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First dentist visit in 28 years

W

Waffles47

Junior member
Joined
Oct 7, 2021
Messages
1
Location
California
Yesterday, I had my first dentist visit in 28 years. I picked a female dentist that had a reputation for being good with phobic patients. I took a Xanax when I arrived. I cried while, I waited in the waiting room. I cried when they took me to the chair. I cried while I got X-rays. I cried when the dentist came into the room. The dentist was great with my crying and very reassuring. I asked her if she could prescribe me something for anxiety. She prescribed trazodone. I need a root canal. She gave me a referral with an endodontist that she works with. He does also does conscious sedation with trazodone. I came home and read all his reviews on yelp. He has outstanding reviews. Everyone talks about how great he is and that they didn't feel any pain etc. One women left a review that he talked her out of sedation and promised her that she wouldn't feel any pain. She agreed to no sedation and was happy with her decision. She didn't feel any pain. This review scared the fire out of me. I don't want to be talked out of sedation, even though it would be way more convenient. I am also crying just thinking about calling for the consultation. I don't know if I can do this again and humiliate myself by crying through another consultation. What do I do?
 
No one can talk you out of anything! You’re the patient and if you want sedation, I see no reason why the dentist wouldn’t agree to it. As far as the root canal goes, you can do it! Its like getting a filling, only a bit longer and more drilling. No big deal, seriously.
 
Congratulations on managing to visit a dentist after 28 years - that must have been sooo hard! No wonder you were in tears ?. Your new dentist sounds lovely!

As for sedation, that's a very personal choice. You're the expert on what will work for YOU, so if you're certain that sedation is the way to go, then go for it! Some people have the opposite experience and agree to sedation because they feel they're being pushed into it and they don't want to make a fuss, so for them, "being talked out of it" is a welcome way out of their dilemma (which is what may have happened to the person who wrote the review). I suppose dentists who are interested in helping nervous patients, over the years, develop a sixth sense of who might benefit from sedation and who might do better without. Just because one person was "talked out of it" doesn't mean that this is the overall approach the endodontist takes.

Maybe you could email him beforehand and let him know how you feel (also about the crying and the possibility of humiliating yourself)?
 
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