Extraction tomorrow - Upper left and fully grown.

[Redfield]

I'm due to have a wisdom tooth removed tomorrow morning and the old anxiety has raised its ugly head again. I think it's because there are a lot of unknowns this time, well it feels like a lot anyway.

I noticed back in January that my upper left wisdom tooth had broken so I went to see a dentist at my practice who immediately said it couldn't be saved. He wanted to remove it then and there, saying it'll be an easy tooth to remove, but I told him of my fears of extraction and that I want/need to be sedated. An appointment was then made to see the sedation specialist the following Saturday. After a few tests I made an appointment for 1st February, although the dentist was concerned that my heart rate was quite low; around 54bpm.

Unfortunately I was hit with a heavy cold a day or so before the appointment and had to cancel and rearrange the appointment for the 22nd February. When I called on the 21st to confirm the appointment I was told it had been cancelled as the sedation specialist had left and that brings us to now. I'm due to have a tooth removed by somebody I've not even met; the perfect stranger.

So, to summarise my concerns.
How can the original dentist 'know' that it'll be an easy tooth to remove?
As the tooth is fully grown and straight and true, will that make any difference to the extraction?
My heart rate? The sedation specialist did advise that if it was below 50bpm then they won't be able to sedate me. Hypothetically, what then?!
I don't know if I'm comfortable with having a stranger extract my tooth? I appreciate he'll be professional but it still concerns me.
The sedation itself. I've been sedated twice - the first time I allegedly hugged my dentist and told her I loved her but the second time it had no effect other than feeling a bit groggy, I was completely lucid throughout. I'm concerned both about making an idiot of myself and it not working.
EDIT: This is also my first wisdom tooth extraction and I'm really not sure what to expect.

Can anybody put me at ease?

Thanks.

 

[Redfield]

Nevermind, appointment cancelled, kind of.

Going in to speak to the dentist only.

 

[Stumbleina]

So, to summarise my concerns.
How can the original dentist 'know' that it'll be an easy tooth to remove?
As the tooth is fully grown and straight and true, will that make any difference to the extraction?
My heart rate? The sedation specialist did advise that if it was below 50bpm then they won't be able to sedate me. Hypothetically, what then?!
I don't know if I'm comfortable with having a stranger extract my tooth? I appreciate he'll be professional but it still concerns me.
The sedation itself. I've been sedated twice - the first time I allegedly hugged my dentist and told her I loved her but the second time it had no effect other than feeling a bit groggy, I was completely lucid throughout. I'm concerned both about making an idiot of myself and it not working.
EDIT: This is also my first wisdom tooth extraction and I'm really not sure what to expect.

Can anybody put me at ease?

Thanks.

Hi Redfield!

I know that you posted again to say that you were only going in for a consult, but I am hoping that you will come back and read again if your dentist convinces you that the best thing to do is to indeed get the tooth extracted.

I can tell you that I avoided getting my Wisdom teeth removed for about 10 years! I just got them done yesterday XD

One of my wisdom teeth was falling apart, so I was in much the same situation as you - my dentist strongly urged me (again!) to get my teeth removed. He did not want to put any more money into the broken tooth as he knew it would eventually have to go.

Dentists know a lot about what they do, and one of the things I have heard over and over is that some teeth ARE indeed easier to remove than others. So to answer that question - if it is an upper tooth especially, I know those are easier to remove than the lowers. Something about the shape of the root and the fact that your lower teeth have been pushed down into your mouth by your upper teeth your whole life makes the uppers easier to extract.

Impacted teeth are much more of a pain to extract because your dentist may have to make an incision in your gum and possibly even remove a small amount of bone to be able to remove an impacted tooth. This is why having an erupted tooth (one that is fully "out" in your mouth and is not growing in sideways or diagonally, but straight up) extracted is a lot easier. They tend to just come right out, and don't usually require any extra extensive surgery.

If you have been sedated before, at least you have an idea of what to expect! Maybe it would put your mind at ease if you asked your oral surgeon/dentist what medicines they use for sedation, because it can and does vary from dentist to dentist (or doctor to doctor!). If you can find out what you were sedated with before, maybe the sedation the dentist uses will work better for you.

I had never been sedated before and had never had a tooth extracted. I can tell you that I was awake during the sedation but I felt very calm and at ease, and I didn't mind the fact that they were removing my teeth. I didn't hear anything scary, and I didn't feel any pain. When the doctor told me I would feel pressure, I felt it VERY slightly, and I don't even know that I would have described it as pressure - it was just "something".

I very much preferred to get this done with sedation. If I had no sedation, I can bet that I would have been in my own mind and very nervous the whole time. However, I am certain I would have felt no pain or discomfort that I didn't just bring on myself had I done it that way!

I hope that your consult went well and I hope that your extraction goes great! Please update us with your progress!