Ouch!
I haven’t blogged in a long time. I have been meaning to but my head has been hurting a lot that I feel so drained to stay up late and blog. It somehow makes me sad since I wanted to write on my recent trip but got caught up in the heavy load at work and other activities when I got back, then the headaches that came after a visit to the dentist. Yup, the dentist!
I have never really been a lover of dentists, except for Manang Jocelyn (my cousin) but she is so far away to be visiting. I would say trip to the dentists are one of my nightmares and I probably could have been a nightmare of some dentists too! It is not that I am afraid of the grinding or the sounds or even the gadgets or needles or even the procedures (I think my tolerance for pain is quite high) but more on the after effect of the procedures plus the fact that my jaws lock if I open my mouth too long. I need a dentist that works real fast and without letting me open my mouth too wide but had willingly opened my mouth as wide as I could and as long as I can even if I know that my jaws would lock but I had a dentist that panicked because I could not close my mouth for a long time. I was motioning to her to give me some time to relax so I could close it but she was already uncomfortable and only felt relieved after I was able to close my mouth. But that was not even the longest time my jaws locked. In one appointment, I could not close it a really long time even if I was doing the technique I learned to close it (put my thumbs or even any other fingers on my molars then push it downwards then backwards) that I sort of panicked too. I could no longer stay put in my chair so I stood up and started walking around the clinic relaxing, singing tunes in my head, looking from time to time at myself in the mirror (imagining how I would look if I stayed that way), then calming myself again by thinking of nicer thoughts until I finally was able to close my mouth properly. We rested a long while before continuing with the procedure.
But locked jaws is not the main reason why dentists are not in my favorite list. The biggest reason is because I actually experienced the biggest pain from dentists. I mentioned my high tolerance for pain which is true but after having a filling in one of my molars, I experienced tremendous pain that I felt my head was going to explode. There was no pain on the tooth but my head up to my neck was too painful I could not bear it. I tried to keep up as long as I could but the pain was killing me that I finally went to another dentist who just reduced the filling and immediately the pain was gone. She said that the former filling was too high that it put pressure on my nerves every time I bite.
Of course, one bad experience can't stop you from going to a dentist. You have to have your teeth cleaned too and checked but I find that after each visit there would always be a hangover, the longer the procedure the longer the hangover. There would always be a feeling of exhaustion and pain not on the tooth but almost the whole mouth! It takes time to go away but this pain did not go away sooner. It built up and became too much again. Gosh, it was so difficult to be working and doing stuff yet feeling a lingering pain but I was waiting for it to wear off and finally it is starting to wear off. Though the pain is almost gone, this time I went to a jaw, a TMJ (TemporoMandibular Joint) specialist. I know that the pains are somehow related to the jaw and several dentists have commented on my deep bite and the abrasions on my teeth (the fillings get deeper and scraped from my bites but this time I'm considering treatment.
Ouch! that means a lot of visits to the dentist...
Ouch! that means a big dent on my savings...
Ouch! I foresee looking bad in a tooth gadget...
But they say that No pain, no gain...
Argh... I just hope that in my next visit I see more of the GAIN than the pain!
I have never really been a lover of dentists, except for Manang Jocelyn (my cousin) but she is so far away to be visiting. I would say trip to the dentists are one of my nightmares and I probably could have been a nightmare of some dentists too! It is not that I am afraid of the grinding or the sounds or even the gadgets or needles or even the procedures (I think my tolerance for pain is quite high) but more on the after effect of the procedures plus the fact that my jaws lock if I open my mouth too long. I need a dentist that works real fast and without letting me open my mouth too wide but had willingly opened my mouth as wide as I could and as long as I can even if I know that my jaws would lock but I had a dentist that panicked because I could not close my mouth for a long time. I was motioning to her to give me some time to relax so I could close it but she was already uncomfortable and only felt relieved after I was able to close my mouth. But that was not even the longest time my jaws locked. In one appointment, I could not close it a really long time even if I was doing the technique I learned to close it (put my thumbs or even any other fingers on my molars then push it downwards then backwards) that I sort of panicked too. I could no longer stay put in my chair so I stood up and started walking around the clinic relaxing, singing tunes in my head, looking from time to time at myself in the mirror (imagining how I would look if I stayed that way), then calming myself again by thinking of nicer thoughts until I finally was able to close my mouth properly. We rested a long while before continuing with the procedure.
But locked jaws is not the main reason why dentists are not in my favorite list. The biggest reason is because I actually experienced the biggest pain from dentists. I mentioned my high tolerance for pain which is true but after having a filling in one of my molars, I experienced tremendous pain that I felt my head was going to explode. There was no pain on the tooth but my head up to my neck was too painful I could not bear it. I tried to keep up as long as I could but the pain was killing me that I finally went to another dentist who just reduced the filling and immediately the pain was gone. She said that the former filling was too high that it put pressure on my nerves every time I bite.
Of course, one bad experience can't stop you from going to a dentist. You have to have your teeth cleaned too and checked but I find that after each visit there would always be a hangover, the longer the procedure the longer the hangover. There would always be a feeling of exhaustion and pain not on the tooth but almost the whole mouth! It takes time to go away but this pain did not go away sooner. It built up and became too much again. Gosh, it was so difficult to be working and doing stuff yet feeling a lingering pain but I was waiting for it to wear off and finally it is starting to wear off. Though the pain is almost gone, this time I went to a jaw, a TMJ (TemporoMandibular Joint) specialist. I know that the pains are somehow related to the jaw and several dentists have commented on my deep bite and the abrasions on my teeth (the fillings get deeper and scraped from my bites but this time I'm considering treatment.
Ouch! that means a lot of visits to the dentist...
Ouch! that means a big dent on my savings...
Ouch! I foresee looking bad in a tooth gadget...
But they say that No pain, no gain...
Argh... I just hope that in my next visit I see more of the GAIN than the pain!
posted by elizabeth | 11:52 PM
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