I finally went to the dentist for the first time in years and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
If you guys read my recent post about having anxiety about going to the dentist for the first time in years.. you’ll see that I was extremely nervous.
I went to the dentist and had some cavities filled | Dental Health
Beforehand I was able to fill out all of my insurance information in advance through the forms they sent me via text.
Once I pulled up to the dentist, the anxiety hit me so fast.
Then there was the waiting which made me have even more anxiety.
They called my name and I went in to have -rays done.
I had multiple x-rays done. I want to say I had maybe 18 x-rays taken. At some angles the x-ray is kind of painful to be honest. I’m not a fan of having to hold the little piece in my mouth while they take a picture. It was super uncomfortable.
Surprisingly they didn’t ask me too many questions.
For some reason I thought that this visit to the dentist would be similar to my checkups at the doctor’s office, but it wasn’t.
I told the dentist assistant and the dentist that I had a lot of anxiety which they understood.
I ended up needing a decent amount of work done from a lot of cavities to deep cleaning on my entire mouth to 1 root canal.
I was surprised I only needed 1 root canal, but so thankful that it was only one.
I unfortunately found out that root canals were super expensive… like $1500 out of pocket expensive.
However on my way out after my appointment, the financial office assisted me with telling me what dental plan I could switch to on my insurance to be able to potentially not have to pay much or anything for my root canal or deep cleaning.
I appreciated that so much because I definitely don’t have that much money for dental work.
I also appreciated that they gave me a sheet showing what was covered by my insurance, the cost of everything in general, and what I’d need to pay for within my dental work plan that they created for me.
The cavity work.. what does having a cavity filled feel like?
So I have cavities all over my mouth pretty much and it came from mostly drinking juice as well as pop through the years.
They told me it’d be best to get my cavities filled and my deep cleaning done in sessions along with a session for my root canal.
When I went, I was able to get some cavities filled on the bottom row of my mouth.
They numbed me with this gel first in the back of my mouth where the gum part that connected my bottom and top row teeth.
Then they shot me twice with a numbing needle.
It was a standard shot which wasn’t too painful since it was fairly quick.
They let me sit for awhile to let the numbing take affect and eventually the bottom left side of my mouth was numb.
They began working on my mouth by drilling on it and putting the filling in.
I think they did maybe 4-5 fillings today and it only took like 20-30 minutes to have them all done.
The worst part was pretty much having my mouth open for that long a period of time.
When I tell you guys, I did not mind getting my cavities filled at all.
I was so thankful that it didn’t hurt and I actually really liked my dentist. Not going to lie, they did shame me a bit but it was in a playful way where I felt comfortable and could laugh at myself for being afraid.
As far as the numbing..
The numbing medicine wore off after maybe 3 hours. I had the numbing administered to my gums around maybe 4:20 pm. It’s currently 10:15pm and the numbing has pretty much worn off completely.
I do feel a bit of dull achy pain as I’m writing this right now. I can’t tell if the pain is from where the shots were given or if it’s the cavity fillings to be honest.
Update: It’s Friday..
It’s the next day.. 9am and I have no pain.
My fillings feel kind of weird like I have something in my mouth. I feel kind of concerned about grinding my teeth, but other than that my mouth feels fine.
Update: It’s Wednesday…
My teeth feel normal. I ate some spicy food yesterday and I didn’t have any aching. Having my cavities filled really changed the way my teeth and gums react to spicy food. I feel completely fine now.
Overall, my experience with going to the dentist was pretty nice.
I’m dreading having to get a root canal and also dreading the deep cleaning. I honestly feel like those will be painful, but if the numbing feels the same or if it’s a bit stronger… it might not be so bad to be honest.
