Dentist visits and...... Hypnosis...Feel Better!

Some of you may recall my reluctance to visit the dentist. Not that I was worried about pain as I have had lots of dental work done in the past (In Denmark) and never had any anesthesia, analgesic meds or gas. It never hurt! I believe it was mostly because there was never an expectation that it would hurt... so it didn't!

But, meeting quite a lot US dentists over the last 28 years made me loose my confidence in the general profession. Dentists who seemed more interested in their financial well being, than my well being ( or my children's for that matter); who would want to pull teeth with small pin holes in them ( wisdom teeth) "because it is in the back of the mouth and may make you tired having your mouth opened wide while filling it... "

Well needless to say that my neglecting small issues, left me with some bigger issues later, including a series of teeth that crumbled around large old fillings, and since there was no pain involved I didn't tend to them, till this past summer when a couple were giving me some swelling and finally pain.

My first visit to Dr Payne ( not kidding here ) was thorough examination, but I was nervous and uneasy as I expected a plan of "Lets just pull this and that..."  etc . Not so fast...!  I found Dr Payne concerned and attentive to my expressed worries. What a nice change. I told him I was interested in doing this with hypnosis, or at least aided by hypnosis, and he was very interested. By the time they were making molds of my teeth I was listening to a selection of my favorite hypnosis mp3s and was trancing nicely. I think my worst fear is not being able to breathe, and at one point during the process, I suddenly felt like the material was flowing towards my throat. Panic was starting to set in, though I was consciously aware that no danger was eminent and that I was breathing just fine, I felt the signs of panic get stronger despite telling myself it was unfounded.... but lucky the track I was listening had a snap and "SLEEP" in it, and it got my  focus back on track. The assistant never noticed that I was stressing out till I told her about it when we were all done.

So, first visit that included real work was scheduled a couple month later, and was to include about 4 hrs of work on teeth that needed help to insure they stay around for a long time. Dr offered me Valium, which I totally refused, and he laughed, saying he knew I would do that. he asked what he could do to help, and I said that if he saw me get restless or panicky, that he could just tap my head or shoulder and tell me to relax or  "Sleep."  He said he was good with that. I plugged in my earplugs and started out with a track Bill Kennedy  made for me, geared toward dental work and I was off in trance land. I never even felt the needle ( my very first time for that experience, and another area that concerned me due to many horror stories). I was out and mostly cataleptic according to the Dr for the first 2 hrs, and took a quick 2 min rest-room break after those 2 hrs of intensive work on the dentists part.  I returned still deeply tranced and put my hands back in my pockets after starting up the next track on my list, and I said "Good night...see you on the other side..." His assistant asked him if she had heard right, and he said  "Yes and I believe her..."

After an hour and 52 minutes of additional work, my chair suddenly was returning to upright and Dr. Payne asked me how I was doing. "Pfhinnn..." I replied with both my upper and lower lips numbed, "ut  still deeeely tranced ..."

 He laughed and told me to take my time and I spent just a couple of minutes to emerge properly, reminding myself about comfort and good feelings as the anesthesia would wear off.

His first words were "You were amazing... I want what you got!" 

He proceed to tell me I didn't know how much work he was able to do in the almost 4 hrs, and that my being relaxed and almost cataleptic, yet responding to requests, were the most incredible way to work with some one. He said that even if he had had me sedated medically, he would not have been able to do the same amount of work, as he would have worried about the drugs, even the amount of Novocain he used was a lot less than normal.

I had the second visit that scheduled removal of 3 teeth that were nothing but pieces and parts. I had scheduled it month ago, and found out it was Friday before I was to ice carve in the Christmas in Ice competition, starting 8 am next morning. I went ahead with the procedure despite all the horror stories about post extraction pain, I hear from people. I armed myself with the intent that I would "need no pain signals" as I am well aware that damage was done and that it was a needed step in improving my dental health. I told Dr. Payne to please use my hypnotic state to control any bleeding by just telling me to "stop it" if needed, but also added the presupposition to my "no pain signals needed"  that bleeding would be minimal as it was not needed beyond keeping the wound clean. He was quite interested in how that would work, but he never needed to say anything, as it seemed that bleeding indeed stayed very minimal, despite a few snags, such as some abscessing. He was done in under an hour, and this time gave me a warning before waking me up.

He suggested I take 2 Tylenol and 2 Ibuprofen together when I got home, and wrote me a prescription for Hydrocodone. I had a few errands to run and by the time I got home the Novacain had worn off and there was no pain, not any at all. I could feel a small amount of swelling, and if I kept my tongue away from the stitches I was no worse for the wear. I ate a normal dinner that night, never took any pain meds, and went on to do my ice carving the next morning. I never filled the prescription, and the doc saw me this past Monday, 10 days after, and he was pleased, and thrilled, but not surprised I had done well. "I think it is mostly your mind set," he said... "I have patients, who have hardly nothing done and they have more pain because they think they should have pain. They focus on the pain and then it increases."  I must agree with him on that.

Now I have more extractions scheduled in the new year and am now toying with the idea of having him work only with hypnosis for anesthesia. I think he would be game, the only thing is I don't know if I can do it without someone there live. I am going to see what we have scheduled and then discuss it with him. He had a class in hypnosis a long time ago, so he should be able to augment my hypnosis tracks one would think? Specially if I tell him what to do.... Thoughts and comments welcome!

Now if I can get off my tail, and make my self available for the clients he was talking about..... something may just come from this too....That is my goal for the new year....

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Aino