Frustrated and need to vent...

[deano85]

Question. How long does it take for a sedation appointment...
Answer. Around 5 months aparently....

Its my own silly fault i know, but its just frustrating.
Back in November I cracked a tooth. Not wanting to get into previous situations i quickly and nerviously called the dentist.
A few days later i was in and being told it would need extracting as the crack went below the gumline and was recommended sedation again to have it done, along with a small filling they found. I was told there was around a 2 month wait for it.
Within a week the side of the tooth fell away leaving 1 side and a sharp filling from previously

Uncomfortable christmas followed with extreme paranoia... no pain, just a little unconfortable...
By jan everything had Smoved off , But i started to call the dentist that does the sedations to see how long... no record...
Called every tues for the next 4 weeks to be told the same... eventually in feb i was told my details were there, but theres a 5 month wait...?
Now, as i have been avoiding that side of my mouth its caused another issue... that ‘small filling’ has become noticable last weekend... having a look a small piece has come off the top, seemingly just the enamal(?).
Now, i cant decide which side of my mouth to use, really not enjoying eating at all, in fact id rather just not bother.
Just so frustrated with the whole situation, which of cause would be fine if i just had it sorted in nov like a normal person...

Sorry, just felt like i needed to vent and write it down.

Dean

 

[Enarete]

Hi Dean,

this sounds really frustrating! Feel free to vent, it's always good to write it all out and that's one of the reasons why this forum is so amazing...

You said your dentist recommended sedation so I am wondering whether you as well feel sedation is necessary for you to be able to cope with the treatment.

Also, is there any chance of you finding a different place? Or maybe switching to nitrous or trying oral sedation if that would make you able to get the treatment sooner?

Last but not least: please do not be hard on yourself. It is not your fault and there is nothing silly about it. Not feeling able to go despite of knowing it is necessary and even tolerating discomfort of all kinds before going, that's how dental fear works. What I see is that you keep on trying, you saw a dentist and you kept on calling them. You are doing your best and that's all it's about.

Keeping my fingers tightly crossed for you to find a possibility to get the work done soon. Hang on there and keep us posted

 

[deano85]

Hi, ithink she recommended it as she knew i had it before, and i prob didnt come accross as the most confident patient....
I thought about trying without but it was always in my mind the ‘she’ recomended it... was there another reason? It the tooth right at the back at bottom (no wisdoms)
If it was just a filling that had been cought at a checkup i may have tried, but it took me all by surprise and left me on the back foot so sedation was the only way it was ever going to go i think...

 

[Enarete]

This is the point I was thinking about it. Dental treatment is a situation that involves two parties: You, with your fears, your ability to cope, the things you need to feel comfortable during the session and also the things that happen if you get too nervous.. and your dental team with their preferences, abilities and perceptions of your fear.

If a dentist recommends sedation, it can be either because they suspect you not being able to stay cooperative enough (it is hard to work with someone who needs a break every three minutes, keeps on jumping out of chair etc.) or to take the treatment mentally (no dentist would want to make your fears worse or cause you to not be able to come back) or because they feel the work would be easier for them if you just stayed calm. They may also recommend it because they simply always do so when it comes to nervous patients. This is why I asked.

You know yourself and your fears the best. You also know the best, what stresses you out when it comes to a treatment and how you behave when you feel uncomfortable. Getting sedation or not should be your decision and you will also know the best whether you feel able to cope with the treatment without sedation (or with a different kind of sedation, like nitrous or oral sedation). At the end, the most of this is about trusting your dentist and find a way to work together. 5 months would even be enough to get help from a mental care provider to ease your fear.

Putting it together it might be a good idea to keep on looking for a place that can help you earlier, be it with sedation of any kind or without.

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Hi Deano,

When was the last time you had a dental treatment done (such as a filling) without sedation and fully conscious?

 

[deano85]

Prob ages about 11, never in my adult teeth...

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Prob ages about 11, never in my adult teeth...

the biggest problem with dental anxiety is avoiding the dentist. Avoidance behavior is not only not showing up to dental appointments but also sedation is a form of avoidance.
What Enarete was trying to motivate you is to switch from avoiding to coping behavior.
Since it has been so long since you have been to the dentist, it seems more challenging and frightening to make this step of facing the dentist but I am certain that if you find a gentle understanding dentist who will work with you and show you what is the dental treatment is really like.
Please allow me to invite you to visit my website treatyourdentalfear.com , I truly believe you will benefit from it.

 

[Snowball]

Hi, ithink she recommended it as she knew i had it before, and i prob didnt come accross as the most confident patient....
I thought about trying without but it was always in my mind the ‘she’ recomended it... was there another reason? It the tooth right at the back at bottom (no wisdoms)
If it was just a filling that had been cought at a checkup i may have tried, but it took me all by surprise and left me on the back foot so sedation was the only way it was ever going to go i think...

Dunno if this will help, but here's my experience. I didn't go for over 20 years and had only had one bout of treatment under GA in my adult life, ten years before that. I thought even sedation sounded barbaric - would rather be out for the whole thing. But ten years ago, I realised I had to try and face this and this forum is the only reason I eventually got up the courage to go.

I needed an extraction and quite a few fillings, one or two of them deep. I found a dentist who specialised in nervous and phobic patients and was qualified to do sedation, so I opted for the sedation and the dentist reckoned she could do everything in one appointment, whilst I was sedated.

Anyway, the big day came - 11 years ago next month, I think it will be. And I went and was sedated. I was so nervous it didn't 'take' at first but the dentist just calmly said "Oh I know what I can do" and the next thing I knew, I was out like a light (or thought I was). Somewhere in the second hour, I slowly became conscious and they were still working away. And I realised... hang on, I can't feel anything. Nothing. Nada. (My fear is feeling what they're doing).

I think the dentist realised it had worn off but I was now so relaxed the local worked brilliantly anyway and I just sat there, in the chair, smiling, as they did the last filling etc, realising I had been an idiot to worry as things are so advanced now that it's all painless, anyway.

And I never paid out for sedation again. I have since had other procedures including an emergency root canal on an infected tooth. No pain. Nothing. Not a twinge. Absolutely painless.

I keep my eyes tightly shut and I take my phone or iPod and play music or an audiobook. Sometimes I don't even bother with that. I also no longer bother with the topical numbing gel before an injection as I don't like the taste and the needle doesn't bother me in the least, anyway, I realised.

The very skilled dentist letting the sedation lift was doing me a huge favour. I know in the back of my mind, if I needed a procedure that worried me I can always now opt for sedation. But with routine stuff, I never asked for it again.

The hard part truly is going through the door, and facing finding out what needs doing. Then that first time you have something done - but once you have some treatment, with a dentist you trust - you don;t need sedation.

My current dentist (original one moved abroad) is not a specialist in nervous patients but is the best I've had. He says he doesn't hold with sedation as it doesn't help you deal with the fear. I think he is right.
ETA: I just read that back and realised... If I had a shorter appointment under sedation and so it had stayed 'heavy' right to the end, I'd have only vague memories of that first appointment. But also, I wouldn't have realised that sedation was unnecessary. My dentist reckoned at the time that she might not be able to do it all in one appointment and she only just managed it, I think, continuing to work when it lifted, because I was lying in the chair grinning my head off (as far as you can with someone working on your teeth!) Because I felt utterly free for the first time in my adult life - the thing I'd feared the most had turned out to be a paper tiger. Totally. If the sedation had 'worked' as strongly two hours in, as it did for the first hour or so, I'd never have known I didn't need sedation. And nor will you.

 

[deano85]

So the plot thickens
Phoned today, as its been nearly 5 months, just to see how things are moving...
Turns out there sedation guy left early march and i need to contact my orig dentist for re-referral... called them and they knew norhing about it, so asked me to call the sedation dentist back and send a letter...
Maybe its just not ment to be...

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Maybe its just not ment to be...

I agree

 

[letsconnect]

Sorry to hear that your dental practice messed up and that you're still in limbo .

I don't think Daniel meant to give up, but that perhaps you could try without sedation to speed things up.

However, if you've got your heart set on sedation, of course do push for your appointment to be arranged asap. Did you call the sedation dentist back? What did they say?

 

[brit]

So sorry to hear this. There are other types of sedation. It may be a simple extraction which you could cope with just by taking a valium prescribed by your medical GP. I think you have waited long enough for these 2 incompetent practices to take action and that even if you still want to go NHS, you should try somewhere new; unless you particularly liked the dentist you saw back in November who may well have moved on now anyway. If you have the option of paying for a private dentist, you could probably get things arranged much more quickly. Again you likely don't really even need sedation, just someone kind and painless who will treat you with TLC with or without a valium.
https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/help/sedation-dentistry/
https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/help/find-a-dentist/

If you have the energy, you should probably send a letter of complaint to whichever body oversees NHS dental in your part of the UK. You have had a shocking lack of service.
You have wasted enough emotional energy on this tooth. I would suggest it may be a kindness to yourself to try with just local anaesthetic. Best wishes.

 

[Travie87]

I feel ya OP. My teeth are so bad I can't chew properly. I am not sure I am a candidate for nitrous oxide. I am gonna have 14+ teeth removed many rotted to the gum line.

 

[Dr. Daniel]

I agree

I am sorry, maybe my reaction was too short.
As much as sedation seems to be tempting and an easy solution, that is not always the case. Sedation requires more technology, skilled professionals, a patient who is in a suitable physical and mental state. Oral sedation and sometimes IV sedation do not reach the desired the goal of knocking the patient out. Add to that more clinical limitation given by sedation such as not being able to check the bite or the aesthetics during the procedure and the fact that sedation is not suitable for short and easy appointments.
In short deano85, I want to encourage you not to use sedation but to a real human commination with the dentist.
I strongly believe there is no substitute to the human factor and the human ability to overcome difficulties and challenges, provided of course that the dentist as well as the patient are committed to the goal of making the dental appointment a positive experience.

 

[ReginaPhalange]

Sorry you've had to go through so much.

It was about November that I broke a third tooth (the first was about 15 years ago and I never dealt with it). It started to hurt a little and I realised I had to do something this time or my whole mouth would fall apart.

I found a dentist online that said he had a special interest in nervous patients. When I made the appointment I didn't even know if I was going as an NHS patient or private (with no way to pay if I did). But when I got there they gave me NHS forms to fill in.

I presumed that the only way I would ever get anything done would be if I was completely knocked out. Everything scared me. But they didn't offer sedation and I didn't ask. I think I was too in shock at actually being at a dentists that I couldn't say more than 2 words. But I had a good feeling about the dentist.

I went a week ago for root canal treatment and I couldn't believe it. Not painful, not difficult or scary, and my good feeling was right. He was calming, reassuring and gentle. And I have no qualms about going back this week for part 2.

I'm not saying don't get sedated. I can only speak from my own limited experience, but maybe think about it.

A few months ago, I would have probably read Dr Daniel's reply and thought that's great, but I'm different. I just can't do it. Now I fully agree with him, the human factor makes a big difference.

All the best with getting the best treatment possible, with or without sedation, and without too much of a wait.

 

[deano85]

Any idea how long im looking at being in the chair for a small filling and an extraction?
I know its hard to tell, but am i looking at 10mins or an hour?

 

[Jennypin]

I think that is a question to ask the dentist who will treat you. The local anaesthetic needs time to work before the filling or extraction is done, then allow possibly 15 minutes for the filling if it really is small,and from 5minutes upwards for the extraction depending on how easy it is and then allow time for any bleeding to stop and you feel ok. Some dentists work more quickly than others.

 

[Jennypin]

I am a retired dentist by the way !

 

[brit]

Or you could ask to do two shorter visits. They might have only put them together because you were supposedly being sedated.

 

[deano85]

Evening.
So last week i found out the sedation dentist left, i done some phoning as my dentist said they needed a letter, the sedation place said they would email something across...
Well they didnt, so ive kind of gave up with them.
Called my dentist who said cant do anything without a letter, but could have me in for a checkup and maybe get the ball rolling again...
Had a checkup, turns out the extraction has turned into a filling... so ‘just’ 2 fillings...
She said about sedation again, i said i was thinking about not as it had dragged on too much already... she said i could find out the time (kind of pushing me towards sedation tbh)
But i insisted i wanted to ‘try’
Long story short, i have a 30min appointment on the 9th may :-O
By the way she was talking the tooth that cracked was going to the the easiest with “hardly any drilling” to ‘rebuild’ whatever that meant and thd other needed cleaning and filling , which im guessing is dentist talk for “drilling” lol
Putting it all out of my mind for now, but def second guessing myself about the decision.

What exactly can i expect to happen in that half hour?
Cheers