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Impacted Wisdom Teeth; Local Anesthetic

D

DEGirl87

Junior member
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
6
First of all, hello! This is truly a wonderful forum that I've been reading through the past couple of weeks as I've come to terms of coping with my impending extraction. People are really friendly and have given some really great advice.

At first I thought I was doing okay, but I've been having some anxiety lately. The past few nights I have been dreaming about this darn surgery...and its not even until February!

A little bit more about my situation: I'm 22, and this is the first surgery for me EVER. I think this is where the majority of the anxiety is coming from. I also live in Germany, and my German insurance will not pay for me to have IV-Sedation unless I go through mountains of bureaucracy and take time that I don't have.

The oral surgeon seems competent enough. She explained everything to me calmly and without concerns. Only one tooth is a bit difficult and part of the jaw will have to be chipped away...the other 3 seemed pretty standard, though they are impacted.

My concerns, are not the shots, I'm not afraid of the pain, and she told me I'm allowed to bring an IPod to drown out the sounds. I've even been perscribed a Xanax (which I've never had before) to help with the nerves. Frankly...I'm not even afraid of being awake during it...

My biggest concern is a Gag Reflex. I developed a tendency to gag after years of orthodontic treatment and bad experiences with taking impressions. You hit that point too far back in my mouth, and you lose me. I discussed this concern very openly with my surgeon, and she offered me the following options:

Acupuncture at a certain point in the groove between lower lip and chin. She says its been very successful and that many (but not all) people respond. (Anyone have any experience???)

And that she would "numb" my gag reflex with some creatively located novocaine injections ...This I haven't been able to find any information on. I've only seen that they can numb it to an extent with a topical, but never like this. Any experience here?

Does anyone have any POSITIVE experiences or strategies about dealing with the Gag-Reflex other than what I've mentioned here? Perhaps advice at where the tools are placed during the procedure? Upper or Lower extractions better?

I find, the less I can actually feel in my mouth, the less likely I am to probably gag...but any personal experiences would be of advantage of me to hear.

Your advice and encouragement in this situation would be great appreciated. I hope to post in the "success" portion of this forum after I'm finished!!

Thanks in advance!:-*
-DEgirl87
 
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Hiya and :welcome:, the acupuncture thingy looks good - dentists who use it swear by it for eliminating/reducing the gag reflex (that's what I've read on several forums for dentists only anyway). I'm not sure if you've come across this page yet, which also gives tips for dealing with the gag reflex:


One of the most common reason for gagging is forgetting to breathe through your nose (provided you've got no sinus problems that prevent nose breathing), so it can help to focus on this - but there are lots of other tips on the page mentioned above. It sounds as if your oral surgeon is very understanding of your concerns though and that you're in good hands :).
 
Thanks so much for taking the time to post. You might have something there with the nose breathing...that's the only way I ever got through my impressions back in the day!! I'm a bit out of practice.

Appreciate it, though!

:grouphug:
 
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