can the doctor prescribe you anything to help with the fear of having a tooth removed

[kennedy793]

can the doctor prescribe you anything to help with the fear of having a tooth removed

I am having my bottom two wisdom teeth removed in two weeks and i am absolutely petrified. Everytime i have any dental work done its a complete nightmare i have only had fillings before so have no idea what to expect. the dentist will only give me a local to remove them and it is upsetting me everytime i think about it. is thnere anything i can take or that the doctor can give me to calm me down and help me through it.

 

[RP]

Re: can the doctor prescribe you anything to help with the fear of having a tooth removed

Most people have IV sedation for wisdom teeth, if the doctor won't then find another who at least offers nitrous or oral sedation.

rp

 

[kennedy793]

Re: can the doctor prescribe you anything to help with the fear of having a tooth removed

would i have to ask them in advance for this or can i do it on the day

 

[RP]

Re: can the doctor prescribe you anything to help with the fear of having a tooth removed

I woudn't walk in not knowing. usually they plan a sedation appointment. Nitrous can be given without any prep but oral sedation is usually a prescription, perhaps arriving an hour before and a light meal.

You need to have a chat with your dentist about your fears and desires or maybe ask for a referral to see an oral surgeon?

 

[brit]

Re: can the doctor prescribe you anything to help with the fear of having a tooth removed

Kennedy,
RP is talking from a USA perspective.
Nitrous is not very common in the UK except in hospitals (it is similar to gas and air for childbirth).
Your dentist sounds like they are NHS am I right? Have you discussed your fears? If the teeth are not impacted it may be a simple matter to remove with just local but they can't impose this on you.
They definitely will only be able to offer local on the day but you could get diazepam from your medical GP to calm you down (you need to tell the dentist you have taken it also).

You could insist on a referral to your local hospital for treatment under i/v sedation or GA.
You could also get a second opinion, do the teeth need to be removed (they likely do as the guidelines in the UK are stricter and recommend leaving them if possible and the dentist has little incentive to remove unnecessarily as reimbursement is just covered by Band fees).

If you are seeing a private dentist, then what I said is slightly different (there is an incentive to do the procedure but still subject to the GDC guidelines) but nitrous is still uncommon. I/V sedation is available at some private practices, usually by arrangement - they often bring in a separate anaesthetist.

It might be worth just getting one tooth done and seeing how it goes. Since they are on opposite sides, you'd need 2 lots of numbing anyway so you may as well, just do one side at once if doing it awake.
Have they taken x-rays?

It sounds like you could do with a dentist who has a more soothing effect on you. Any dentist should be happy for your GP to prescribe diazepam.

 

[comfortdentist]

Re: can the doctor prescribe you anything to help with the fear of having a tooth removed

@Brit
Do I assume by your post that dentists in the U.K. are prohibited from prescribing sedative drugs to patients?

 

[brit]

Re: can the doctor prescribe you anything to help with the fear of having a tooth removed

@Brit
Do I assume by your post that dentists in the U.K. are prohibited from prescribing sedative drugs to patients?

No you assume wrongly. UK dentists are allowed to prescribe (and many do) but some of them prefer the medical GP to be involved since they have the patient's full medical records. Remember there is no fee in UK to visit your medical GP so it is not a financial thing.

I have worded it as medical GP prescribing as she has already 'not hit it off' with the dentist who has said 'just local'. She likely needs to go somewhere else.

 

[kennedy793]

Re: can the doctor prescribe you anything to help with the fear of having a tooth removed

hi yes it is a nhs dentist i have spoken to them about it but all they say is that thier staff are very experienced in dealing with people with this kind of fear. both sides are impacted yes both my regular dentist the the hospital ones say they need to come out and i do agree as the pain i get with them is terrible. they do say i can go see my gp to get something to help me with the stress till the day but they are not allowed to give me anything.

 

[brit]

Re: can the doctor prescribe you anything to help with the fear of having a tooth removed

What's available sedation-wise for dentistry on the NHS varies (obviously) from practice to practice. You need special training for i/v sedation and have to want to provide it.
So what happened at the hospital? Did they refer you back to your dentist for the extractions, rather than offer i/v sedation at the hospital? Maybe the hospital is kept for the worst surgical cases which need GA, in your area?

If you are currently in pain and your dentist is saying it is no big deal, they can do them for you and you can take valium from your GP (as I said no dentist should have an issue with this) then maybe it is in your best interest to do that. Maybe just agree to doing one, then you can rethink if it is not to your liking?
There are different levels of impaction, some are easier to do than others. Maybe your dentist is very experienced at extractions, if he is not newly-qualified.

It can only be your decision. If you can pay, there will be a private dentist within travelling distance or within your town who does i/v sedation for wisdom tooth removal. So you have to weigh up whether you prefer to do that or whether you want to assert yourself re having sedated hospital care but that has the downside of waiting lists.

The valium might space you out to the point you don't care what they are doing....? I have never tried it so I can't comment from personal experience. You would need someone to go with you, if you pre-medicated with valium and the dentist would need to know what you had taken.

 

[Amoreyna]

Re: can the doctor prescribe you anything to help with the fear of having a tooth removed

Honestly, with everything I've been through, the best way to get through your anxiety is to trust the people working on you.

Several years ago I had a very bad experience when I underwent a pelvic lap. I was awake when I should have been out because I was under general anesthesia, and later on I felt pain. The whole of the experience actually affected me to the point where I had PTSD. A year later I had to have neck surgery. I ended up with a surgeon who listened to me, was up front about everything and comforted me. I trusted him and though I was still very anxious the very fact that I trusted him made everything much easier. When I ended up needing emergency gall bladder surgery a year later (I know, really lucky ) he saw my name and took my case. Because I knew him I had no anxiety and they just wheeled me on into the operating room with no anxiety drugs and talked and joked with them before putting me under.

Long story short: trust is the best anxiety reliever out there. Have you had this dentist before or is this going to be your first dealings with him? Being able to trust those helping you goes a long ways to relieving all that anxiety you're feeling as I found with my recent extractions. More then a pill ever could.

I would really think about everything and decide about how you feel. If you end up feeling like you can't beat the anxiety then you're either going to have to call your GP and get something for anxiety or find another dentist willing to do IV sedation which can very well just cause everything to drag on longer. You need to do what you're comfortable with.

Perhaps calling and asking how impacted your teeth are, how hard they think the teeth will be to extract etc and just getting some basic questions answered will help set your mind to ease.