18-08-27 Monday - The Dentist and a Filling

Friday 17th brought a trip to the dentist. One of my fillings had fallen out while eating some jam, of all things. One of the fruit seeds had inveigled its way between my wisdom tooth and the filling in my second molar, which had only been in place for 18 months or so.  

It had been difficult enough to get in place the first time around; I'd been for a check-up and the dentist identified that I needed a filling, but when he tried to do it, the anaesthetic didn’t seem to be working that well. The dentist had to give me a temporary filling over Christmas and then I went back in January to have it finished off.  

I have a pathological fear of dentists. Well, it may not be a fear of dentists. I have absolute trust in my dentist. But I have a fear of people messing around in my mouth with whirry things like dentists’ drills and scrapy things. I don’t think that I've ever been hurt, but it is the anticipation of pain that drives me mad. My heart rate increases, I start sweating, I grab onto the arms of the dentist chair tightly and have to be talked down before I can let go (almost).  

On this occasion, the dentist agreed with me; the filling had fallen out. In addition, he said, the tooth was cracked and broken. It was in a pretty bad way. He attempted to refill the filling, which was a bit traumatic. Mr D used two different drills; one felt almost pneumatic, like a road-drill or something. The other was a finer, more high-pitched drill which really penetrated my skull. He had to remove the existing filling, bore out more of my tooth and then put in a bigger filling.  

He also warned me that if this filling didn’t take, he’d probably have to extract the tooth. The tooth was in such a bad way, he said, that even a root canal probably wasn’t worth it. That was depressing news, and bothered me for several days, to be honest. But actually, the filling hasn’t ached so it’s been okay. I’m not even sure that the filling is there any longer, but it’s not painful so I’m going to leave it. I’ll be back for a check-up anyway before I know it, and if necessary he can extract it then. At least if it is extracted, there won’t be any future requirements for fillings – in that tooth. One down, thirty-one to go.  

TTFN.  

Wednesday 17-01-04 The Dentist

I had to go back to the dentist today. I had a check-up on my last working day of 2016, and he told me I needed a filling. I agreed to have it immediately but unfortunately it was in one of my back teeth and it felt like he was drilling into my head. He gave me some anaesthetic, but I could still feel the drilling, it was still painful. I think the air blowing across my sensitive teeth didn't help much either, but probably the main agent fighting the anaesthetic was the alcohol in the cans of beer I drank the night before. He managed to drill nearly halfway to the fissure that needed cleaning out and filling, and gave me some more anaesthetic, but it wasn't working. Eventually he gave up, filled in the hole with a temporary filling, and asked me to come back. 

So for the Christmas period I was quietly dreading my return visit to the dentist, hoping that I would be able to handle the filling. I pootled down there today and sat in the chair, and again I took the anaesthetic. He drilled and it was painful again, but I think I was managing okay. The dentist realised though that it was the machinery (the drill and the air) which was the issue, and so he abandoned those and carried on with just a scraper. He got into the fissure and cleaned it, and then filled it. I was pleased he was able to complete the filling, and pleased that I didn't need to have a general anaesthetic or something along those lines. 

Of course my mouth was numb for the rest of the afternoon, but that is it for another six months. I will be using floss and interdental sticks a lot more than I have been. Hopefully I can avoid another filling for another couple of years...

Wednesday 17-01-04 The Dentist

I had to go back to the dentist today. I had a check-up on my last working day of 2016, and he told me I needed a filling. I agreed to have it immediately but unfortunately it was in one of my back teeth and it felt like he was drilling into my head. He gave me some anaesthetic, but I could still feel the drilling, it was still painful. I think the air blowing across my sensitive teeth didn't help much either, but probably the main agent fighting the anaesthetic was the alcohol in the cans of beer I drank the night before. He managed to drill nearly halfway to the fissure that needed cleaning out and filling, and gave me some more anaesthetic, but it wasn't working. Eventually he gave up, filled in the hole with a temporary filling, and asked me to come back.

So for the Christmas period I was quietly dreading my return visit to the dentist, hoping that I would be able to handle the filling. I pootled down there today and sat in the chair, and again I took the anaesthetic. He drilled and it was painful again, but I think I was managing okay. The dentist realised though that it was the machinery (the drill and the air) which was the issue, and so he abandoned those and carried on with just a scraper. He got into the fissure and cleaned it, and then filled it. I was pleased he was able to complete the filling, and pleased that I didn't need to have a general anaesthetic or something along those lines.

Of course my mouth was numb for the rest of the afternoon, but that is it for another six months. I will be using floss and interdental sticks a lot more than I have been. Hopefully I can avoid another filling for another couple of years...