Anxious over tooth infection

[AtomicCookie]

Hey there everyone! Before I even begin, I just wanted to say I barely joined the forums after years of being a guest and reading up on other threads. I liked how supportive people were to one another here, So I decided to join. :)

I will try not to ramble, but my main concern has been a toothache I have been having for some time now. I made a dentist appt for 7 am this coming Tuesday and am actually looking forward to it. The tooth was cracked a while back and has since developed a bit of a cavity. I had gone to a dentist about a year ago who proceeded to clean it out a bit and then put a putty like substance that hardened over it so as to keep it clean for a month before I could get the root canal and crown.

Well the office ended up closing down before I was able to go in (To be fair he really wasn't too professional..kept saying how he couldn't wait to be off since I was his last patient and was yawning literally in my face and stretching), and I have had that filling that was suppose to last a month in my mouth for a year. Why didn't I go to the dentist sooner? Well it wasn't ever hurting do I forgot all about it.

Now I am not so much afraid of the dentist. The shots will only sting for a moment and it will then be numb. Maybe they decide to drill it, but that's ok because I won't feel a thing and it will be fixing the issue. No my anxiety does not come from the dentist visit...it comes more from the fact that I think my symptoms are worse than they are.

I have been taking 600 mg of ibuprofen every 6-8 hours and it makes the pain almost non-existent. Yet I keep worrying that there is a abcess (sp?) And that the infection is spreading throughout my jaw. Sometimes the pain suddenly comes on, and I panic a bit on the inside. I keep thinking it is going to spread to my brain or worse.

Funny thing is, I worry about these things even though I know it is just my mind getting the better of me. I have seen people with black stumps for molars, and people with pain so bad they are crying and ibuprofen does not help them. Yet they all survive and get treatment. I have seen people with half their face swollen and high leveled fevers who complained of bad tastes in their mouth cause of a infection..yet they too did just fine in the end once they got treated. Heh, see why I am looking forward to my visit?

Yes, I have bad pain now and then and a numb tongue (probably from poking my tooth with it too much), and a rather sour taste...but nothing as bad as any of the above. Plus I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed at the same time, and there is no way this tooth infection thing is as bad as that. The wisdom tooth thing was not even that bad!

I guess in the end I just kinda wanted to vent, and maybe hear from people who have experienced something similar to this in the past? Like I said...I'll probably be all better after my visit with the dentist and will look back on this knowing I worried too much over nothing.

P.S: I use to worry alot about my health...like more than I do now. I am on a small dose of Setraline (50mg a day) and it's been more than enough. I forgot to take my medication for like 3 days (so bad I know) so maybe that is why my anxiety caught up with me? Currently back on track :).

[artist12]

Hey there! First, welcome "officially" to the forum - I was also a lurker for some time before I started actively posting and it's very nice to have some place to go where people know exactly what you're going through and have such kind and supportive things to say.

It's great that you have an appointment - I personally wouldn't be afraid to detail everything you just described here about your past treatments (if they don't have your file already) and make sure you feel comfortable with your new dentist. If you feel comfortable with your dentist try very hard to trust them. Easier said than done, but the best thing you could do to put your mind at ease is to see the dentist, and I might add that you have a very brave mindset about it, kudos to you! (Not saying you have anything to fear but you are allowing yourself to think about what might happen and not freak out about it, and I think that's very awesome because I couldn't do it at this point!)

Best of luck!

[AtomicCookie]

Best of luck!


Thankyou very much for your reply Artist12! I will make sure to let them know about my past experiences with other dentists. I wouldn't say that it has affected my Outlook on them, but if anything it will help them understand why might seem a little unsure about things. I know in the end everything is going to be alright, so I just got to wait until then. :)

[AtomicCookie]

So as a quick update, I just wanted to post about how my visit with the dentist went. My wife was actually able to get me in on a waiting list and it so happened that someone cancelled today, so I was able to go in at 4 this afternoon. In the end they ended up finding that I had a small infection at the base of my tooth along with some tooth decay. I wasn't prescribed antibiotics or pain medication because infection looked very well controlled. He said to just go ahead and ibuprofen if the pain got bad since it was helping. I will be returning in 2 weeks so that they can clean out the nerves and get it taken care of.

Yet unexpectedly, I seem to have come home with a new anxiety. During the examination, he took notice of quite a few lesions and ulcers under my tongue on both sides. I had seen these before in the past and never really thought much of it. Yeah when he asked the nurse to take a few pictures because it looked on to him I couldn't help but jump into a panic. I did ask him if it was something serious and he said that he wasn't sure, that he didn't want to say something and then be wrong. He said he was going to consult is colleagues about it.

I told him to give me an educated guess on what it could be, and if by any chance it could be early signs of some sort of oral disease or even cancer. He went on to describe that if anything it looked benign but just odd in the sense that he had never seen something like this before... Or at least in this pattern. He also stated that the very fact but I have had this for an extended period of time confirms that it is most likely not cancer. He said I could be anything from geographical tongue, to just a fungal infection. He said not to worry about it being serious.

We all know how that goes though... No matter what they say we always end up finding away to worry. So if anyone could like reassure me about this that would be great. Have you perhaps had something like this?

Also if anyone who reads this has actually experienced a serious illness involving either your tongue or mouth... Forgive me if I am blowing things out of proportion. I am not trying to belittle the things you might have gone through.