Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[elma]

Maybe PM them an offer Zel, whenever I put a buy it now on ebay I used to get messages offering me £1, a budgie, their aunt etc.
If you make a decent offer it's that refreshing they'll probably lower the price.

[Zelandeth]

Well the C5 has now got a disc brake on the front, and a new cable fitted to the standard drum on the rear.

Adjustment still needed, but will hopefully be ready for a test run tomorrow.

That is assuming I'm in a fit state to do anything tomorrow...

In to the dentist tomorrow - to have a wisdom tooth pulled. It's been giving me a bit of bother, but generally calmed down after I had a course of antibiotics. So a couple of awful days, but then back to normal.

Now I've a disclaimer to make; my pain tolerance is virtually non existent at the best of times. I also have *really* sensitive teeth, and the vast majority of nerve blocker type things I've had used on me have done absolutely nothing. Well, until about two hours after I leave the dentist anyway - then my mouth will go plenty numb. Also had a bad experience with the dentist when I was young which unsurprisingly left me with a strong fear of the place. Even having my teeth polished usually has me leaving dents in the armrests and making strange squeaking noises which would make you think I was being subjected to some sort of medieval torture...

Suffice to say, I'm not looking forward to this. In fact I've been on the verge of panic at the thought of it for about the last 72 hours.

Both looking forward to getting it out of the way - but also scared out of my wits.

Just hope I'm in a fit state to drive home afterwards, or that will be rather awkward.

[elma]

Pulled out isn't as bad as drilling Zel, the vibration of the drill makes it so much worse.
At least when it's gone they can't polish the tooth again.

[daviemck2006]

Getting the jab in my gums to freeze it is the worst but of the dentist for me. That's when I'm holding on to the chair for life or death! Once my gums are frozen they can pretty much do what they want. I don't accept fillings now, if I get serious toothache then out it comes. I only have 28 teeth left now.

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[Hell Razor5543]

I can sympathise with your fear of dentists. When I was about 9 years old (over 40 years ago) my 5 year old brother had to have a bit of dental work done that required an anaesthetic. As Mum drove him home he complained that he felt sick (not that he was going to BE sick, just that he FELT sick). When they got home Mum then saw that his face had swollen massively. She contacted the dentist, who did some checking and then told her to urgently contact her doctor. It turned out Alex was allergic to the anaesthetic (less than 1 in a million people are). Because of this it was not possible to give him anything for the pain, or to even take him to hospital (as the journey could easily kill him). You try telling a 9 year old child that the dentist isn't a bad man, and that he didn't mean to nearly kill your brother, when your brother is unconscious and still crying in pain. It does not work. Alex was unconscious for 3 days, and off school for 2 weeks.

My current dentists are VERY understanding of my fear, and have done everything they can to help me manage it. On every occasion they can they use a numbing gel first, so that the injection does not hurt. They also have (on the occasion when it was needed) used a general anaesthetic to fix a problem (that was the only way I would accept it; I was too scared to go any other way). My dentist is an attractive young lady who is smaller than I am, so I do not feel intimidated by her when she is working on my teeth (unlike my school dentist who did not listen to his patients), and I feel that I can escape if needed. I never have be made to feel that I need to get away.

[elma]

Was that anaesthetic by any chance Lignocaine? I had a similar reaction as a child but not as severe, worst bit about it was that my dentist was my father. Turned out ok in the end and I think I got some new toys because of the ordeal.

[Hell Razor5543]

I do not know, as it was so long ago (and I don't recall even being told what the anaesthetic was).

[mickeymoon]

I have fallen asleep at the dentist before now! I wouldn't say I love it, but I have no fear of it at all. There are different sorts of anaesthesia now too - I'm intolerant of the "old" type that contains adrenaline and always ask for the adrenaline-free one. It works better for me and may help those who get nervous - being pumped with even more adrenaline than you're producing already is only going to make the matter worse! It might be worth asking..

[Stickyfinger]

Adrenaline has the effect of constricting the blood supply in the area greatly reducing blood loss which has major benefits in may procedures as well as post operative pain caused by soft tissue inflammation.

[Zelandeth]

I have a major, major fear of needles so I hate that as well. Even though in all fairness to them, with the fancy tech they have in there now at my dentist I never even feel the injection - it's just the expectation. It's the one thing they do that doesn't hurt!

Sadly I also have the teeth from my mother's side of the family - meaning that they are basically made of cheese. Pretty sure there's more amalgam in there than enamel these days, and that's been the case since I was about 16 - up until which save for one tooth (which was actually my own fault - I took a chunk out of it by biting a fork) my teeth were perfect. Within the next two years I'd lost count of how many fillings I'd had.

Given the choice I'd really rather they put me under for this - not just because I'm worried about the pain, but more worried for my own safety and the dentist, because I honestly am not 100% sure I trust myself to stay still while they're working on me. Last thing I want to wind up doing is having a panic attack in the chair and wind up chucking my dentist through the window and ending up with a drill permanently embedded in my skull. I asked about this, but apparently it's not something that's even offered privately now other than for emergency situations where severe complications mean a normal extraction isn't possible. I'd assumed it would be stupid expensive, but that it's not even an option was a bit of a surprise.

[Hell Razor5543]

You might ask your dentists if the hospital can do dental work under general. Some hospitals can do this, as they have the staff and resources.

[mickeymoon]

Most places are now very reluctant to use general anaesthetic for other than when it's absolutely necessary. I'm no fan of general, seeing as I woke up halfway through having my appendix removed... it took me 3 goes - as in 3 visits to the hospital, once I got all the way to the prep-room on the trolley then ran away, the second time I didn't even show up, and the third time I took a load of temazepam some hours before and went ahead with it - for my sinus op a couple of years ago. I need another one too, but I'm somewhat reluctant..

Needles? I detest them, which is weird as I've got plenty of tattoos...

[Zelandeth]

I did look into that, albeit pretty briefly, the answer I got generally was "only under emergency conditions" and basically was advised if I wanted to do that to go private, and look at mainland Europe or the US as they were the places you'd be likely to find someone who would do it. If I didn't mind forking out a five figure sum of money too...

[mickeymoon]

I recommend a holiday to South America, Colombia, Bogota specifically... my wife had her braces fitted there a couple of months ago. Cost £65, as opposed to the £2500 it would cost here. Her dentist here, who will adjust them periodically said it was the one of the best set of braces and fitting he'd ever seen - when he gets referrals, he reckoned he usually has to replace more than half the parts due to ill-fitting. Her teeth are perfect too, they've just started spreading out with age. My brother-in-law went recently, had all his teeth fixed - 4 crowns, a load of fillings, one extraction, caps on his front teeth. Came to less than the cost of 2 crowns in the UK .

[Hell Razor5543]

Zel, check your passport is valid. I think you may be booking a holiday to South America!