HOW I LEARNED TO LOVE MY DENTAL HYGIENIST

 With advancing age I daily expect to lose my teeth and land up with dentures, as our parents did.  I have had quite a lot of pain along the jaw in the last 6 months or so and have twice been to the doctor for antibiotics.  I go twice yearly for dental checks.

During the last 7 days I have had 2 visits to my dental hygienist, on the orders of my dentist.  Poor woman, I went in with so much baggage.  I started in as I was taking off my coat unloading all my negative feelings re dentists and hygienists etc

All through my childhood visiting the dentist meant pain.  I didn't have one visit which didn't hurt.  In those days Mum stayed in the waiting room whilst the child was taken into the dental surgery.  It never occurred to me that there was such a thing as pain relief and so each visit he would find a cavity, which hurt.  Then the next visit was the filling, also very painful.   I even had a tooth extraction with ineffectual pain relief and I felt everything.  Not until I was a teenager did it occur to me to mention the pain.  My mother had no idea that I was suffering.  She thought I was just making a fuss.  Not until I found a different dental surgeon after I left home did I experience pain-free dentistry.  To this day I tense up as soon as I walk through the door.
 

When I lived in the Isle of Man I had my wisdom teeth removed under general anaesthetic.  Alas, they removed all 4 and stitched the gums.  They left the stitches in for a fortnight which meant I couldn't eat because I couldn't open my mouth!  Great way to lose weight though.

Then the last visit I had had to a dental hygienist resulted in gum recession.  She told me to change the way I brushed, angling the brush up and under the gum.  4 years later I went to the dentist with generalised toothache and she told me my teeth were fine but that I had gum recession, hence the pain and to stop angling the brush up into the gum. I naturally blame that hygienist.

So I took all this in with me and unloaded it all onto my new hygienist.  And what was more there were no arms on the dental chair.  What was I supposed to clutch in  my agony?

She was brilliant and soothed me down.  When I said I expected to find her treatment very painful she calmly said she could 'numb me up' and that's exactly what she did.  So, although a bit strange and uncomfortable the root debridement was pain free.  When I had the second treatment on the other side of my face I did experience pain in a tooth she wasn't actually treating.  She stopped immediately and fetched the dentist, who examined the tooth in question and discovered a fracture in the tooth.  So now I have wonderfully clean teeth,  no infection in my gums and another appointment to fix the tooth.  And no toothache.

She also gave me a set of 3 little brushes to clean the gaps between my teeth and showed me how to use them, as well as a sample of gel to use 3 times a week with the brushes.

So, next time your dentist recommends the hygienist GO.  And if you have pain along your jaw line go to your dentist not your doctor.