How can I cope with dental impressions?

[Jestrin]

I've just revisited a thread that was started back in April and I commented that I needed a bridge and was crying because I would have to have dental impressions taken.

Well...here we are at the end of May and I still can't pluck up the courage .i don't know what to do. I usually have sedation for any dental work and despite being phobic I go every six months. I have a gag reflex which is the stumbling point for the impressions, and I panic.

But I just can't do this....the tooth I had to have extracted is at the corner of my mouth. Friends say 'oh no you can't see it.' DH says the same but actually, yes, you can see it when I speak. I hate it. It makes me cry. I've been looking on the net and you can get digital dental scanners which I think I could do but no frigging dentist in the UK seems to have one. What am I going to do??

And the answer is.......cry some more by the looks of it.

Hi, have you thought about hypnotherapy techniques to relax you during treatment ? Might be worth looking into?

Could you try spraying some Ultra Choraseptic anaesthetic spray before going, to reduce the gag reflex?

Also, the impression taking process is less than 30 seconds. Does it actually matter (apart from being dreadfully embarrassing) if you gag?

Mouth breathing and counting slowly can help, too.

I've been trying to find a hypnotherapist. They are either very booked up or specialise in certain areas.

The trouble when I gag is that I instantly panic too. My dentist has said we could do them under sedation but I'm struggling to feel comfortable with that idea. I find that even more scary!

I've discussed it with her and she said that before they'd do the impressions they would prep the other teeth. If I panic over The impressions then I have two ruined teeth apparently they can't make the bridge without the impressions being done. These digital scanners I've been reading about are just a wand that takes the images and can even make the mould too. Sounds brilliant! I could cope with that! Not a mouthful of goo.

Pm me - I think my dentist has the scanner you're talking about

I really sympathise, I hate going to the dentist. I developed a phobia partly as a result of dreadful dentistry as a child, partly it's just the kind of thing I hate, and the combination of lots of enormous badly done childhood fillings and putting off going to the dentist has left me with awful awful teeth. I have got better in recent years - I really have to if I want to keep my own teeth at all. So well done you for going every 6 months!

For me it is the sound of the drill that makes me panic and struggle to stay in the chair and I have to be sedated if there is a drill involved. Otherwise i can manage by controlling my breathing and holding on like hell to the chair.

I don't have any answers. Do you have a sympathetic dentist? I have changed dentist a couple of times in the last 4 years and now have one that I really like and that has been a big turning point for me. The others weren't exactly unsympathetic but I felt that they looked down on me because of the horrible state of my mouth, no idea whether they actually did. The one I have now is really sympathetic, says it doesn't matter at all if we stop an appointment half way through etc and makes me feel like I am being really brave.

The only thing I can think of is to go for the appointment and tell your dentist that you might not be able to do it but you are going to give it a try. Very best of luck.

Oh, have just read the bit about the ruined teeth. I really hope you find a scanner.

My dentist is really really lovely. She is brilliant and so patient with me. She knows how scared I am. Funnily enough it wasn't a dental procedure that put me off but a camera up my nose when I was seriously ill, done without any sedation. Now I can't bear anything moving near or toward my face. I'm so frustrated with myself. I WANT the bridge for self esteem, if nothing else. But I've got to psyche myself up for this.

I always struggle with impressions due to very severe gag reflex. I can now control it (used to end up vomiting after each one) by making sure I breathe through my nose only.

As soon as I breathe through my mouth the gagging starts. I count each breath in for 4 seconds and out for 5 (as taught by yoga teacher), and manage to concentrate hard on breathing rather than what's in my mouth. I have to do this even when cleaning my teeth.

I have had sedation for a wisdom tooth extraction as there's no way they could do that without much gagging/vomiting, and I actually slept through the whole thing!

Yes, the sedation is good stuff . Apparently I hold riveting conversations whilst on it!! I think I am frightened that if I choke whilst sedated I'd be less able to help myself iykwim?

DameFanny, thank you for your PM. I'll look into that further.

I also have a really sensitive gag reflex and hate impressions being done. Last time I needed one my lovely dentist had me sit right forwards, leaning over forwards so I would get less of the paste feeling in my mouth and I think she reduced the amount of paste to the absolute minimum. It wasn't great but I managed to get through it like that.

Is your dentist at all sympathetic? You can't be the first person to have this problem and she/he must be able to suggest some strategies to reduce your discomfort? If s/he is not sympathetic I would consider seeing if you can find another one anyway.

Good luck, hope you find a solution and get your gap filled (I have a crown on a front tooth and know exactly how you feel about it being obvious/visible even when people tell me it's not).

My DH is a dentist and he uses acupunture needles in the ear to stop the gag reflex - he says it is amazing!

Oh x-post, sounds like sedation is the way to go, especially if you trust her otherwise.

Jestrin I really feel for you. DS1 had to have braces last year. He coped fine with 2 extractions. When he had the moulds done he nearly had a full on panic attack, he said he felt like he was suffocating. I had told him to breath through his nose, but he was flailing around in the chair and I thought he was going to jump up and run off.

I hope you can find a way to get them done. x

Ooh never heard of the acupuncture needles before!

I'm just going to have to go back and chat about it all over again, I guess.

I can sympathise. I have a permanently blocked nose so have to breath through my mouth and therefore get panicky at the dentist. I did have a bridge for a corner tooth that fell out and I haven't dared have it replaced. I haven't been to the dentist for about four years but am going for a check up at a new dentist on Friday. I'm very scared!

thebestpossibletaste we're in the same boat! I'm going to ring my dentist tomorrow but ultimately I'm unhappy with the gap so I need to try. I'm scared but DH has said he'll hold my hand for that bit if I want.

Thank you everyone for your comments.

Good luck Jestrin.

Thanks Sparkling

To add to my woes, ohhelp I'm teetotal!

Unless you are a recovering alcoholic it might be worth a go Jestrin.

True!! If it gets me through...

jestrin As someone who has just been through this - is dental phobic (almost over it! and cannot abide things in my mouth) I'd say give it a go. My dentist started by doing half impressions - putty stuff one side you bite on. Then I had bottom impressions - breathe through nose whilst playing candy crush and then eventually top again, distract self with candy crush!.

I did it. I was gagging and did sick a little - use bowl but my dentist has been totally fab.

And worth it as today I picked up my partial dentures. I managed bottom one for 4 hours. Tops are harder - can manage about 3 minutes whilst gagging.

But its the baby steps - and be proud of yourself for making them. FWIW it took me 8 months before I agreed to go for it!

birdy Are you me? Your story is the same as mine. I'm now sedation free! Although I did try and wrestle the drill of a dentist when on nasal sedation so they promoted me to IV!!!!!