Dental Fear...Terrified Beyond Words...
by J
I don't have much of a dental history as I was never taken as a child. I never had problems so my great-grandmother who raised me never saw a reason, I guess. Nothing I can do about that now. My first real problem happened well into my 20s and I needed to get a wisdom tooth pulled. Long story short, the anti-anxiety pills I was given didn't fully kick in until it was over, the guy didn't numb me properly and wouldn't believe me, and instead of pulling the tooth he busted it off at the gum line WITH HIS THUMB. (Seriously? For the kind of money I'm paying USE A TOOL!) To this day seeing that silver lamborghini behind the office makes my blood boil. Years later I started having problems with another wisdom tooth and the new place I chose advertised awesome sedation. "Patients wake up at home with no memory of the visit." Sounded like heaven, and they put me through hell. The hygenist humiliated me. I have a hyper sensitive gag reflex and couldn't keep the little x-ray thingy in my mouth. She froze the back of my throat with a spray and I gagged on that too. The dentist informed me that I had an infection, and never offered to treat it. He started making a list as long as my arm of procedures he wanted to do, until I flat out told him that pulling the wisdom teeth was all I was paying for. Then came the real hell. A different dentist at the same office did the work. I payed $1300 for the drugs and 3 teeth. He pulled one, dislocated my jaw to do it, and sent me home without resetting it. I woke up in the hospital. To rub a little proverbial salt into the wound, he put up a huge fight when I tried to get the rest of my money back. Now just the smell of a dental office sends me into a full-blown panic attack. I mean a shaking crying clear the door or I will make my own to escape panic attack. Being told "don't be a baby" doesn't help. Now I'm having problems again and I'm completely screwed. :(
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