Throwback Thursday: Dental experience from the past #TBT

[#1]

It's Thursday!

I had horrible teeth and bad candy eating habit growing up. As a result, I had to go to the family dentist quite a bit. The thing is, this was in the early 80's, when the technology was not as fancy as today. Neither was the attitude and approach. My dentist was this older guys with big, chubby fingers. I hated going to the dentist. Often, my mom would bribe me to go... I know, so bad!

Soooo, what are some dental experience from the past? (hope this won't  be a horrible trip down memory lane...)

Let’s make it a great Thursday!

KGM

[Ram Kumar Aravindakshan _Adaptavist_]

Thus far, I haven't had any bad experiences with my dentist.

The only uncomfortable part is when they do the scaling, and I usually get a chilly feeling between my teeth.. mainly due to sensitivity.

[Amanda Barber]

It would be funny if your mom bribed you with...candy! :) 

My worst dental memory isn't really from the dentist himself, but with the reason I went. When I was little, I got my two front teeth knocked out. They tried to save them, but couldn't so I was without my two front teeth for a few years. I sang all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth for years... Ha!

[Andy Gladstone]

When I think about dental visits during my pediatric years my memory always floats back to the large prize chest our dentist had outside of his office. It was an oversized jack-o-lantern pumpkin - with bad teeth of course! Opening that treasure trove to pick a prize would always have my mother yelling and my brothers and me to 'just pick something already so we can go home!". 

I really miss being able to find happiness in a $0.25 toy.

[Rae Foote]

The only memory that comes to mind is me actually falling into a fit of giggles one time they gave me "laughing gas." Probably a placebo, but it must have been something to witness - a young girl just maniacally laughing and then passing out! 

[Dan Breyen]

Anybody drive 3 hours to go to the dentist?

We had a family friend who was a dentist.  It just happened that his practice was a 3 hour drive.  So when it was time to go to the dentist, my family would all pack in the car and drive the 3 hours, and then everyone had their dentist appointment.  We'd pretty much take over the waiting room of his practice while the rest were in the chair for their cleanings, fluoride, fillings, and all the other fun things that happen in the office.  The neat thing was there was a really old dentist chair with a manual hydraulic system to raise and lower the chair that would entertain us for at least a little while.

[NAYANA]

OMG -- horrible -- too horrible to go down the memory lane! I don't think Thursday can be great with this memory.

The last hygienist who cleaned mt teeth was very rough, gave me too much sedative and was not respectful. My teeth alignment was drastically disturbed while deep cleaning that it totally ruined my smile. I am petrified of going back to a dentist. 

This was in 2020 and I have not gone back to a dental clinic due to the phobia. now this post gives me PTSD. I still decided to write about this hoping this helps get this out of my system slowly and surely to the point where I can start to go to a dentist sometime in the future for cleanups.

[Barbara Szczesniak]

@Andy Gladstone I also remember picking a treasure at the end of the appointment. My 5 brothers and sisters and I learned early on not to select a whistle—my mom would walk out of the dentist office, drop the whistle on the ground, and crush it under her heel! I don't think we had any toys that made noise when we were little.

My dentist horror story comes from 4 months ago when I had a root canal. They told me ahead of time that I would be back to work in 2 hours (ha ha ha). When they got in, they found that the tooth had 2 roots. It ended up taking 5 hours; they had to give me more anesthesia 4 times; and I ended up not being able to chew on that side without pain for 10 days. 

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

@NAYANA I am so, so, very sorry!

[Summer Hogan]

@Kristján Geir Mathiesen you always come up with such great questions/topics! Love it! 

Does it count that all my memories of going to the dentist are bad? I absolutely hate dentists! So I'll pass on brining any of the memories to the forefront of my brain today. I will say though I remember those big chests too @Andy Gladstone so that brought back a good memory for me! 

[Laurie Sciutti]

@Amanda Barber ~ I was gonna ask if his Mom bribed him with candy.  🍬🍭🍫 😆 Sorry @Kristján Geir Mathiesen that memories to the dentist aren't fond ~ but are they really for anyone?

My bad memory isn't so much about bad teeth...my vanity got the best of me one year and I decided I wanted to get them whitened.  For anyone that's ever gone through this, the process at that time was to get you fitted for mouth trays.  To do this, the dental assistant would put that putty crap in a mouth tray to take an impression of your teeth.  Well, this particular one put WAY too much putty in the tray and crammed it into my mouth.  It should be noted that my chair was rolled all the way back so I was lying flat (why did they think that was a good idea??).  Needless to say, the putty rolled down my throat causing me to gag horribly.  Almost threw up.  Oops ~ let's try that again.  No modifications, just the same approach.  Choked.  Couldn't breathe.  Decided I don't need my teeth whitened that badly.  To this day, I have a PTSD-response any time I go to the dentist.  It's no fun.

Anywho....have a great Thursday everyone!  Hopefully no one is visiting the dentist today!  😉😜

[Ram Kumar Aravindakshan _Adaptavist_]

[Ankush Bora]

I have 2 of those to share. I have had 2 RCT (Root Canal Treatment) done for me quite early in high school with 2 separate dentists. During those days, the RCT used to be done over 4 days in 4 separate sessions and one used get the final capping done on the 5th day.

However, few years back, I got to know that both those earlier dentists had done a 'shoddy job' and I had to get rid of one of the RCT treated tooth (infection) and other got a 'refurbish' (job not so well done).

Now that I think I wonder how both of those teeth lasted the time they did! :)

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

Hahaha, my mom usually bribed me with toys, not candy. At least as far as I can remember.

@Laurie Sciutti  @Amanda Barber 

Thanks everyone for sharing. Sorry if it was a bit painful...

[Trudy Claspill]

@Kristján Geir Mathiesen 

I want to like your post, but it is making me cringe!

In the 70's I lived in a rural community where the water wasn't fluoridated and my parents were not strong advocates on dental hygiene, so I also ended up at the dentist routinely to get cavities fixed. I had two particularly horrible experiences.

Because I had to have several fillings over a short time span, I developed a tolerance for novocain. During one grueling visit I told the dentist it had worn off, but he refused to give me another shot and just continued to work.

Another time I had a cavity in between my front teeth filled. the novocain injection was done between my upper lip and gum, and he did it quickly. It felt like the needle was penetrating straight up into my brain.

I have been a dental coward ever since. And I've developed a lot of sensitivity in my teeth. Now, just for me to endure a cleaning they have to apply a topical anesthetic to my gums.

[Alexandre Machado]

I had my wisdom teeth removed when I was 21. It was not too bad, but I had some swelling and bleeding afterwards. I ate a lot of ice cream and soup for a few days.

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

Liking this post made me experience cognitive dissonance 😀

I have had dental issues my entire life (and still have, even after finishing a 2.5-year braces treatment and a few minor operations), and I am honestly tired of this never-ending experience.

Maybe not the worst, but the funniest experience was when I had a tooth removal appointment (part of my braces treatment plan) in between work meetings. I was still working in the office, so I told my team, "I have a quick appointment and will return soon. Don't start without me!"

I went to the dentist, got my tooth pulled up, and returned to the office relatively sedated (ready for a boring meeting, right?!), asking the office assistant whether I could get a bag of ice 😆

Living with this curse for my entire life at least taught me to embrace the struggle instead of running away (and thus make it worse).

[Ram Kumar Aravindakshan _Adaptavist_]

Definitely not this traumatic:-

[Dave Mathijs]

I remember having a heavy abscess after my wisdom teeth were removed, that was not a pleasant experience.

And well ... braces, they were the subject of bullying in my early teens.

[Ananjan_Mishra]

Hey everyone!

Jumping into this post a bit late, but I couldn't resist sharing my dental tale. Over the course of three years, I had monthly visits due to braces, and my dentist always mentioned how unique my teeth structure was. Despite some days feeling a bit challenging, I'm grateful that I never had any bad experiences with my dentist. Now that I no longer have to schedule dental appointments, looking back on those times brings a sense of relief and satisfaction. 

Thanks to @Kristján Geir Mathiesen for sparking this trip down memory lane and reminiscing about my dental roller coaster journey!

[Ram Kumar Aravindakshan _Adaptavist_]

[Jayant Bhawal]

A few years ago I was at the dentist for a wisdom tooth extraction.
That was the first time I experienced dental anaesthesia.

My face felt like it was... not there. It was... great! :D

It only lasted like 30 minutes. 🤷‍♂️

[Malka Jackson [Isos Technology]]

I have ADHD and take Adderall for it. Both of these have lidocaine ineffectiveness issues. Every time I need dental work, it is a joke between my dentist and myself on how many injections it will take to get me numb and how long I will stay numb for. We have tried different numbing agents, but it is always the same result. Multiple shots, several minutes of waiting and then checking in to see if it worked, then another shot, several minutes of waiting and then another and so on. Usually by the third or fourth shot we can get started. 

The good news is that I have learned a lot about breathing exercises that help with pain. I can usually breath my way through the end of the session when it starts to wear off. I learned that little trick when I woke up during my amputation and they wouldn't put me back under because "The Dr is almost finished." so we just did breathing exercises for the last 15 minutes of my amputation.  

[ABR]

My experience with dentists has been long due to my poor baby daughter suffering from infant caries since two years old. Today she's 19 and has a beautiful set of sparklies, but her entire teenage was in the grasp of dental braces and related issues.

We made the mistake of allowing her to go lazy on her early dental routine as we didn't want her to develop a phobia of brushing since she seemed to hate brushing no matter how many times we changed brushes or toothpastes. This lazy attitude along with her genetic pre-disposition for dental issues, developed a serious case of dental caries. She lost all her milk tooth very early and her then dentist did what he could to save her baby gums. But there were still the issue of healthy permanent tooth coming out.

A close friend of mine, a reputed doctor himself, suggested a wonderful orthodontist (the very best in Eastern India, one of the top in India as a whole). It was under the expert care of Dr. Anshuman Bhattacharya, my daughter got her beautiful smile back after a long treatment of 3 years! Not only was her caries taken care of  for good - her impacted canines were also set out perfectly without surgery! We are eternally grateful to the celebrated doctor and his wonderful team! Now the entire family is under his scalpel for good!

Thanks for reading the long post! Couldn't help but take the cathartic opportunity!

[vikram]

I had bad experience with my family dentist as I am bad eater of sweets, so I had bad teeth to remove and bridge my teeth, when the dentist removed my teeth and while bridging my teeth I had very bad experience could not express the felling I had.

Vikram P

[Josh Shepherd]

I remember bits and bobs from getting my wisdom teeth pulled. I was knocked unconscious and the memory is blurry with bits standing out of coming home. The narcotics were the worst - unable to think.