Second Consultation

BEFORE
It’s not quite time yet. Leaving here in hour/half. I slept really well last night, I’m surprised as a few other nights were just awful. Waking up thinking about everything and then struggling to go back to sleep. So I sit here now and have a coffee and writing down notes on my phone what my concerns are.

My Anticipatory Anxiety is at about a 2 on a scale of 1-10 but I know for certain it’ll rise and rise and blow off the AA chart while I’m in the waiting room. The place is the same place we go for doctor appointments. My partner goes there and her ex used to go there. Lyn had also talked to the receptionist lady about me and my “problems” the day we had gone to the doctors which is what started all this happening.

——————————-

AFTER
OMG where do I begin. Ok… I walked in with Lyn in tow and I knew I had to fill out paperwork again. Lyn asked me if I wanted her to fill it in for me but I said, nah, I’ll give it a go. I think I can do this this time around. So… did that then waited. When my name was called (and me with my sense of humour) looked around the room to see who “Donna” was (aka, Dee). Lyn chuckled and grabbed my hand.

Dr. Nariv was EXTREMELY nice! Lyn said she felt warmth with him from the start. He invited me to sit and the chair and but then tears began to well up in my eyes and I shook my head no. He said, that’s ok, that’s fine, you can sit in one of the regular chairs or stand, whatever you feel comfortable doing. I said ok, I’ll stand. I went on to explain a few brief things about how I felt and then handed him my full-mouth x-rays. He put them up to the light, had a look and then proceeded to tell me his “thoughts”. I highly doubt I could go into full detail about what he said. But he pretty much told me that because my gag reflex is so “bad” that it would certainly be impossible for me to wear full mouth dentures UNLESS, I try to desensitise with his recommendations.

First option IF I can’t un-gag my gag would be implants. He said my teeth definitely need to come out, possibly may be able to save a molar or two on my bottoms but my tops are definitely history. He said implants can be quite expensive and to look for options for insurance, funding, plans etc. Then proceeded to tell me that if I do implants, he would do 12 on the top and 12 on the bottom. He can’t do any more than that because of where my wisdom teeth once were there is no bone structure to hold the implants but 12 would be fine. He would knock me out under GA and remove all my bottom teeth, and depending on my bone density, do the implants right then. So I would wake up with immediate implants. Other than that it would be removing the teeth, waiting 2 months to heal and then do the implants, and then repeat the process for my tops.

The second option would be to follow his instructions on trying to lessen my gag reflex by being extremely diligent and doing exactly what he recommends… and then 2 implants and a partial-plate denture (top and bottoms) which would be 70% cheaper in cost.

After about 15/20 minutes with him I felt extremely comfortable and becoming more relaxed but hyped up with excitement as he was telling me what he “could” do. He was making me feel HOPEFUL! What I was most impressed about was the fact the he didn’t ask me to sit in the chair again. He actually respected me and my feelings and that’s what I was drawn to with him. And I was literally waiting for him to ask me to sit in the chair so he could look. Thing is, I would have and that’s what I’m so damn proud of!

So as it stands right now, my teeth are completely hopeless. Brushing or gargling now won’t do a thing except make my breath a bit fresher. LOL! I carry the Listerine Strips with me anyway. I’m waiting for him to email me the options and pricing for the two different procedures.

I left his office……… smiling! 😀