Benadry before extraction? Scared!

[Dorothyk]

This is probably going to be a long post, and I apologize in advance. In June I went to get my upper right molar extracted, my BP was so high! 199 over something.. after it calmed down, the dentist came in and gave me a novacaine shot, within 30 seconds he was ready to try to pull my tooth. I told him it still hurt, so he repeated this process 3 or 4 times in the matter of 5 minutes. He then refused to wait longer and sent me on my way with a new appointment. I called the office today (I will be seeing a different dentist in the office.) To express my concerns of anxiety, and to see if there was anything they could have me take prior to my appointment. They said they couldn't help me with that, and to ask my general doctor. I called him and was advised to tale 1 benadryl an hour before, and then 1 when I got to the appointment. Has anyone heard of this? Or had patients do it and be successful? I go in at 8 tomorrow morning and am absolutely terrified. I'm scared even getting cleanings done, so I'm massively scared to get an extraction. Thank you in advance.

 

[drhirst]

Hi Dorothyk,

I believe Benadryl is an antihistamine drug which can be sometimes used in the manner you describe to help with short term anxiety such as your situation. It is not a drug I am familiar with here in the UK, so cannot really comment on it's effectiveness or safety with high blood pressure, although I note your general doctor is happy to recommend it, so it will probably be helpful.

I think the biggest factor is how kind, patient and considerate the new dentist will be. It does not help that you have not had a chance to meet him yet. However, he should be aware of what has happened previously, so hopefully will be primed to help you as much as possible.
When you meet him or her be upfront about your fears and mention what happened at the last appointment. It is often the case that when the tooth just won't go numb, trying again on another day works just fine. So, fingers crossed, it will go OK.

 

[Dorothyk]

Hi Dorothyk,

I believe Benadryl is an antihistamine drug which can be sometimes used in the manner you describe to help with short term anxiety such as your situation. It is not a drug I am familiar with here in the UK, so cannot really comment on it's effectiveness or safety with high blood pressure, although I note your general doctor is happy to recommend it, so it will probably be helpful.

I think the biggest factor is how kind, patient and considerate the new dentist will be. It does not help that you have not had a chance to meet him yet. However, he should be aware of what has happened previously, so hopefully will be primed to help you as much as possible.
When you meet him or her be upfront about your fears and mention what happened at the last appointment. It is often the case that when the tooth just won't go numb, trying again on another day works just fine. So, fingers crossed, it will go OK.

Thank you so much for the reply! I am hoping very much that the new dentist will be polite, and understanding. I'm going to mention my anxiety to the receptionist as well so she can give everyone an extra heads up before I go in. Thankfully it's at 8 AM so I'm hoping that too many people wont be there. Yeah, benadryl is an antihistamine, so I'm thinking that it should make me drowsy which might help combat the anxiety and make me more calm