After I moved to Galveston, I discovered I needed a dentist. I first tried one here on the island…read moreand liked him, but he was so busy he couldn't do the work for three months. I needed something done sooner than that. I asked a local resident I met at the pool and she said, "Go off island. Check out Texas City Family Dentistry; so I did.
Let me be up front with you: I don't have dental insurance and I'm scared s---less about dentists. I haven't been for many years because of past experiences and I wouldn't have gone now if I didn't have an issue. I have a real fear of dentist, but, I put on my "Big girl Pants" and off I went.
After my first visit to TCFD, I am SO GLAD I DID! These people are AWESOME! Dr. Patterson is so friendly and thorough; and Jessica, the hygienist, is gentle! They took a million x-rays (including using some little pencil type one inside my mouth - never saw that before). We worked up a care plan - I need one filling and deep cleaning. I will get this starting next week in two sessions. The prices were the same as the one on island - no surprise there - but using Care Credit, I can pay over 12 months no interest, so that's perfect. What I did like was instead of paying for my whole mouth to be planed, the hygienist goes through measuring each tooth at the gum line and only planes the ones that need it so I saved some money on one quadrant because it did not need it. Very good for the budget! Also Dr. Patterson took a more conservative approach to the tooth that the other dentist said needed a crown. We are going to try a filling first and only put a crown on if we have to. So I like that. All in all I was very satisfied with the initial consultation.
Jessica, the hygienist, could see I was very nervous, so she put some numbing rinse in my mouth. OMG - this is miracle stuff! I hardly felt her digging away at my gums at all during the measuring and partial cleaning. When I come back for deep cleaning, she says this will help me not feel the needles so she can dig deeper. In addition to the extra numbing rinse, there is a tv on the ceiling. They give you a remote and earphones to help distract you - I watched a session of Good Bones! Between the swishy stuff and the tv, I was as relaxed as I've ever been at the dentist. I'll write more when I come back for the drilling and the deep cleaning.
AFTER 1ST TREATMENT: I was really nervous about going today to get my work done. I got the swishy stuff right away; but, unfortunately, Dr. Patterson came in right after the swishing so it didn't have as much time to "work." However, I didn't feel the numbing needles at all except for the two to the roof of my mouth. But I was told they're not pleasant no matter what. After I got through that, he let me sit for awhile to numb up. I was excited about getting the TV going to distract me; but, unfortunately, the headphones wouldn't connect with the tv so I had no sound. I can honestly say I didn't "feel" any of the drilling, but my mind plays games with me so I did have some struggles getting through it without the distractions of the tv. We had to pause a couple of times to let me get myself together. But I made it and it honestly didn't hurt. It was only my nerves getting to me.
After the filling, they moved me to a room where the tv system worked for the planing. I had no troubles there at all because of the distraction of the tv and Jessica was awesome. She really is a super great hygienist.
If you're like me - have a real phobia of dental work - I highly recommend Dr. Patterson and Jessica. I honestly think after going to them for a while, I'll get over a lot of my fears; maybe even all of them! I"m much more optimistic now about keeping my teeth healthy