Pain, Much Pain

I do not like dentists. Dentists, I do not like you.

OK, enough Dr Seuss........

I am terrified of the dentist.
After atrocious treatment as a teenager, I have spent the rest of my life in fear of dentists in general and the treatment they dish out.
I have broken one dental nurse's fingers (when she foolishly offered to hold my hand during a root canal), one dentist actually knelt on my chest to stop me trying to leave the chair, I have bitten dentists and I suffer terrible panic attacks with heart palpitations. Gas and Air is not now allowed in the UK, instead Valium is used as a sedative. I can't take Valium, it makes me suicidal. So I am restricted to Beta-Blockers to reduce the panic attacks and heart palpitations.
I have a bear that comes with me to all my dental treatment, even just check-ups. His name is Albert and the poor fella really gets the stuffing pulled out of him when I have any work done.
My current dentist has learnt the hard way to do the work as quickly as possible, and not to stop unless I actually grab him (which I have done in the past!).

So, I was horrified today when I broke a filling in one of the big deep molars at the back of my jaw.
I fought back my nausea and went to the dentist, and he quickly drilled out the broken filling, tidied up the tooth and refilled it.

I wrenched poor Albert every which way, I screamed, I cried, I kicked and I howled........but my dentist resolutely kept working on me.

Oh, the pain! When the novocaine wore off, the pain was immense. Because the molar was a big one, and the filling needed a post (a metal spike in my jaw), there was a lot of work done on the jawline and the resulting pain was unbearable. I am now writing this under the influence of Ibuprofen (pain relief).

Where's my bed.......?

I promise - a proper post tomorrow.........perhaps I will tell you about my short but memorable friendship with the Black Knight :-)

cq