Hate going to dental hygienist

[ScaredyCatherine]

I'm due a visit to the dental hygienist and I'm dreading it.

My teeth are clean and healthy - I always get compliments from the hygienist saying they're great etc. But I just hate the whole cleaning process. I'm really beginning to dread it. I know I can stay stop at any time etc etc, but when I'm in there I just want it over with ASAP.

I don't mind the dentist at all, it's just the scale and polish bit and even worse the airflow thing. Yuk.

I know I have to go, but wibu to reduce my visits to once a year maybe?

Not at all once a year is fine if you have no issues or gum disease

I'm unhappy with the hygienist at my dentist.

I found out after several uncomfortable visits that they will offer an anaesthetic if your teeth are sensitive. The freezing cold water they use makes things very uncomfortable and it would have been nice to know earlier. And no they can't warm the water up as it's sterile and might be compromised if they add anything to it.

I then have to go through a regular lecture about how my bad habits are discolouring my teeth. YES I KNOW black coffee stains the enamel, NO I haven't stopped drinking it and am not intending to, please stop telling me, I visit you to get this fixed!

It's recently gone up from £60 to £90 for a visit that doesn't leave my teeth feeling any cleaner.

I'm considering going to a different surgery for the hygienist appointments but is that good dental etiquette? I really don't know.

Apologies that was more a rant than an answer to your question!

Ask for manual. I can’t tolerate the water so I have a standard scale and polish by hand

Haha! Not at all. Glad to know it isn't just me

You don't have to go! Who said that you did?

My parents have never been to a hygienist (their teeth are fine and healthy)
I've only been 4 times in my life, many people have never been - it's private treatment and not NHS subsidised, it's expensive.

Just book an appointment when you have a plaque build up or you feel you really need it.

Once a year is totally fine! In fact, I had my first hygienist when I was 33!

In my nearly 40 years of being on this earth, I’ve never had a filling or any sort of problem with my teeth. STILL get the effing lecture on how I should floss. Nah. Have never. Will never. Feel your pain @OccultGnuNew

Om gee, it's like torture that I pay for. I cannot tolerate the cold air sucker upper tool due to very sensitive teeth and the pressurised freezing cold water. I also ask for a manual clean but the dental nurse seems to just sneak it in there whenever she can. She also works very clumsily and crashes the tools against my teeth. The hygienist is much more gentle. I have to keep going though as cannot bear the thought of having dentures

Don't go. Me and dh pay monthly for our dental services and that includes two check ups a year, two dental hygiene visits and all x rays. The dental hygienist is way too rough with our teeth and damaged both mine and dh's fillings. I refused to go and dh is refusing now. Our teeth are fine, although getting older. We both score 0 on gum health. We both use a specialist toothbrush to clean. The dental hygienist was treating our teeth as though we were both still in our 20s with no fillings. I think horses would get gentler treatment, so I don't trust her.

They can give you an injection to numb it. But you still feel vibration.
But I guess some people hate the injection and waiting for it to wear off more than the actual treatment.

I actually find it really pleasant. I'm a total sporner and love the idea of all the crap being scraped away! I would love to clean teeth for a living!
I used to be really really scared, but now I'm a massive enthusiast?!

Its great your teeth are so clean. Maybe you could space the appointments out more as it seems like it's not a desperate need on a very regular basis.

Why go? I’ve never been to one. My family have never been to one. We all have perfectly healthy teeth. The dentist has never suggested one. I’m not sure how I’d find one even if I wanted to. The whole concept of a dental hygienist seems totally and utterly unnecessary.

I went today. I just came back. I also don’t like going because the first time I ever had a proper clean when I was younger, the girl really really hurt me. I was crying. It was her first time ever doing that and I should have stopped it.

I am very tense when I sit in the chair because it’s etched into my being how painful it can be.

go to a different hygienist and explain. Or explain to your current one. Also, you probably don’t need to go as often, if you don’t have issue and take care of things in between visits.

Thanks all. I'm going to wait a few more months. My teeth are fine and I see a dentist every 6 months anyway.

I do wonder if it's my particular hygienist and I might look for another one. She's very nice but I just don't like the cleaning process. So, like a pp, I may end up going to another practice for my hygienists appointments

I just went yesterday. The hygienist told me people should visit every 6 months which seems very excessive and really just a money maker. I normally only go every couple of years and it always seems to be fine.

I hate it too. I have an NHS dental practice who don’t seem to employ hygienists, so the dentist does it himself.

@OccultGnuNew I asked a person at a party about the cold water as she is a dentist. There are different machines and the one they use they fill up a tank so can control the water temperature especially in winter when the cold feed coming in on the mains supply is freezing.

Having had several hygienists I will say that it is down to the person and their technique. I go religiously every 6 months and had one who made my gums bleed, never happened before or since. I have a "preferred" hygienist, Gemma is you are reading this you are the best. She is gentle, quick and does an incredible job, plus I love chatting with her.

For those saying don't go, I have to attend mine due to the private cover I have. Plus if you don't floss efficiently and most don't because that is why you need the hygienist to remove the plaque (hard stuff you can't remove at home) this can cause the gum to become inflamed. The bone will then dissolve moving away from the angry gum and you can lose the tooth. I watch a lot of dental videos on youtube because I find things like root canal repair fascinating. I also like watching plaque removal. If you lose an adult tooth you are limited on options, I don't want to be in a position of having them drill into my jaw bone to attach a replacement tooth.

Me too. I really loathe it. As another poster said it is like torture I pay for.

I didn't go for over 20 years and nothing bad happened. I could tell that neither the dentist nor hygienist believed me when I said that I hadn't been for over 20 years. I don't have a single filing and I'm in my mid 50s. I'm very meticulous about flossing and interdental brushing, but suspect I am probably genetically blessed with decent teeth, rather than it being explicitly down to my own good oral hygiene.

I only go annually and that is because it is part of my professional healthcare package. If it wasn't I probably still wouldn't go.

I also hate it, and wouldn't dream of going any more regularly than once a year (actually, it was nearer 10 between my last two visits!)

I can’t tolerate the water scale, luckily we have 2 hygienists where I go so choose the one who doesn’t use this. I have very uneven bottom teeth so I also hate going, but as I pay monthly I do go.

I hate it as well but find an air polish is so much more tolerable

I am not good with the dentist, so I never have the air thing. My hygienist does a hand clean as requested. She just uses a hand tool to clean everything. I do have the tiny polish machine bit at the end but she is very brief with it. Perhaps that would suit you better.

I stopped going, mine was so brutal and I have very sensitive teeth, they hurt for 6 weeks afterwards

My son in law recently spent a week in hospital after a dental hygienist badly messed up the gum around a wisdom tooth which resulted in a terrible abscess which spread to his throat.
He ended up with a tube to drain the abscess and the removal of three teeth!
I will NEVER visit a hygienist!

Ooh, where does Gemma work? Most hygienists I have encountered seem like total sadists. I've only once had one who had a reasonably pain-free technique, and sadly she moved away.

@cryptide no, Gemma is mine, all mine My dentist has a few hygienists and I have tried several of them but you can register a preference on your file so when you ring to book you just ask for the person you want and grab whatever slot you can with them.

It is the same with dentist though, some can be a bit rougher than others, some are very gentle especially considering they have to feel under the jaw and your jaw hinge whilst you open and close your mouth. We moved house and kept this dentist because they are good and parking there is a nightmare but it is only once every 6 months, We book dentist and hygienist back to back.