Tag Archives: panic

I feel like even though I still don’t do great at the dentist, I have been doing a lot better lately than I did years ago. I still have some tough appointments now that make me feel like I’ve had a setback, but I still think there has been some forward progress for me. So even though I still hate the dentist, I don’t put off going because I know I need to be on top of things. The only time I really was putting off an appointment in the recent past was at the beginning of the pandemic when they canceled all regular appointments and were only seeing emergencies. I did end up having an emergency so I went in for that and the cleaning that I missed. But I think having that appointment be delayed really reinforced the idea of not missing or putting off appointments because that was a much harder appointment than normal.

I was supposed to go to the dentist in November, but right before my appointment was when I got sick. I knew it wasn’t Covid and was likely just a cold, but I didn’t want to expose everyone at the dentist’s office, especially since there’s no way to keep a mask on there. I think that the staff appreciated my being cautious as well. When the rescheduled date ended up not working for me because of a work conflict that I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to have to move my appointment after already doing that once, but I didn’t have a choice. So I finally was able to go to the dentist yesterday for the overdue appointment.

I think knowing that I had this appointment about a month after it was supposed to happen made me extra nervous. I know I try to do everything right for my teeth, but my genetics make me have bad teeth compared to others. That’s why I go in 3 times a year instead of just twice. I have to make sure I get more cleanings than the average person to make up for the bad genetics. I know that this delay wasn’t as bad as the one I had at the beginning of the pandemic, but I was still worried that the appointment would be that much more difficult for me to tolerate and get through.

I also think it didn’t help that it was raining that day so I was dealing with hip pain as well as the side effects from my injection. I tried to tell myself that those would be good distractions, but it doesn’t always work out like that, and sometimes having other pain or issues just make everything else feel worse. But I did my best to not panic as much as I could and went into my appointment with a somewhat positive mindset. But as always, I was worried that I would be told some horrible news about my teeth while I was there.

When I finally got to my appointment, I encountered another delay. Another patient had an emergency and it was taking longer than expected. I told them I could just wait until the dentist was done since I didn’t want to put off the appointment any longer. I know that was the right choice even though waiting there for a while made my nerves kick up even more. By the time I was seen, I was really trying my best to stay calm but I knew I wasn’t doing a great job at that.

Fortunately, my appointment went ok. Things weren’t as great as they normally are, but I know that’s because my appointment was pushed back by a month. It really does make a difference in making sure you go on time. I know that I shouldn’t push an appointment back unless absolutely necessary, and this showed me yet again how true that is. But at least it was only slightly worse than normal and I wasn’t told any exceptionally bad news. I know that one day I’ll have another cavity or need a crown redone, but I’m grateful that wasn’t at this appointment.

I’m planning on going back again in 4 months like I’m supposed to. And I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure I don’t have to reschedule again since I think that makes things worse when they don’t have to be. And maybe if I don’t have a pushed back appointment and if there is no delay when I get to the office, things will be better for me next time.

You Might Also Like

A Boring Visit At The Dentist (or Getting Ready For A Future Bad Appointment) An Outing To The Dentist (or Doubling Up On The Panic) Getting Used To A New Dentist Routine (or This Wasn’t The Appointment I Expected) Another Panicky Dentist Appointment (or I Don’t Like Unexpected Moments) Feeling A Bit Less Stressed At The Dentist (or Just Having Normal Panic) Less Panic At The Dentist (or Am I Finally Over This?)

There are a lot of things that everyone has been putting off for the past year. I’m guilty of this too. There are doctor appointments that I should have scheduled last year that I didn’t do. None of them were urgent and my doctors were ok with me putting things off. Eventually, I’ll start working on scheduling those again but I’m still being cautious about where I go and what I do. So unless I need to get to the doctor for some reason, I’m waiting just a little longer.

When the pandemic started last year, any appointments I had scheduled were canceled. That included the dentist. And they said they would let me know when things were opening again so I could reschedule. But this was when we all thought this might only take a month or two before life was back to normal. And if I didn’t have an issue with one of my crowns, I know I would have continued to put off dentist appointments. I don’t know how long I would have put them off because I know that I have genetically bad teeth. And I learned when I went in for replacing my crown that waiting as long as I did have some negative effects. I was ok and my teeth are fine, but it was a sign that I need to make sure I continue to go regularly.

And for the most part, I have done that. It is weird going to the dentist right now since there is no way to keep a mask on while they are cleaning your teeth. But I trust my dentists to keep things clean and they are being very cautious about when they schedule patients so that any overlap is minimal. I do appreciate the efforts they have been making to keep things clean and safe, but it’s still been extra stressful whenever I’ve gone in. I knew they were being careful, but there was always a small risk about being somewhere without a mask on if there was another patient there also without a mask (all the staff has masks and shields, so I wasn’t too worried about them).

When I scheduled my most recent dentist appointment, it was when I was leaving after my last appointment. At that time, I was hopeful about getting a vaccine at some point, but I had no idea when it was going to happen so that timing wasn’t something I considered while scheduling it. But once I got my first vaccine and knew when I’d be fully vaccinated, I looked at my schedule and realized my dentist appointment was 3 weeks before I would be fully vaccinated. So I called to reschedule and my dentist agreed that it was a smart decision. 3 weeks wasn’t going to make a huge difference and it would be much safer for me to be there if I was fully vaccinated.

I had my dentist appointment last week and it went as well as I could have hoped. I’m always fearful that I will find out that there is something horribly wrong with my teeth. I know that I do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen, but I can’t always prevent it. That’s why we have to go in for professional cleanings. If we could do enough at home, we’d only be at the dentist when something was really wrong. There were some small issues that were related to waiting an extra 3 weeks before my appointment, but nothing that bad or unexpected.

And even though I will always be a bit panicky at the dentist, it was nice to not have to be panicked about COVID as well. I still felt a bit weird being somewhere without a mask, but I don’t have the same fear that I had before. I know that if I am exposed, I will likely be ok. And I did see some of the cleaning procedures between patients this time, and that made me feel better seeing all the work they did to keep everyone safe. Having one less thing to worry about felt nice and helped me get through my appointment.

And by the time I go back for my next appointment, things will hopefully be even safer. More and more people are being vaccinated each day. We will all still have to take some precautions for a while, but the risk will be decreasing as the vaccinated population increases. And I’m sure some of the safety things they have been doing at the dentist will continue even when they don’t have to do them because they are becoming common practices (such as using hydrogen peroxide as mouthwash to disinfect before a cleaning).

Hopefully, I will only have to panic about the normal things from now on because now I know how much easier it makes things for me.

You Might Also Like

An Outing To The Dentist (or Doubling Up On The Panic) Being More Stressed Than Necessary (or Not The Best Dentist Visit) Less Panic At The Dentist (or Am I Finally Over This?) Another Year Another Dentist Panic (or One Medications Overriding Another) Surprises At The Dentist (or Guess I Have A Few More Appointments) Getting Used To A New Dentist Routine (or This Wasn’t The Appointment I Expected)

So many people have been putting off things during the pandemic. I’m guilty of that for sure. There are some doctor appointments that I typically do at the end of summer or beginning of fall that I haven’t done yet. Right now, I want to try to avoid going to the hospital if I can. But I also know that putting things off can make any issues worse. People who are putting off their mammograms might not catch breast cancer at the earliest stage. People who are putting off care for on-going conditions might find things getting worse. I’m not putting off anything that is urgent (for example, I was supposed to go to the dermatologist for an annual mole check, but I also haven’t been going outside much this year), but I also know that I can’t put things off forever.

That’s kind of what happened with the dentist. Earlier this year, I was supposed to go in for my cleaning. I have shared several times that I have genetically bad teeth. I can do everything right, but things can still go wrong. I initially put off the appointment because they were closed for everything except emergencies, and my cleaning wasn’t an emergency. When they reopened, I wanted to see how the cases were going before making an appointment (since you can’t wear a mask at the dentist), but then I ended up having an emergency with my crown. So I went in for that to be fixed as well as my cleaning, and I found out things were worse than they normally were for me because I waited a few months for the appointment. It’s not necessarily my fault, but it’s a sign of why I need to keep up with my cleanings on the schedule that I normally have.

So after that last cleaning and major work, I made sure I set up my next cleaning appointment and I told myself I had to keep that appointment unless something really crazy happened. And that appointment was yesterday and I went. When I originally set that appointment, I was hoping I’d be back at work by now. But since I’m not, I was able to change my appointment time to be a bit earlier. That was better for me so there was less time that I was worried about stuff before I went in.

But my panic attacks about the dentist came back yesterday morning. I was a bit surprised by how bad it was. I wasn’t going to cancel the appointment, but I knew things were not going to be easy for me. I was trying to think through why I was so panicked, and I realized that I probably was experiencing my normal panic about the dentist and then had the panic about being somewhere without a mask on top of that. I know my dentist is cleaning their office really well between patients and they are keeping it limited to 1 patient at a time. But it’s still hard to feel calm about being somewhere without a mask right now, especially when there is no distance between me and the dentist (who was in a mask and a face shield). And as soon as I saw the dental chair, things got even worse for me.

The dentist knows how hard being there is for me and she was very patient with me and tried to keep me calm. I asked her to do things a bit out of order and check my teeth for any major issues before anything else because I know that will help bring my panic down. I’m grateful that she did that and she was able to tell me that there was nothing wrong with my teeth or any of my previous dental work and that this would just be a regular cleaning and that’s it.

Things went as well as I could have hoped except for one part of the cleaning. Normally, they use an ultrasonic cleaner to do some of the scraping work. That makes it go by so much faster and it’s much easier on me. You don’t feel the same tugging on your teeth with that cleaner and in my head, it’s less stressful on my teeth (I have no clue if that’s true or not). But because 0f the way that cleaner works, it can create an aerosol mist/spray that might have some saliva in it. So it’s not safe right now to use that. So the dentist had to use the regular scraper, which I hate and I ended up needing a few breaks during the cleaning to get my breathing back under control.

I’m sure I sound super dramatic about this all, but it’s hard when you know you have to go somewhere that makes you so nervous and panicky. But I know I have to do this in order to not make things worse for me. And in under an hour, I was done with the appointment with clean teeth and no more feeling of doom and dread.

My next dentist appointment is in 4 months, which is my normal schedule. Again, I’m hoping that maybe things will be a bit more normal by then, but I’m also realistic that it might be just like it is now. Hopefully when I go in, I’ll be a bit more prepared for both the dentist and being without a mask. But if not, I will just have to keep reminding myself that I will be ok and that it’s a minor blip in my day that will be done quickly.

You Might Also Like

Surviving At The Dentist (or When Will I Grow Out Of My Fear) Less Panic At The Dentist (or Am I Finally Over This?) Surviving The Dentist (or Testing My Panic Meds) Another Year Another Dentist Panic (or One Medications Overriding Another) More Prepared Than Necessary (or Splitting Up Dentist Appointments) Being More Stressed Than Necessary (or Not The Best Dentist Visit)