Baking soda/peroxide~make a paste. Do a treatment every night for the first month. After that, once a week since it *is* hard on the enamel. Advice was given to me by my dentist who did bone graft surgical procedure/dental implants on me several years ago. Not only does it whiten the teeth, but helps with the ph balance of bacteria, good/bad. Also get a hydrofloss! Mine was given to me by him(probably since I was spending buku bucks!) You'll only need to do 'on the spot' flossing if you get something in your teeth while eating!! You can use it every night, sometimes i'll add a little mouthwash. It's a fairly intense spray if you have it turned up all the way. Any loose crowns WILL come out, so do be aware and maybe have the drain closed. A couple of my kids tried mine and loved it so much I gave them as gifts for Christmas. Here is a link that might be useful: hydrofloss

I'm not making fun of anyone - but nitrous for teeth cleaning? Natesgram's response made me thing - I know in our area we have a couple of dentists who advertise as being for those who have a fear of dentists. Maybe you could look and see if they have a dentist like that in your area - someone who really caters those with a dentist fear/phobia. I have heard really good things about one here in our area. I don't like the shots but as mentioned with the pre-deadening, I rarely feel them. I do tense a bit, but know after that I will feel no pain. Dental work today shouldn't hurt (unless you do not have a numbing agent - my dad will do a filling without novocaine). My dentist takes great care in keeping me comfortable - even has pillows for the neck, etc. So I would just be frank and discuss your concerns with the dentist and from there. Interview the dentists! LOL

I have had and am now having major dental work. The dentist that I went to for years and really liked retired about 7 years ago. I was switched to another dentist who practiced in the same office. I have had some major work done by this dentist and almost every time I leave his office, I am black and blue and in severe pain. One time I ended up with over $800 in medical bills. The dentist gave me a hematoma which ended up getting infected, I had major swelling of my glands and a lot of pain. I went to a medical doctor and got penicillin and they referred me to a cardiologist who did an echocardiogram. I have a heart murmur and have to take antibiotics before having any work done on my teeth. Because of the severe infection, I was referred to a cardiologist to make sure no damage had been done. I am now having a bridge replaced and had a tooth pulled this week. I am having problems and the dentist looked at it again today and said I have a severe bruise on my gum and it is swollen but it should heal without further antibiotics. Last summer I had a crown done on a molar and ended up with two weeks of severe pain and had to exist on a pain reliever. My point in all of this is that I have always been afraid to go to a dental school and have students working on me since I have had so many problems with an experienced dentist working on me. If he can't do it without me ending up in severe pain and bruises, hematomas, and other problems, would a student do a better job?

Well, I went to my dental appointment yesterday, that I had scheduled back in December. Here’s how it went down: 3 weeks ago, they called to confirm my appointment, we assured each other we had not had symptoms of, been diagnosed with, or been in contact with someone diagnosed, with Covid. They told me all their new procedures. 2 days before, they sent me an electronic confirmation and form to fill out about my Covid status like they did 3 weeks ago. 1 day before, because I hadn’t really read the email and filled out the form, they called to remind me and to get my credit card number to pay in advance, if I wanted. I did, and I filled out the form. 6 hours before, they sent me the digital form again to fill out. 0 hour, per their instructions, I entered the empty waiting room not a moment before or after my scheduled time. The hygienist was waiting, masked. In the chair, I rinsed 30 seconds with a hydrogen peroxide and water solution, spit into a cup that was promptly disposed of in hazardous waste. Didn’t spit into the little chair-side sink. I took off my glasses (as I usually do) and she gave me goggles. She took my temperature. The hygienist put on her face shield. She also wore glasses, and needed flip-up goggles with “loupes” on them for close work. Poor thing, there were at least 5 layers between her eyes and mine. She positioned a “pressure machine” that I guess worked like a shop vac (sounded like one) to suck up any droplets. The instruments were...I can’t remember, they told me three weeks ago, but some were disposable and some went through an intense process with days between uses. The rest of the appointment went as normal. When I left, the receptionist slipped me my receipt under the plexiglass shield at the desk. I felt comfortable. One thing I noticed: no magazines in the waiting room, since no one will be waiting in there for a good while. This will probably kill the print magazine industry, which was already struggling, and which was recently hurting from the drop in advertising. And for those of us who still get print magazines, where will we take them when we finish with them? I often left a magazine behind when I would go to an appointment.