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To hell the Dentist's chair.

Graven ImageGraven Image Shipmate
in Hell
I don't mind going to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned or filled, but sitting in that chair is hell. It makes the small of my back hurt, as well as my neck, when stretched back. I have asked him not to quickly raise the chair when I am done, as it can cause my back to pop and hurt even more. He said he can not raise it slowly, as it is electric and does its own thing. I asked him not to raise it and to let me climb out myself, not easy, but I did it. I need to find an elderly dentist with a nice old hand pump and a self-adjusting chair. I am guessing that they are all dead.

Comments

  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    What chair? ;^) Maybe that's the effect of the nitrous oxide I get during dental procedures.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Lucky you. My dentist only brings on pain relief - by injection - for actual fillings. All the hoking and scraping and sanding is in Full Consciousness.
  • LouiseLouise Epiphanies Host
    edited August 19
    It's worth thinking about sensory differences Firenze- I have them because of my ND wiring. I hadn't connected them at first to my dental phobia because I was late diagnosed - then it suddenly dawned on me why solving my problems with the dental injections (there's a clever device called the wand which gets rid of the worst of them) hadn't worked, and why I was now more phobic about the hygienists - the sensations from the new water scaling pik thing were overloading me and freaking me out.

    For big time dental work I couple sedation ( a couple of sedatives prescribed to me to be taken beforehand) with the easier dental injections.

    For the hygienists, I'm going to explore a new apparently less awful procedure and if that doesn't work I'll have to look at getting a prescription to endure that.

    I suggest taking sensory discomfort seriously (and change dentist if they won't) - it can be just as bad as pain in some ways.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    I probably have a high tolerance for pain/discomfort. I can self-administer acupuncture (admittedly because the needles were preferable to the headaches).

    And going to the opposite end, as it were, I didn't feel the need of any of the options offered during a colonoscopy.
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    I get nitrous oxide because I have a gag reflex that would choke an elephant.
  • finelinefineline Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    I go to a dental practice that specialises in treating people with developmental disorders and sensory needs. I had been avoiding the dentist for a long time because dentists aren't patient with the way I react and it really terrified me. Then I discovered this dental practice and I was referred there a few years ago, and it's much better, except this year they have switched me to a different dentist because the one I was seeing, who is brilliant, is now only seeing more complex patients. I think one reason I wasn't a complex patient when I was seeing her was that she understood and anticipated my needs. Then I got a new dentist who was impatient with me and I have become very scared of the dentist again. I have tried to ask to have my old dentist again, and they say I can't, but they are looking to switch me to someone else. It has been a huge source of stress for me all year. They also don't let you use mouth wash and spit into the sink any more, since covid, so if they don't get all the water with their suction thing, you have to swallow it, and I really hate this.
  • Lamb ChoppedLamb Chopped Shipmate
    Can you bring a thermos?
  • LouiseLouise Epiphanies Host
    That sounds awful fineline. It's a classic mistake on their part too - it's working so we'll stop it!
  • finelinefineline Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    No, they just don't let you spit at all - not into a cup or anything - because of germs.
  • Graven ImageGraven Image Shipmate
    Caissa wrote: »
    I get nitrous oxide because I have a gag reflex that would choke an elephant.

    I did when they try and take x-rays of my back teeth. I found by raising one leg and pinching myself I can get through it.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    fineline wrote: »
    No, they just don't let you spit at all - not into a cup or anything - because of germs.

    That's bizarre. I swill and spit at the dentist. He/she (dentist/hygienist) wear masks I think but the practice has dropped stuff like scanning for symptoms and insisting on hand hygiene.

  • North East QuineNorth East Quine Purgatory Host
    fineline wrote: »
    No, they just don't let you spit at all - not into a cup or anything - because of germs.

    Rinse and spit into the wee sink is still a thing at the dentist I go to.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    I don't have a problem with the dentist. She uses injections when needed and they are painless too.

    The hygienist is a torturer! I have to see her every three months. (Very old implants which need care and attention)
  • HarryCHHarryCH Shipmate
    I usually find that the chair is quite comfortable.
  • Graven ImageGraven Image Shipmate
    @HarryCH , Yes, this is the first one in many years that seems to be painful.
  • ArielAriel Shipmate
    My NHS dentist uses a chair that reclines to the point where I'm pretty much flat on my back. I haven't been too bothered by the treatment until I had three fillings last month and suddenly I was struggling to breathe and having to stop the treatment, sit up and gasp for breath (like an asthma attack I suppose). I emerged literally shaking, and catching sight of myself in a mirror I looked as if I'd been through some kind of emotional shock. No idea why that happened when I've been going there for years without problems, but don't think I shall have three fillings done in one go again in future. The injections were not painless.

    I never have the hygienist. They charge £85 for the privilege at my clinic and I think this must be private - you used to be able to get your teeth cleaned and all that on the NHS.
  • Lamb ChoppedLamb Chopped Shipmate
    I would tend to wonder if you weren't having a physical reaction to something in the injections. You might have gotten over your limit, so to speak.
  • finelinefineline Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Ariel wrote: »
    My NHS dentist uses a chair that reclines to the point where I'm pretty much flat on my back. I haven't been too bothered by the treatment until I had three fillings last month and suddenly I was struggling to breathe and having to stop the treatment, sit up and gasp for breath (like an asthma attack I suppose). I emerged literally shaking, and catching sight of myself in a mirror I looked as if I'd been through some kind of emotional shock. No idea why that happened when I've been going there for years without problems, but don't think I shall have three fillings done in one go again in future. The injections were not painless.

    I get this in the night sometimes if I sleep on my back, and it's a reason why it's quite scary for me that the dental practice I go to doesn't let us spit any more. Saliva can go down into your airway (and especially if you have EDS, which I do, but I wonder if local anaesthesia also has an affect, such as if you can't feel what your throat is doing). I stay quite alert to it at the dentist and sit up quickly if I need to. You can arrange to make a hand signal if you need to sit up.

    You can ask the dentist not to recline the chair fully though - that will reduce the likelihood of it happening again. Mine is also NHS, and they don't recline it fully for me. They have different levels of reclining, because of different people having different health conditions.
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