Horrible Dentist Experience - Rant

Monday I got a tooth pulled. The tooth was not hurting but had broken. As Easter is fast getting here I couldn't take a couple days to recuperate. Anyway, to calm my nerves, the dentist gave me a script for valium. (I've never had it before and was scared about taking it). The tooth pulling experience itself wasn't bad. My mom drove me home, helped me feed my animals, and I went to sleep. I woke at 9 pm, in horrible pain. I took something for the pain. It did nothing.

The pain kept me up the rest of the night or at least until 4 am when I finally got back to sleep. I got up took care of the animals, went to work. I went over to the dentists's office, told them what had happened and that I wanted something to help me sleep, since sleep had eluded me. They said I could take a valium to help me sleep. And that sometimes pain medicine will get you out of pain but then keep you awake. I said but I am not out of pain, the pain is keeping me awake.

The bad part was that they called and asked my mom how I was doing and she said fine, all things considering. They disregarded the "all things considering." I said Mom, you know I'm miserable, why did you say that. They'll dsregard everything I say now.

The scary valium Didn't work to help me sleep. I ended up being up the better part of the night. Had I felt even a wee bit better I'd have made candy. So I ended up sitting on a bench outside my shop crying. Around 4 am, I was exhausted enough to sleep. I was afraid to take anything with that pill.

I went back to the dentist's and begged for something to help me sleep. They said to get Advil PM. I said. On a scale of 1 - 10, my pain is at a 7 the pain med brings it to a 5, I don't think its strong enough and besides I am not able to sleep for the pain. I said maybe there is some other reason for the pain, like another tooth is hurting or something, or maybe I need antibiotics. Request denied.

I did get some sleep last night - about 6 hours. So in the past 72 hours, I've had about 10-12 hours of sleep. So today, I asked for something to help with the pain for Thursday (today) and Friday.

This witch comes from the dentist's office and says that I should take advil and tylenol PM at night. I said that you just said the opposite of what the other girl said, that she said not to take Tylenol PM, but Advil PM. I said besides I get a lot of relief from this herbal medicine that has bromelain in it but that bromelain is a blood thinner. She yelled at me not to have gauze in my mouth, which I haven't for 2 days. But had said that the cut was bleeding still. And that sinceshe had not heard of this herbal medicine (which I got from my osteopath as an anti-inflammatory herb, really helps with swelling too) that I should not take that eithr (I told her I got it from a health food store) I said that I have not heard of someone taking pain meds as their moring coffee. She said my husband does everyday. He can drive 12 states on percocet.

Then the witch, Kelly, says "Everything that you are going through is self-inflicted." I said "everything is not my fault. I would have preferred to do this after Easter when I could take a day off. I have orders to get out. You have no idea what I am going through." She said "yes I do - it was a simple extraction and the only reason that it hurts is because you smoke." I said it hurts because it hurts. It hurts more than you think it should, And it is not my fault. If it didn't hurt, I'd have been able to sleep. I began to cry.

I pretty much cried the rest of the day. I went over to my Grandmamas and cried on her shoulder. But when I went back to work, her words haunted me and all I could think of all the things that I had thought of when being awake and hoping for sleep, like how much I miss my Dad, about my hens that predators got.

Then the first girl, the receptionist came in and brought me a script for antibiotics. (asked for those yesterday). She said the dentist said to just take advil and advil PM. I said but this stuff helps me pointing to the herbal stuff - my osteopath gave it to me. She said Oh, well then in that case its ok. They do not get the name of my osteopath, not their business.

I have been seeing this dentist for 20 years. Now I want a different dentist.

OK yes I smoke, but I always cut way down when I have something done medically.

Anyways, just needed to vent.

Oh man! I'm so sorry. That must totally stink! I hope that you feel better soon!

How awful! I am blessed to now have a very caring orthopedist - the one I used to see sounds like your "witch" one.

HOPE YOU FEEL BETTER SOON

Good luck. You have to be careful with a lot of herbs because they will and do interact with other drugs that you can take, and can stay in your body for extended periods of time depending on what it is. In addition alot of herbal supplements contain other compounds that are uncharacterized if they are not FDA approved. Even eating a grapefruit will suppress cytochrome p450 and can cause overdoses in some medicines that are designed with first pass metabolism in mind.

I say just go with a regular over the counter and be done with the dentist for now. You can do it! Unless you have an infection, I wouldn't take that antibiotic unless they and you think the pain is an infection. If it is, take the antibiotic and be sure to finish it. Missing the last day or so can allow a relapse which you can't fight off with antibiotics due to resistance.

Next time you get a drug and are scared to take it, you can do a google search on it. You should be able to find the data sheet on it and read about possible side effects and possible drug interactions. I have a friend who had valium prescribed for them and they ended up throwing up because it made them sick.

Hope you feel better soon. Dental work is NO fun at all.

I hope you get better soon. I am so sorry they treated you that way! I HATE the dentist! But I know I have to go to keep from having problems that would make me have to go and have something horrible done!

I had a similar problem when I had a wisdom tooth out and I had what they called dry socket.

www.atlantadentist.com/tooth_extraction_dry_socket.html

Its common when you smoke, they say your mouth will have an odor, my bf finially said yes your mouth stinks.

Check out the link and just me but I would see another dentist.

Wow, I'm really surprised that the valium didn't help you. I shattered one of my vertebrae when my first baby was 4 months old. Here I was, brand new Mom, wrapped up in a plastic/metal brace from my neck to my hips, and I couldn't even pick up the baby until the bone fused.

I was pretty convinced that baby's life was over. Suddenly Mom wouldn't pick her up when she cried or needed to be fed. Suddenly refusing to nurse her. I was sure I had ruined that baby forever. I cried for weeks.

After I started getting muscle spasms at the fracture site, they gave me valium. My whole outlook changed, suddenly I could do this. Only 2 months in the brace, that's not long, right? Grandma and a constant stream of Aunties were giving that baby more love than she could handle. And hey! She learned to drink from a sippy cup overnight! She must be brilliant!

Valium is IMHO a wonderful drug for adjusting your attitude. Sorry it didn't work for you. Everyone is different I guess.

You'll get through this. (And then find a new dentist! That one sounds pretty awful!)

An extraction and they didn't give you Vicodin? No wonder you're in pain. I'd be screaming, they'd have to carry my butt out of there and into the ER.

-Some painkillers are indeed formulated with caffeine deliberately to counteract the otherwise sleep-inducing side effects. Others are formulated without and say on the label or package insert that they tend to make you sleepy. Unfortunately there's a nursing shortage, so even the stupid and bad nurses, the ones who barely passed their licensing exams on the 10th try, still find work.

-Lots of docs and dentists are downright bad at pain management. They are permanently terrified of being visited by the DEA or sued for being linked to some illicit pharmaceutical distribution ring. So they refuse to give adequate pain management when it is warranted. There have been many cases documented in NEJoM and JAMA of doctors refusing terminal cancer patients morphine because they are scared the DEA or the family will accuse them of making their patients into junkies. Their apparent reasoning is, "pain never killed anyone, but ODs certainly do" therefore they let people suffer.

Personally I find it barbaric, but that seems to be modern life, unfortunately. Do you have a family doc you can call? Explain that your dentist is not treating you, keeps referring you to his nurse who blows you off, you have had an extraction and are in a lot of pain, are concerned about infection etc. Even a simple extraction should probably have a dose of antibiotics and Vicodin or Darvocet. Your mouth is full of cooties, and you are more at risk of a dry socket if you smoke--these can be very painful for several days, and regardless of whether "you caused it yourself" or whether it just happened because Fate picked you to suffer, they still hurt like a bugger and need to be treated ASAP! They are no joke.

If this dentist is not listening to you or doesn't want to be bothered, please call your regular doc. They can give you some pain medicine and look for a dry socket or infection, and they can also read your lame dentist the riot act if he screwed up.

The worst part was they acted like all I wanted was the pain medicine. Not so, in fact, 3 years ago I had a root canal and he gave me something for the pain and it was so strong that I broke it in half and told him that, since they do that in 2 parts. I would think that they would value honesty.

I don't think my questions and concerns even reached the dentist.

My mom said that she feels bad that she told them what she did. She said she knew I couldn't sleep on account of the pain. And after I took that stupid valium, I was afraid to take anything else for a while just figured that eventually I'd get sleepy. No, the valium was fine for the extracation part, just not to help with the sleeping.

My chicks brooder is upstairs from the dentist's office and I take my chicks out one at a time when I need a break and we go for a walk. I feel like walking by the witch's car since my chick usually has to go potty at some pont along the walk. I'll just park my car next to hers. Muahahaha

Or maybe I'll take everyone in there something nice except for her. Put their names on it and say don't give her any. But they don't deserve candy.

She didn't need to be ugly to me. And when you've had no rest and are exhausted, she just set me off and tears and contacts don't mix well.

I did call my regular doc, and told her and she got me something for the pain and antibiotics are free at publix and I got those.

THanks so much to every body here, nice to get hugs when somebody's a blue meanie to you.

And I cried even more when my grandmama said she'd always be here for me, she's 100. She turned into a mama hen when I told her the story. She was ready to go over to work with me for comfort.