• Dental Phobia Support

    Welcome! This is an online support group for anyone who is has a severe fear of the dentist or dental treatment. Please note that this is NOT a general dental problems or health anxiety forum! You can find a list of them here.

    Register now to access all the features of the forum.

Braces, surgery and an impacted second molar.

M

MouthFullofTeeth

Junior member
Joined
Jan 30, 2020
Messages
2
Location
Kuwait
This is going to be a long post but I thought I'd get some perspective and another point of view from you fine people, also - I just need to vent. Basically, my teeth are a mess and have been a mess for quite a while. They're relatively healthy, but they're all over the place with quite a class III malocclusion. I've been told I have good contact between my molars and premolars but my canines and incisors certainly need moving. I'll leave my x-ray at the end of the post. (I've had baby teeth removed so you'll see gaps between a few teeth)

So every orthodontist/dentist I've been to has suggested 2 years of braces with jaw surgery, and I've started to accept that this will be the only way to finally have teeth I won't be embarrassed to show. Getting braces as a 25 year old doesn't sound like a jolly fun time but I'm willing to go through with it. I was also told by this particular orthodontist I'm currently going to that there might be a chance I won't even need jaw surgery.

Now the issue is that this particular orthodontist has recommend to remove my second impacted molar and either shift my wisdom tooth in its place or have an implant before getting braces. Removing this second molar requires surgery, and we agreed to get this done yesterday under local anesthetic. While I despise needles and surgical tools - I try to power through procedures despite my nerves/stress.

Unfortunately, my coping methods did not sit well with my surgeon yesterday. I tend to tense up and squeeze my fists while I'm being injected or worked on (I just hate the bit of pain and pressure you feel when having a needle shoved in or a drill grinding your teeth away, it isn't painful once the anesthetic starts to kick in but the pressure is still uncomfortable), and my surgeon was not having any of it. Mind you I try my best not to recoil or move and I'm as cooperative as ever since I know my procedure is delicate and complex. Still, He stopped after getting all the anesthetic injections done and was warning me that it might not be safe to proceed if I were as tense as I am, he was going on and on about working with patients that are phobic, and recommending general anesthesia while I was sitting there just wanting to get it over with despite my nerves.

I was given two options, either opt for general anesthesia or come back a few days later and try again when I'm ready. It was a huge waste of time and I felt like I was being a burden and a weak sack of shit, general anesthesia is out of the question due to expenses so I opted to try again and do my best statue impression for next time.

X-Rays:
In terms of jaw surgery, I was told it would be upper jaw only and be shifted a few mms forwards. Apologies for the long post but I've just got a lot going through my mind. Any form of input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.
 
This is going to be a long post but I thought I'd get some perspective and another point of view from you fine people, also - I just need to vent. Basically, my teeth are a mess and have been a mess for quite a while. They're relatively healthy, but they're all over the place with quite a class III malocclusion. I've been told I have good contact between my molars and premolars but my canines and incisors certainly need moving. I'll leave my x-ray at the end of the post. (I've had baby teeth removed so you'll see gaps between a few teeth)

So every orthodontist/dentist I've been to has suggested 2 years of braces with jaw surgery, and I've started to accept that this will be the only way to finally have teeth I won't be embarrassed to show. Getting braces as a 25 year old doesn't sound like a jolly fun time but I'm willing to go through with it. I was also told by this particular orthodontist I'm currently going to that there might be a chance I won't even need jaw surgery.

Now the issue is that this particular orthodontist has recommend to remove my second impacted molar and either shift my wisdom tooth in its place or have an implant before getting braces. Removing this second molar requires surgery, and we agreed to get this done yesterday under local anesthetic. While I despise needles and surgical tools - I try to power through procedures despite my nerves/stress.

Unfortunately, my coping methods did not sit well with my surgeon yesterday. I tend to tense up and squeeze my fists while I'm being injected or worked on (I just hate the bit of pain and pressure you feel when having a needle shoved in or a drill grinding your teeth away, it isn't painful once the anesthetic starts to kick in but the pressure is still uncomfortable), and my surgeon was not having any of it. Mind you I try my best not to recoil or move and I'm as cooperative as ever since I know my procedure is delicate and complex. Still, He stopped after getting all the anesthetic injections done and was warning me that it might not be safe to proceed if I were as tense as I am, he was going on and on about working with patients that are phobic, and recommending general anesthesia while I was sitting there just wanting to get it over with despite my nerves.

I was given two options, either opt for general anesthesia or come back a few days later and try again when I'm ready. It was a huge waste of time and I felt like I was being a burden and a weak sack of shit, general anesthesia is out of the question due to expenses so I opted to try again and do my best statue impression for next time.

X-Rays:
In terms of jaw surgery, I was told it would be upper jaw only and be shifted a few mms forwards. Apologies for the long post but I've just got a lot going through my mind. Any form of input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.
For me, I had all 4 wisdom teeth impacted. They got to a point I knew they were shifting teeth (the problem with my lower front tooth today ?) and actually causing problems with opening my mouth. I had to have all 4 cut out I was probably about your age at the time so about 25 years ago. I wish they mentioned braces for me then maybe my teeth wouldn’t be a mess now ? anyway they did what I’m assuming now was some sort of local ( I was aware but didn’t feel anything was like a dream state) I had all four done the same day. I don’t remember tending however I do that same tending thing with my fist every visit ? hard as I try it still happens. No one has ever mentioned to me about doing it or not. I can’t help but tense maybe I missed it in your post but did he say why he wouldn’t do it if you tensed?

being tense doesn’t make you a sack of anything ? it’s human nature imho you can do this!
 
Last edited:
For me, I had all 4 wisdom teeth impacted. They got to a point I knew they were shifting teeth (the problem with my lower front tooth today ?) and actually causing problems with opening my mouth. I had to have all 4 cut out I was probably about your age at the time so about 25 years ago. I wish they mentioned braces for me then maybe my teeth wouldn’t be a mess now ? anyway they did what I’m assuming now was some sort of local ( I was aware but didn’t feel anything was like a dream state) I had all four done the same day. I don’t remember tending however I do that same tending thing with my fist every visit ? hard as I try it still happens. No one has ever mentioned to me about doing it or not. I can’t help but tense maybe I missed it in your post but did he say why he wouldn’t do it if you tensed?

Shouldn't be too late for braces, I have heard people well in their 40's and 50's getting braces and it working out for them. It's mainly a financial and/or social predicament.

Getting too tense and stressed, especially if phobic, could lead to fainting, elevated heart rate and high blood pressure, stuff like that which can lead to other things I suppose. I can't remember everything he was talking about but I'm assuming he doesn't want anything bad to happen to me or for anything to mess with the surgery.

While I appreciate that, I think I would have been okay.
 
As far as braces yes people can get them in all stages of life I’ve been considering them myself ?
 
Back
Top