VERY anxious about a tooth extraction.

I’m 16, i’ve always had severe dental anxiety. i don’t like anyone by my mouth. that being said, a few months ago i got the courage to go for a check up, they told me i need a tooth pulled and a root canal. at first the only tooth that really hurt was the root canal one, so my mom set up and appointment at a specialist for it that was a few days ago, and i chickened out of it. for the past few months i’ve been eating on the opposite side of the side that needs a root canal, which is where i need to get one pulled. as of yesterday i’ve had terrible pain in the tooth that needs pulled (very back on the top right side) i was up till seven in the morning getting sick because of the pain and lack of sleep. my mom called for an emergency appointment to get my tooth extracted this time tomorrow. i’m nervous but i can’t even eat it hurts so bad, the whole right side of my face is throbbing with pain so i definitely have to get it done. i just don’t know what to expect or things to do to make my anxiety go down? ugh...

Dear salvatore27,

sorry to read about your situation, especially that you feel sick and not able to sleep at the moment.
Extractions are one of the fastest procedures, you might be surprised how quickly and easily it can go. Your dentist will first numb you up, then check if you are numb (he will need your help at this to make sure you had enough anesthetic) and take the tooth out. You will feel a lot of pressure and maybe some unpleasant noises, but that's all. You might consider to take headphones with some good music with you to get a bit distracted. It should be over pretty quickly. If I can give you an advice, it woud be: let the dentist know about your anxiety and if you notice that the numbing is not sufficient, let the dentist know so that they can numb you up more.

This forum is a great place for getting encouragement, so why not take a look around and read some success stories or some of the great article about how to beat dental anxiety?

All the best wishes, hang on there, may the dental team treat you very kindly and may the treatment get smoothly and keep us posted.

I just got back from getting my tooth pulled. Lots of crying but I’m glad I did it. I put some earphones in and listened to a movie while it happened. I made him stop a few times because I was confusing pressure with pain, because the pressure just isn’t pleasant. When I let him finally do it, it only took a minute for my tooth to come out. I was very, very nervous the whole time even on Valium, crying nervous. But now I’m alright. I don’t know how I’m gonna get the root canal because I could barellllyyy sit through a few minutes of getting my tooth pulled. I’m happy I did it and got it over with though.

Very well done, Salvatore. I can only encourage you to use the momentum and go on with the treatment.
How do you feel about your dentist and your dental team? Did they treat you kindly?

They were nice I feel like I’ll need to go to a specialist for my root canal I need because I’d feel more comfortable there with the IV Sedation, which I’m veryyy anxious about, but I’ve met them too and they’ve all been very patient with me.

That's great. Whatever makes you able to deal with the needed treatment is fine. It's good not to rely just on sedation for the future as the long term goal should be for you to get a good relationship to your dental team and be able to go to regular checkups, but for the start, sedation is a good way to get the treatment if you feel more comfortable that way.

Recover soon and keep us posted