Fear of not being able to swallow during dental treatment

[scrambledmeg]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and need advice ASAP!
I am very prone to cavities and have had a lot of work done on my teeth (I'm only 25).

I've never liked the dentist, but it's only been the past year that my dental anxiety suddenly became really bad out of nowhere.
In January I went in to get a cavity drilled and I was panicking due to not being able to close my mouth to swallow, and gagged while the drill was in my mouth. My anxiety had NEVER been this bad before.
I also needed a root canal on #10, and the dentist recommended me Xanax because there would be a rubber dam in my mouth. But I've put off getting the root canal out of fear, and because I've never taken Xanax and don't know what it's like, and I also have a really hard time swallowing pills due to feeling like I'm gonna choke. It's frustrating because I know these fears are irrational.
I had a root canal when I was 15, and although it wasn't fun, I never had these issues. But now 10 years later my anxiety has gotten so bad.

Then on November 22 I finally went in to get the root canal and 7 new cavities that needed to be filled.
I tried nitrous oxide for about a minute or two but it was making me more anxious, because of how "thick" the air felt - it felt hard to breathe in. I have a fear of not being able to breathe. But then when I took the mask off, the high felt good. I just didn't like how it felt breathing it in..
He gave me shots (I'm fine with shots/needles surprisingly) but it made my left nostril numb, which freaked me out because I couldn't feel my nostril getting air to breathe. Then the dentist tried to insert the rubber dam (I didn't have the nitrous on anymore) and I was panicking because I couldn't close my mouth to swallow, and finally told him I can't do it. And he said "We're done. We're done." and left the room and didn't say goodbye to me. Then I went home bawling and beating myself up.

So I searched for a new dentist that offers sedation, and I went there yesterday. Their website says they have both IV sedation and general anesthesia. I asked the dentist about IV sedation, but for some reason he gave me forms to fill out for the general anesthesia instead. I'm confused, are they the same thing? The general anesthesia (being completely knocked out) is $700 an hour, and it'd be at least 3 hours. I can't afford that!

So I am looking for advice about what I should do for my anxiety when it comes to getting a root canal and cavities, and not spend $2,100 on anesthesia.
Should I take Xanax, Valium, or Halcion? Will it really help me?
My main issue: Not being able to close my mouth to swallow. Using the suction thing for my spit doesn't help me feel better. I feel the need to be able to close my mouth to swallow.
I need something that helps me not care at all about what's happening, and not think about needing to swallow. Nitrous wasn't working for me sadly. Maybe if I had tried it longer, I would've liked it.

Thanks in advance <3

 

[JunkMel88]

Hi @scrambledmeg I’m in the same boat. Did you ever find something that helped you?

 

[RootcanalFear]

I posted a few weeks ago under "Can you swallow with a dental dam on during a root canal?" as I was hoping to hear from people who could confirm that they could swallow, as I was very afraid of attending my root canal appointment. I didn't get that confirmation from anyone but was able to confirm for myself last week when I attended my second attempt at a root canal on my lower molar.
I had a panic attack on my first attempt and had to leave.

It was my medical doctor who prescribed an oral sedative and not the endodontist as the one I saw does not use any sedation at all. My doctor prescribed lorazepam, which is the generic name for ativan. The lowest dose is .5 mg but I was given 1 mg to be taken sublingually (under tongue) 1 hour before appointment and if I was still anxious when I arrived, it was okay to take another one at the office as it starts to take effect within 10 minutes. I took the second dose but not sure if I really needed to but wanted to make sure I would be okay once they put the dental dam on.

I had also been practicing breathing exercises to calm myself so that helped as well. On the advice of my medical doctor, I asked the endodontist to give me a few minutes to practice swallowing and breathing with the dam in place prior to starting the procedure and prior to lowering the chair. I was extremely happy to discover that I could swallow with the dam in place with no difficulty at all.

I know it was the sedative that made the difference as I was calm enough not to panic when the dam was inserted in my mouth. The endo then told me I could swallow whenever I wanted thru the procedure and I did so about 6 times without having to signal to stop. I didn't have any difficulty swallowing but had to time it between drilling etc but that was not a problem. I was there 1.5 hours but it went by very quickly. I have full recall of every minute and think I could probably do a root canal without sedation now that I know I can swallow just fine on my own with the dental dam in place and my mouth open.

Again, it was my medical doctor who convinced me to try again with lorazepam as he told me he had a lot of patients who could not do dental procedures without it. It was also my regular dentist who contacted the endodontist and asked him to give me a second chance using the oral sedative. The endo then phoned me to say he was willing to try again but wasn't convinced the oral sedative would be enough sedation. I am extremely happy and relieved that it was enough in my situation but I was also very motivated to get the root canal done as the other dental options were very complicated and very expensive.

 

[charlesvalley]

I actually purchase a bit block on amazon. I need to least practice the sensation of having my mouth open for a long time