• Dental Phobia Support

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I’m hoping to find an answer. I’ve looked everywhere.

I

Isanyonehome

Junior member
Joined
Jun 20, 2024
Messages
2
Location
Massachusetts
Hello all I’ve been browsing this forum and it has helped me so much. I finally registered to see if I can get some help.

I have avoided the dentist for years and years. I have dental anxiety because of an experience I had 12 years ago. That’s not super important though. It wasn’t the dentists fault.

I have been going to the dentists lately and working with my therapist and getting better.

I am about to get some actual work done. I need a lower right molar root canal and lower left molar extraction. When I get fillings I get carbocaine. No issues. I had issues with lidocaine in the past. I’m not allergic it just made me physically uncomfortable with the side effects.

My lower left molar was referred to a surgeon for extraction. It is broken to the gumline. I didn’t tell my surgeon ahead of time I needed carbocaine. When I got there he pulled out the needle. I was calm and asked if he could use carbocaine as it’s what my dentist uses. He said no. I started to get scared because of my last reaction with the other numbing stuff and had an embarrassing panic attack.. I don’t think he knew I was having a panic attack but I can tell he was surprised that I had to leave. I apologized so much to him but I don’t know if he understood.

Anyway, ended up moving since then and going to a different surgeon. It is scheduled in 3 weeks. I already asked about carbo and the lady on the phone said it was fine, but she isn’t a doctor so I’m scared I’m going to get there and they won’t use carbocaine.

So my question is. Can carbocaine without epinephrine be enough to surgically extract a lower left molar? I know molars need more numbing. Did my other surgeon just not have the time to get it set up? I get plenty numb from carbocaine I think. But I’m not a doctor so I’m not sure. I’m asking because if carbocaine will not work I’d need to find alternatives to get this pulled.

Side note, I’m not afraid of the pulling, pain, blood or needles. Just the effects of the epinephrine in the shots. Thank you so much and sorry for the book. I’m really trying my best to work through this and thank you ahead of time (:
 
Can carbocaine without epinephrine be enough to surgically extract a lower left molar? I know molars need more numbing
Sure. You can get it with Felypressin which does the same job as Epinephrine without the potential side effects of Epi.

These days I would choose Articaine over anything else, seems to work much better and wears off more nicely.

Quite possibly your first OS didn't have any Carbocaine lying around. Give this one a bit more notice so they can order you in some non-lignocaine alternatives?
 
@Gordon thank you so much for your response. This put me at ease more than you know! I gave my surgeon a heads up so that would give them time in about 3 weeks. The tooth doesn’t hurt so I have been putting it off but I’m excited to get it removed and get one step closer to dental anxiety freedom. Thank you Gordon!
 
Great, I hope it all goes smoothly for you.
 
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