Since Wednesday afternoon I have been dealing with a broken tooth/post where a crown was placed after a root canal. I keep using over the counter glue to re-attach it especially since it is a front tooth! 
The pain has just gotten worse and worse. The gums are irritated beyond belief. I have noticed all my fibro symptoms are flaring more and more each day. I am to the point that I am super foggy and achy everywhere. I want to curl up and not move. I have slept limited amounts the last two nights. I am dreading the dentist. What are they going to do? How much worse will it hurt? And the dreaded I have been pulled from worked completely by the doctors but I have no paycheck now until my disability retirement is figured out in 6-8 months based on how much slower the doctors take to complete their paperwork. I don’t know how we afford this extra stuff. I am so frustrated today. I want to ignore it all, somehow pretend I am not sick and just work. I know I can’t but I feel so helpless and frustrated.
Payton's Mom,
Ouch! I'm wincing even thinking of your situation. I'm not a big fan of dentists, and fibro doesn't seem to make it any easier on us, does it? I surely wish i could answer your questions about what to expect at the dentist in regards to fibro, but I'm honestly not sure. I've noticed that i need a lot more pain medication for dental work than before the fibro, and I had a cap over my tooth and the area is very sensitive. But the work wasn't impossibly painful because I can assure you, I would have been out of the door if it had been.
Yes! It's a really awful situation to be in when you can't afford to stop working but your body just won't allow you to work anymore. And apparently your doctor won't either. Man, I feel for you, though, having to wait for the disability retirement payments take to figure out. Six to eight months seems like an eternity when you are dead broke.
Sorry I can't be of more assistance. Maybe it would help if you called the dentist's practice and ask if they have any experience dealing with fibro patients. I do think it helps if someone has had other fibro people, so they have an idea of what to expect.
Take care of yourself and that tooth, until you get it replaced.
Warmly,
Petunia
Thanks Petunia. I survived. Luckily the remainder of the tooth broke off below the gum line vs above. My gums were an inflamed painful mess when I got there and somehow just got worse. One of my closest friends works there. She prepped the dentist about my situation which was very helpful. He gave me double novocaine and ended up adding more. He wasn’t even working on my gums but it didn’t seem to matter, they kept bleeding terribly. I am still struggling with pain and swelling especially where he gave the injections. I am also bleeding if I do anything.
Tomorrow they want to bleach then match the new crown. Apparently it will make matching the crown easier. I am dreading more time in the chair. Yesterday was 3 hours. Today the remaining pain kicked my butt. I spent a lot of time resting it seemed like yet I took my son to school, grocery shopped, straightened up the house, hosted dinner for my in-laws before we all went to my sons wrestling match, at which I took over 100 pictures…maybe I need to really take a day and relax.
Thanks again Petunia
Okay, i'm shuddering at your post. Broken teeth do that to me. And your procedure sounded awful to me. BTW, is it better for the tooth to break off below the gum line? And why were the gums bleeding? Do you think the fibro did it? And yeah, all of that extra novacaine sounds about right with fibro. Must cost dentists a fortune in pain meds alone to treat us, eh?
I hope like heck your gums are better right now. The entire situation was no bueno. And you had to go back for even more? UGH!!!!! Well, at least it's just bleaching and matching the new crown. That shouldn't cause any fresh, new pain.
This is why I hate dentists. They try to convince you how pain free they are and then get you in that chair and switch on the Torture Drill. Okay, I'm being overly dramatic, lol. Just a big baby on all of it.
And how are you feeling now, after the past two days at the dentist? When do you need to return to get the crown put in? I don't think that part takes long at all. And then it's over with. Thankfully.
Apparently it is MUCH better for it to break below the gums. The gums were/are inflamed because of the fibro basically. It was a front tooth so I kept having to try and keep it on with temp glue over the holiday. The inflammation wasn’t for an obvious reason. He said fibro in his experience makes inflammation much more likely. I have done lots of salt water mouth washes to calm it down.
Today went pretty badly. I am still hocked at the level of pain bleaching caused. They did the laser bleaching because it would be easiest on my body and cause the least amount of pain. Within 10 minutes of the completion (about 90 mins) I had tears flowing and I was in a level 8 pain. I am barely keeping myself together with heavy pain meds. I can’t get it below a 5! I am hoping it gets better soon. I have a friend with fibro who manages the dental office. She said she had hers done and no issues. She even struggles with sensitive teeth. She was all upset it went so badly. I guess nothing in the world surprises me now. I will keep myself medicated the next 24 hours or so and pray that is the end of it all. I will tell ya, I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. I would say at moments it shocks and is as bad as the spinal tap I had done.
Well, tomorrow the bleaching will have reached its best color and I go back in for them to match the new crown. Who knew something so simple could be so difficult. Oh well, it is the craziness that is our life. Ya never know what’s next do we!
Thanks so much for your concern! It means so much. My dh and family are tired of everything hurting and especially tired of hearing about it. Have a good night! I will try to update how long the pain lasts so hopefully I can prevent someone else dealing with it…although who knows I never even thought it could be painful. Gentle Hugs
Payton's Mom
OK, I'm shocked by the level of pain too. Have you called the dentist back and asked for advice? If the dentist has handled fibro people before he should know how to handle this. But it gets too bad, please go to the ER, especially if you have trouble breathing or get chest pains.
I myself was afraid of having bleaching done cause I did those bleach strips years ago and they hurt like heck! Tho nothing like what you're experiencing. And I was told that if you have any cracks, etc. in your teeth, the bleaching would hurt more.
I am guessing that it's the fibro. It sounds HORRIBLE. Payton's Mom, I'm really hoping that you're feeling better now. If not, I would recommend that you try and get the dentist on the line.
As for your friend's teeth and bleaching, well, we're all different. Even our fibro shows itself in unique ways. And who's to say that she might not have trouble with it down the road? It surely seems to me that fibro progresses...
I need to go out in about 10 minutes and will be gone for about 30 mins but if you need to chat with me cause of the pain, I should be home after that. So feel free to beep me by clicking on my icon in the chat room.
You're welcome. We should never have to feel ashamed or fearful to admit our illness. It's real and it's darned tough to live with. We're all pretty strong people to deal with it as well as we do. You included.
Hugs,
Petunia