To think I shouldn’t come out of the dentist crying and shaking.

[Bellabluea]

Hi all. So I need an upper molar out. The dentist tried last week and could only get the bottom half out leaving 3 deep roots which it turns out are infected. He numbed me but I swear I felt so much I couldn’t let him. He gave me a course of antibiotics and I went back today. I took strong painkillers before I left and he numbed me apparently. I was anxious but I was assured it would be better after the antibiotics.

I feel like I’ve been assaulted. My body went into shakes and I started crying. I could feel him trying to pull out my tooth and the pain was horrendous. I kept grabbing his arm and he said I needed to let him and that I was numbed.
he tried a couple of times and I tried so hard to let him and be brave but I just couldn’t.
i left crying and drove home in shock.
DH has never seen me so traumatised and I am not soft. I have had children without pain relief and I’m not someone who is an anxious person.
The dental assistant kept giving me tissues and asking if I was alight. She looked really concerned but the dentist just came across as a bit irritated and said my anxiety was stopping me.
he did another X-ray at the end and said there was a deep infection which was why I felt something and I ran out of there with a promise of an appointment somewhere else for sedation.

I think I just needed to write it down. My reaction shocked me and my body just took over. I still can’t stop crying.

am I just being soft?

I’m currently going through a negligence claim because of a butcher of a dentist who left me traumatised and now with a fear of the dentist. I can’t go in to a dental surgery now without shaking, the last time I literally burst into tears which is so unlike me.

the whole ordeal has left you with some form of PTSD

Please stop. PTSD is a serious mental illness. It is normal to be upset after an upsetting experience, OP's reaction is understandable and absolutely does not mean she has PTSD.

This happened to me 16 years ago, I was 7 months pregnant with ds1, worlds worst toothache hit out of nowhere, emergency dentist tried to extract but the anaesthetic wouldn’t work. They gave me antibiotics and referred me to hospital to see the oral surgeon, who was absolutely brutal! He pulled the tooth and I felt every bit of it, I was screaming. I was told afterwards that the antibiotics weren’t working and the anaesthetic couldn’t get through due to the infection, absolutely awful. I was terrified of the dentist for many years afterwards.

Since had two other extractions for orthodontic work which were an absolute breeze and I’ll never miss a check up again.

And PTSD can occur after what many would consider a normal experience.
You do not get to decide what is traumatic for other people.

No they didn’t as firstly kneeling on someone’s chest would break ribs. Secondly, historically patients were treated in a more upright position with the dentists standing (Google images of old dental chairs if you still don’t believe me) it would not be possible for a dentist to kneel on someone’s chest. As I’ve already said it does not help with leverage

Yikes, deep infections are supposed to be agonising. Perhaps your tooth root is close to a nerve as well which is making it worse? Definitely think getting it done under sedation is a good idea!

Sedation is wonderful. Asleep the whole time nothing felt at all. Hope you soon get an appointment and feel better xx

I feel for you OP. I had to overcome a fear of dentistry due to archaic treatment in the 70s and then not able to afford private. Underwent 18 months of treatment to sort it all out and used sedation when procedure would be long or painful.
Recently, I went locally to get a broken back molar removed. Thought it would be straightforward. The dentist was a brute ! Was twisting my head , pulled my lips roughly at the edges , never mind the pressure as she pulled out the tooth in 3 pieces. And kept say loudly , Stop it , you are OK, to me. Even the assistant felt sorry for me. Will still go the practice but never again with her.
Felt like you , tearful and brutalised. Sore for days after and bruising on my face .

You have my sympathy OP. I have a high pain threshold and I’m very used to painful medical procedures but having my wisdom tooth removed was absolutely horrific. I felt far too much as well and the tooth was apparently very hard to get out so it was a drawn out ordeal. I was in shock afterwards, shaking uncontrollably and felt very unwell.

It affected me far more than fracturing my wrist which I did a couple of weeks later!

I’m not surprised that it’s been traumatic for you and I hope you get it sorted soon with the needed sedation in place.

I’ve had a similar experience. I still had feeling in the tooth and wouldn’t let them proceed. I was also made to feel like I was making a fuss. Ended up with a referral to the dental hospital but then covid hit. Became infected while all the dentists were shut and ended up at one of the emergency dental centres where a brilliant hospital dentist just kept on injecting anaesthetic until I was happy - I’m sure it was about 14 injections in the end - and it worked!

My dentist is so lovely. I had a tooth out today and she double checked I couldn't feel anything before the extraction. The tooth was out in seconds,I was amazed at how quick she was. Apart from a bit of tenderness I've been fine.

Anyone who thinks you can't get PTSD after dental treatment / childbirth etc is mistaken!

@ickky @Naunet
I mean how long do you think dentists arms are that they can kneel on someone’s chest and still reach the teeth?

It has not ever been possible for a human to kneel on a patients chest to get teeth out.

As for elbows, the first lesson in dental school taking teeth out is keep your arm as straight as possible to extract teeth, the more your arm bends the more difficult it is to get a tooth out. There can be some bruising post extraction but that is normal.

I’m sorry you’ve have a bad experience. You need to discuss with your dentist what your options are now going forward, ie, different anaesthetic, sedation etc….
But, However many MN horror stories there are about bad dentists, there are many many more untold stories of treatments including very difficult extractions which go ahead daily without any problems whatsoever.
As the old saying goes, if you have a good experience you may tell someone, if you have a bad experience you’ll tell 10!

I had bruising all over my chest and looked like my face had been badly beaten, large lumpy swellings and a near black colour. I was under general anaesthetic, I have no idea what they did. Bruises don't just appear.

I had an infection in a bottom back molar when I was 11, in the 1960s. Female butcher (sorry, dentist) tried to extract it.

I had SEVEN injections and could still feel everything she was doing. The dentist didn’t believe me, neither did my mother, and I was held down by my mother on one side and the dental nurse on the other, while the dentist broke the tooth and left the roots in the gum.

I never forgave my mother (though it wasn’t the only unforgivable incident). The roots were eventually removed under general anaesthetic with some other extractions later in my teens. Not until I met a dentist socially 40 years later did I learn that injections don’t work when there’s an abscess or deep infection. I wasn’t lying when I told them i could still feel it.

OP - I literally feel your pain as I had similar two weeks ago with an upper molar. Could feel something wasn't quite right so made an appointment with my dentist for the following week, pain got worse and worse over the next few days until the abscess burst and the immediate relief was wonderful. Went to my dentist appointment where she tried to take it out, I had seven injections which weren't very effective and at points it was so painful that after 45 minutes of trying to get it out (inc drilling it in half) she sent me home with a prescription for antibiotics and 5 days later I was back again for another attempt where it was out in 5 mins. I'm slightly traumatised if I'm honest and my whole upper gum is still sore and the tooth next to my extracted one hurts when I bite down on it so I'm not sure whether that's bruising or it has been damaged so I'm still only able to eat on one side. I hate anything to do with teeth.

@ickky no they don’t just appear they are a direct result of the invasive surgical procedure in your head and neck region that was deemed to need a GA. But yes of course it wasn’t related to the surgery and complicated and interconnected anatomy in that region, you had the freak dentist that liked to kneel and rest their elbows on the patient to make it impossible to complete the treatment.

When I have my mouth X-rayed. I panic I shake and I cry. Part of it is because my gag reflex is nil. If my hands are full I can't hold something in my mouth without gagging like mad. The other part of it is because I have an irrational fear of choking and the plastic thing they shove in and tell you to bite down on feels like it's going to slip into my throat. I'm the same when I'm having my teeth checked. The Dentist has to tell me to move my tongue out of the way cos I've literally got it plugged to the back of my mouth in case he drops one of the tools. One dentist was horrible about it when I couldn't manage the X-ray and kept trying to force it into my mouth and I came out crying and shaking. I also refused to pay for the appointment and had them remove my name from the register. He must've been bad cos even my ex fil said he was a butcher. My new (now old Dentist) was great if I couldn't manage it on the first or second go if I wanted to try again we called it quits. I will eventually need an X-ray to see where the rest of wisdom tooth is and are but it will now be done under sedation instead. Weirdly though I've had 5 teeth pulled when I had my brace fitted many years ago and never had any issues with the anaesthetic. Yet the anaesthetic I had for my lumbar puncture didn't work the first time round and I nearly shot through the roof when the dr stabbed the needle into my spine to make sure it was numb. I needed an extra lot on top and even then I could still semi feel it. Although then again I'm sure he numbed the top of my back but took the sample lower down.

Hi OP hand hold for you. Such a blow; especially as no toothache to begin with!

i Have absolutely heaps of dental issues so I (literally) feel your pain.

Local anaesthetic doesn't work as well when a large infection is present, which sounds like is the case for you. How many jabs of anaesthetic did the dentist give you I wonder? I've needed 13 to get numb enough before.

I don't understand how he can say it's numb when you're sitting there as the patient saying it's not. If you're still experiencing pain, you're not numb and the injections haven't worked, whatever he says. You don't sound like you were being soft at all.

I had a bad experience many years ago with a tooth extraction and since then I always agree to anything to save a tooth rather than have it taken out.
However when a tooth needed extracting I asked to be referred to the dental hospital and had it removed under sedation. A much better experience. I am due to have another tooth removed and have gone down this route again.

Dear love you that’s awful. I have severe dental anxiety as when I was a teenager I need to have a tooth removed that was sinking into my gum/ jaw ( no tooth underneath) the dentist struggled to pull it out and got his colleague in and one held my shoulders done while the other out his foot up on my chair to try give himself move leverage. Was traumatised. Didn’t return to the dentist for over 10years after that Nd I went to a dentist who specialises in anxiety which helps. Unfortunately 10 years of no dental care meant I had ALOT of damage and still every single appointment I need something done! I would complain, this is not acceptable

@Bellabluea - I told him I usually need many injections to go numb but he gave me two and said they were working. I don’t know. Maybe it was me 🤷‍♀️

It wasn't you. It was him. Believe in yourself. He should have believed you. He sounds like a shit dentist.

And why did you need the tooth out as a first step if you had no pain?? Surely antibiotics should have been tried first?

I'd complain about him.