I had a tooth that really started hurting me. I am not that fond of the dentist. Translate that as terrified. But, it eventually hurt so much that I went in. The dentist said that it was infected and then gave me ten days of amoxicillin. It’s been a month and that tooth still does not hurt. Do I still have to have this tooth pulled?
Alana
Dear Alana,
First, let me assure you that you are not alone in your fear of the dentist. About half of all Americans admit to a dental fear. The number is probably larger than that because not everyone is honest in those type of polls.
Second, let me assure you that there is a way for you to get both anxiety-free and pain-free dental care. I say that because I don’t want you to end in this position again. We’ll go over the magic solution in a bit. I want to address your infected tooth before that because it is so important.
While it is great that the tooth is still not hurting you right now the pain will return, and the infection is continuing to do damage even now. Tooth infections are serious. People still die from leaving them untreated. There are only two ways to deal with infected teeth.
The first is for the dentist to physically go in there and remove the infected pulp. This is done by a root canal treatment. This is the ideal solution because you won’t have to replace the tooth completly and can preserve some natural tooth structure.
The second way is with a tooth extraction. This will mean you will need a tooth replacement.
When fear is a huge factor, the tendency is to try and ignore the problem. But, the infection will continue to spread and move to other parts of your body. You don’t want it to reach your heart, lungs, or brain, all of which are close to your jaw.
I’d like you to see a sedation dentist to have this treated. They can give you a medication that is strong enough to allow you to sleep through your dental procedure if you’d like to. People who’ve lived a lifetime with dental fear have found sedation dental care to be life changing.
This blog is brought to you by compassionate dentists in Lafayette, LA Drs. Foreman and Thimmesch.