• Dental Phobia Support

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Horrific experience today at the dentist.

L

Lilith

Junior member
Joined
Jun 15, 2016
Messages
1
I just joined to vent about this..

I had some anxiety about going to the dentist. I'm in my 30's and had some major work done as a teenager but never as an adult. I went in to have two top wisdoms extracted (one has a massive cavity though it doesn't really hurt) and some cavities filled.

The dentist gives me shots. My face goes numb and my eye droops, but I notice I can still feel my gums and tongue. He comes back in, I lay back, he starts to drill.

IT HURT LIKE DAGGERS OF ICE IN MY MOUTH. It was terrible! I told him it hurt. He said it was unusual, and numbed me up some more. I waited.

He came back, drilled again. It hurt even worse than the first time! I was crying out. Suffice to say, we agreed there would be no tooth extractions that day.

He wants me to go under general to have it done, but given that general is very dangerous I don't know what to do anymore. I'm really stressed about this. My mouth is in absolute agony from the fillings (my cavities were tiny and didn't hurt before) and the numbess is only just starting to wear off. My freaking nose is paralyzed. I hate this.
 
Is there any chance that your body might not be able to tolerate the type of Local Anesthetic he used? I heard there's at least a couple types of LA that are used out there and LA allergies/issues with LA are rare but not unheard of.

Or is there any chance that you might issues with getting numb?
 
Hi Lilith -

So sorry, that's a horrible experience :XXLhug:

Was it a bottom tooth? From how you describe it, I wonder if it could have been poor injection technique on the part of the dentist? There are 3 big nerve branches that supply your face, one branch covers your nose & eye, and a different branch covers your lip, tongue & bottom teeth. From the way you said that your eye was droopy but your tongue was not numb, it sounds very much like the wrong nerve branch was numbed up.

Note that I'm *not* a dentist, just a patient so I may be talking nonsense! Hopefully one of the dentists will chip in on this one (or maybe you could post it in "Your dentistry questions answered" section so they spot it) - but I'd suggest trying a different dentist, if my hunch is right then this one's injection technique is not up to scratch but a better dentist might be able to help you without the need for general anaesthetic.

Have you ever had problems like this before?


Meanwhile, be kind to yourself and take it easy, those sorts of experiences can hit hard x
 
Just wanted to add: since your nose did go numb and your eye drooped, it sounds like the local anaesthetic drugs were effective for you and you are able to tolerate them...but they weren't in the right *place*!
 
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