Hello Doctor,
I really need some help to get my husband to visit the dentist. He is in a lot of pain and only recently did I realise just how many painkillers he has been taking each day. I was shocked as he hides the pain as much as possible from me.
He has a severe phobia of going to the dentist as he has panic attacks when they put things into his mouth and he feels like he can’t breathe. He refuses to go to any appointment that i make him and will not discuss the matter further with me. I am at my wits end as he is always in a bad mood and irritated with the pain. Is there any thing you could suggest that i do to make him see a dentist?

i had a back bottom tooth extracted but it cracked the filling in tooth next to it, my dentist just covered it with more filling, I’m wondering if this is normal as i keep reading that a cracked filling should be taken out and a new filling put in. I don’t know how big the crack was but someone said this is not acceptable as he seems to have just done this to save time and money and i don’t know what to do. I am suffering from dry socket due to the extraction so i have pain and i wouldn’t know if its the dry socket causing pain or if i have pain in the tooth.
Thanks.

Dear Dr Pinder, I’m 63 but I’ve had a very severe gag reflex since early childhood. I do manage to have a check up every 6 months and my dentist is very sympathetic to my problem. I’ve successfully had fillings near the front of my mouth but those towards the back are next to impossible for him to do and he refers me to a specialist sedation clinic.

Having broken a rear molar recently, my dentist recommended the tooth should be crowned and he referred me on to the specialist practice that uses sedation. Unfortunately, despite using a combination of IV conscious sedation and nitrous oxide relative analgesia, the work was unsuccessful and after 30 minutes they had to give up. I now have a broken tooth with a sharp edge.

Nitrous oxide has helped subdue (but not eliminate) my gag reflex in the past but it had little benefit on this occasion which I suppose was a much bigger procedure. In the past, IV sedation has helped me relax but has done nothing to stop me gagging.

Previously, I’ve seen an hypnotherapist but that didn’t work. I also tried a dentist who practised acupuncture but that wasn’t successful either.

I’m at a lost to know what to do next. Do you have any suggestions, please?

Thanks.

Hi there.

I’ve had bulimia for nearly 18 years. I discussed this with my old dentist who retired recently but my new dentist is a young man. I mentioned it to him but I’m too embarrassed to say it is a continuing problem.