting worse.

I posted a thread a month ago about having my upper right wisdom tooth out. Had never had any good experiences with dentists prior to going to my current private dentist. I had LA and sedation and it was totally pain free. Had one paracetamol the entire recovery time afterwards. Did have a slightly difficult extraction and stitches but simply didn't care. Hope it goes well for you and take the sedation if it is offered - it really helps and you don't know a thing!

You can do it. I was lucky to find a dentist who understands my fear and is very reassuring and that helps. Try to imagine the pain being over and concentrate on that. Will they let you have headphones in during the filling? That really helped me to stay calm.

I had a wisdom tooth taken out last year. I also very nervous of dentists. I was completely bricking it, but I kept getting recurring abscesses because my tooth was impacted and not fully out of the gum, so my life was a misery.

I was told by my dentist that the wisdom teeth in the upper jaw are not as deep as lower jaw, much easier to remove. However I drove myself insane worrying about why I’d been given a 40minute appointment, imagining all sorts of scenarios where my dentist would be wrestling with my face for a good 30mins. Did you also hear those urban myths (please tell me they’re urban myths) about people having their jaw dislocated by the dentist to enable them to get at the wisdom teeth???

Anyway, I plucked up the courage when I arrived at the appointment to ask why it was 40mins and she said it was because I was nervous and she wanted to take her time in putting me at ease and answering any questions. In the end, the extraction itself took maybe a minute. She had a grip like tool, and twisted my tooth out. I couldn’t feel any pain at all, she definitely wasn’t wrestling with the tooth. Couple of twists and it was out. The rest of the appointment time was taken up with waiting for the anaesthetic to work and waiting for the bleeding to stop with a swab in my mouth. I was sooooo relieved to have it gone.

The next day, after the anaesthetic had properly worn off, I felt like I’d been punched. But the actual extraction was very, very easy and pain free. I promise.

I am not good with dentists, think 18 years between visits, making partner take kids as I can't and I was in same position as you with dodgey upper wisdom tooth. I choose my dentist on the basis of them being smaller than me so I would win in a fight! I also viewed dentist room before sitting in the chair. Anyway I got a couple of diazapam which helped so you could ask your GP but seriously having my upper wisdom tooth out was fine, not at all as bad as what I thought it would be. Also I had got completely paranoid by the time I got it done that I had convinced myself despite the pain the dentist was taking my tooth out to make more money so I insisted on seeing the tooth afterwards and it was completely rotten. I now have a lot more trusting relationship with my dentist and go religiously every 6 months. Seriously, it will be OK and could be turning the corner of your fear, it has been for me.Good luck

I had a bottom wisdom tooth out just over a year ago. It was completely uncompromised; not even any decay. Dentist couldn’t work out what had happened with it to cause me pain.

I have a very no-nonsense Malaysian dentist (NHS) who just gets on with it, but he’s good humoured, skilled and actually really compassionate underneath the slightly forbidding exterior. I trust him implicitly as he also saw me through a nightmare upper left 6 problem which ended up getting extracted too! But that’s another story....

The wisdom tooth extraction was FINE. Less than a minute honestly. Pain free. Some pain once anaesthetic wore off, understandably, but it was very bearable.

I too had a fear of dentists, and didn’t go for too long. The UL6 filling fell out, pulp got compromised, very expensive root canal, root canal retreatment, eventual extraction. I have no doubt whatsoever I’d still have that tooth if I’d kept my 6 monthly check ups. And I’d also be about 3 grand richer, no exaggeration. I have a wee denture now! 🙄

Just go, seriously. It is NEVER as bad as you think it’s going to be. Dentists so skilled nowadays at dealing with anxious patients. No pun intended...but I’m rooting for you! 🦷

I’ve just had a visit to a dentist after 10 years. The dentist was lovely, and clearly used to dealing sympathetically with refusniks like me.

It’s not been pleasant, but it’s been far less bad than I expected.

Check your local dentists online and pick the one with the most and best reviews.

Thanks so much for the hand holding everyone, I'm feeling a bit better for reading your posts. I don't know why I've become so scared of the dentist, I was fine when I was young. It feels quite irrational really. I just want it all over, yet at the same time absolutely dreading it and imagining lots of nightmarish scenarios which usually end up with me completely toothless and/or in permanent agony.

I really appreciate you all taking the time to indulge my anxiety xx

I love my dentist! Love him. I'm dreading having to move away from the area because he is just wonderful, so if you're ever in central Scotland let me know and I'll point you in his direction.

I think the issue with dentistry is that it's very intimate, and the tools they use for the most part seem almost prehistoric (I mean...a metal hook on a stick?!). I remember getting a root canal (one of my best ever trips to the dentist - I'd been crying in pain in the waiting room beforehand) and the dental nurse whipped out a Bunsen burner! I hadn't seen one since school!

Anyway, you've got a lovely new young dentist, in a lovely modern dental clinic. You'll lie back on the comfy chair, close your eyes, and listen to the radio for 45 minutes. It'll be over before you know it! Good luck OP! It will be great!

They won’t see decay on an x-ray, I had a check up and he took x-rays asi hadn’t had any for a while. Everything seemed ok then a week later a chunk of tooth came away when eating. Got seen by my dentist who was shocked as everything had been ok, bacteria had managed to get behind a filling and cause decay the couldn’t be seen by naked eye or x-ray. He filled it with a new fancy type of filling. I have had both bottom wisdoms surgically removed and it was awfulbut bearable. I had bone chipped away and stitches but it honestly even then manageable at home and i’d do it again rather than face the pain of impacted wisdom teeth and infections.

If I can do that and say it wasn’t horrific you can do this.