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Tuesday, 28 October 2003 06:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taimatsu
I have to work on Thursday and Friday. I'm not really happy about this, but I can't leave the company and the agency in the lurch. It means my mother can't come and see me on Thursday as she was planning (partly to give me a winter coat she's bought me), and I will have less time to prepare for the new job, which starts on Monday. The girl I'm working with doesn't get less annoying, sadly, and I am suffering unpleasant urges to mimic her horrible, drawling accent.
I can't even get Friday afternoon off, as cow-orker is going on a work trip to Ireland which leaves Friday morning, so it'll be just me on the desk all day. *sigh* I should stop complaining - it's not difficult work, it's only a couple of days extra, and I'm being paid.
What else have I been doing? I have signed forms to pay RACC for my Japanese course; I haven't done my Japanese half-term homework yet, though; I have been getting quite tired and cold; I have chipped one of my lower front teeth slightly through being a Big Stupid Idiot and now my lower teeth are strangely achy and uncomfortable; consequently I have been looking up dentists.
I am nervous about dentists. When I was about 11-14, I had lots of orthodontic work done to correct an overbite (my teeth closed the wrong way round). This involved having four teeth out and lots of metalwork in my mouth. My orthodontist was very nice, but having that much stuff done to my mouth didn't endear dentistry to me at all, and I have avoided going for a very long time. It's probably around two years since I had a checkup, and nearer four since I had any treatment.
This is really me thinking aloud, so when I do contact a dentist's surgery I can explain my problems clearly.
I don't like having injections in my mouth. They make me very tense and nervous, and they hurt. I nearly got a needle in my eye once when I gestured to make Mr Powell (orthodontist) wait before injecting me again, because I had my eyes tight shut and couldn't see that he had the needle hovering right over me. And I couldn't say 'Wait, wait', because I *had my mouth open for him* with one of those sucky moisture-remover things in.
I don't like drills. Even the noise of normal house drills now makes me think of dentist drills and makes me cringe. I hate the sensation they cause in my teeth, I hate the concept of having something which can grind down teeth so close to my tongue and other delicate bits of my mouth, and I hate the noise and the smell; they make me tense and uncomfortable.
I hate having my mouth open like that for ages. I hate having people with their fingers inside my mouth. My mouth is delicate and easily hurt, and having lots of metal tools in it is Bad.
I have no problems with doctors at all, but dentists, no, no, no. I don't think of myself as having a phobia, I just... have avoided it for ages. I can't any more, my teeth are in a really bad state and I know I need help. But I can't get away from the fact that unless I have the whole lot done under general anaesthetic (at the same time as having my wisdom teeth out, which needs doing) which I doubt would be feasible, I am going to have to be at least semi-conscious for a whole *hell* of a lot of pricking and drilling and scraping and prodding (a minimum of four fillings, and something for a fractured tooth). And it makes me unhappy and nervous and scared.
What can I do, other than say this to the dentist when I go? (If I go.)
I can't even get Friday afternoon off, as cow-orker is going on a work trip to Ireland which leaves Friday morning, so it'll be just me on the desk all day. *sigh* I should stop complaining - it's not difficult work, it's only a couple of days extra, and I'm being paid.
What else have I been doing? I have signed forms to pay RACC for my Japanese course; I haven't done my Japanese half-term homework yet, though; I have been getting quite tired and cold; I have chipped one of my lower front teeth slightly through being a Big Stupid Idiot and now my lower teeth are strangely achy and uncomfortable; consequently I have been looking up dentists.
I am nervous about dentists. When I was about 11-14, I had lots of orthodontic work done to correct an overbite (my teeth closed the wrong way round). This involved having four teeth out and lots of metalwork in my mouth. My orthodontist was very nice, but having that much stuff done to my mouth didn't endear dentistry to me at all, and I have avoided going for a very long time. It's probably around two years since I had a checkup, and nearer four since I had any treatment.
This is really me thinking aloud, so when I do contact a dentist's surgery I can explain my problems clearly.
I don't like having injections in my mouth. They make me very tense and nervous, and they hurt. I nearly got a needle in my eye once when I gestured to make Mr Powell (orthodontist) wait before injecting me again, because I had my eyes tight shut and couldn't see that he had the needle hovering right over me. And I couldn't say 'Wait, wait', because I *had my mouth open for him* with one of those sucky moisture-remover things in.
I don't like drills. Even the noise of normal house drills now makes me think of dentist drills and makes me cringe. I hate the sensation they cause in my teeth, I hate the concept of having something which can grind down teeth so close to my tongue and other delicate bits of my mouth, and I hate the noise and the smell; they make me tense and uncomfortable.
I hate having my mouth open like that for ages. I hate having people with their fingers inside my mouth. My mouth is delicate and easily hurt, and having lots of metal tools in it is Bad.
I have no problems with doctors at all, but dentists, no, no, no. I don't think of myself as having a phobia, I just... have avoided it for ages. I can't any more, my teeth are in a really bad state and I know I need help. But I can't get away from the fact that unless I have the whole lot done under general anaesthetic (at the same time as having my wisdom teeth out, which needs doing) which I doubt would be feasible, I am going to have to be at least semi-conscious for a whole *hell* of a lot of pricking and drilling and scraping and prodding (a minimum of four fillings, and something for a fractured tooth). And it makes me unhappy and nervous and scared.
What can I do, other than say this to the dentist when I go? (If I go.)
no subject
Date: Tuesday, 28 October 2003 01:44 pm (UTC)I reckon you should explain all of the above, and go somewhere that listens to you. See if you can find one that specialises in catering for nervous patients - some places will give you IV sedation. I quite like the sound of that.
If it helps, take a friend with you when you go, and plan to do something fun afterwards.