If You Are Not a Fan of Dental Visits….

If you are not a fan of dental visits, you will understand this. In January, Brother had an appointment to get a cavity filled (his first one ever). He had the flu at that time, and the visit had to be rescheduled (bummer). The next available appointment was six months later (seriously?).

The new date came. Brother flipped out on the dentist and almost ended up with a needle in his eye! The dentist sent us to my dentist, who could prescribe a sedative for the visit. Of course, First is the consultation, then the appointment is scheduled for two or three weeks later. That appointment came- Brother flipped out. The dentist sent us to another dentist who might use a different medication for sedation.

Now comes the consultation, and an appointment scheduled for one month later.

The much awaited appointment was this morning! Brother took the sedative in the office, and it actually made him incredibly drowsy. He was taken to the back…the place where the magic of dentistry happens. Half an hour later, the dental assistant called me to the back. Brother had flipped out while they were trying to take an x-ray. He sat up, started crying, and dissociated. They had been trying to get him out of that state for most of the time they had been in the Magic dentist land. They could not continue.

The next step was to schedule yet another appointment, this time for complete IV sedation in a hospital while the dental work is done. That appointment will be in two months.

I have never experienced this much difficulty with dentistry. I guess the dentists feel the need to try the less involved methods of sedation before getting to this point. At this point, I hope that there is no question for future dental work. Dragging it out over most of a year is a lot, and a tooth that started out with a small spot, is now a big spot of decay.

I did a small bit of research on dentistry for people who have mental illness. Full IV sedation seems to be the standard practice needed in order to treat many patients from this population. Many do not seek dental care unless they are in extreme pain. I don’t think I really understood this until this experience with Brother.

~AoA