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I absolutely cannot believe I'm posting this....... PLEASE READ

T

tabatha7

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 3, 2010
Messages
905
Location
US
After three years of being absolutely terrified of having my bottom wisdom teeth removed.... they are finally GONE!!! I still cannot believe this. First and foremost... the most important thing you can do is find a good oral surgeon that you trust. Please don't ever settle for someone that might have good technical skills but has no compassion for their patients. I almost made that mistake. If you have read my thread then you probably already know I had a consultation with an oral surgeon and it went terrible. He scared me so bad I left more terrified than when I came in. He made it clear he did not care about the comfort of his patients and refused to top up the local anesthetic if I needed it while sedated. Can you imagine that? This is an oral surgeon that has a good reputation for being one of the best! Anyway, I left feeling scared, alone and depressed.... not to mention trapped. I would have rather died than have them out at that point. Well... I had to go to my general dentist for a filling and I discussed all this with him. He was very kind and attentive. He told me about a new oral surgeon in town saying he had not met him but had talked to him on the phone and said he was very nice and I should think about it and possibly call him. I agonized for two days scared to death and having severe panic attacks over it. I finally plucked up the courage to call his office. I googled his named and got the office info. When I called his office number they had mistakenly placed his personal cell phone number as the office number. LOL I got him directly. He was very gracious and kind. I told him a bit about myself and the first words out of his mouth were.... "I will take very good care of you". I asked him about topping up the local anesthetic and he said he absolutely would as well as place pain meds through the iv. He told me he would be able to tell exactly how I was feeling by all the monitors they would have on me. Then he gave me his office number. I called them and his office staff was incredibly kind too. I got such a good feeling about him that I started to actually consider doing it. Well, I had a long wait because this was the end of Nov and I had to wait until Jan so my husband could take off and be with me. Needless to say I had many panic and anxiety attacks so I had to take xanax when it got really bad. Today was the day of my appt and I can honestly say.... all that worry was for NOTHING. I know you have seen this many times in here but it is absolutely true.

My os gave me a valium for the night before and morning of the surgery. It did help quite a bit. I tried to stay up all night last night so I would be tired this morning but I couldn't. That says right there that the valium worked. Took another one this morning an hour before my surgery as well as a zofran (for nausea) and my blood pressure pill. I was scared but I actually did pretty good until we got there. As soon as I saw the office my hands started sweating and my stomach started turning flip flops. We did not have to wait long. My husband took care of the financial stuff and I paced the floor. There was no one else in there. They finally came and got me and wow. I was so scared my heart rate picked up. They weighed me and took me to the chair. I did not sit down immediately as I had a bit of a panic attack. I hesitated for a few minutes but the nurses were very nice and patient. I finally sat down. Then they started hooking me up to all the monitors plus the blood pressure cuff. I said please tell me I'm going to wake up. The nurse was very nice and said you are. You are going to wake up. Then the oral surgeon came in. He was very nice and answered some of my questions. He looked at my hands and arms. Apparently it took him a while to find a vein that suited him. He finally found one and put the iv in. Not sure why but they did not put any of the numbing stuff on me first. It's ok though because I was not afraid of the iv. I must say though that it did sting a bit. Nothing I couldn't handle though. Then he put in some meds that did sting. He told me I would not feel any pain and everything was going to be ok. I forgot to mention they had the oxygen/nitrous on my nose too. For some reason nitrous just doesn't do that much for me. Anyway, when he put the meds in the iv I started feeling them work. It was really weird but felt good to me. I felt my heart rate slow down a bit and I got really sleepy. I said... wow.... LOL The os asked me if I felt it working and I said.... yeeeeaaahhhhhh. LOL The next thing I knew I was waking up and he was finishing up. I could hear the drill but it did not scare me at all. I felt NOTHING. Then it was done. I woke up easy... meaning it wasn't difficult and I didn't feel that out of it. It truly did seem like time passed so quickly. I felt like I had been asleep about 15 minutes or something. I felt a little sleepy and woozy not much but i felt very lucid and understood everything. I'm telling you the actual procedure was ridiculously easy. I'm 45 years old and my teeth were partial bony impactions meaning they had to remove some bone. My teeth had been in there for years and it was easy easy easy. Propofol is the bomb!!! LOL I had the best oral surgeon ever! He's awesome! and i'm not just staying that from being high on meds. LOL I really cannot believe I was so scared for so long. I feel like the biggest boob in the world for that. :redface: All you have heard from me and others is absolutely true! The wait and worry is the worst part. I had deep sedation with propofol. The procedure was so incredibly easy. I should have trusted everything my os told me. However, the first os I saw broke my trust and made it difficult. This is why I say finding a good os that you trust is highest on the list. I'm so glad I found this os. I could have never even considered having this done if it had not been for him. At this time I am still numb and cannot attest to the recovery yet. My os told me the recovery is the hard part so I will come back and update on the recovery experience. Please please please... let this sink in. If I can do it.....ANYONE can do it. Nobody on earth could have been more scared than me. I wish this kind of experience for everyone here. I felt no pain whatsoever not even the locals. I can't believe it. So easy. This website has been invaluable to me. I have met some good friends here that have helped me every step of the way. So many kind and helpful people. If you have any questions please feel free to send me a private message. I want to help anyone I can that is going through what I went through with terrible fear. Will be updating on the recovery. Patti, thank you for being such a good friend through this. :XXLhug:

p.s. I was able to share this because I'm still numb and taking pain meds. After it all wears off I might not be able to write for a while but I will answer so don't give up on me.
 
:jump::grin::dance2::dance2:

Yeah !!!!!!!!!!!!!! So happy to hear !! I looked at my watch this morning at work at around 8:30 and thought of you- wondered all day how you did. So glad to hear this news.... Now take care of yourself and get lots of rest !!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Yes, ma'am... i promise. Thank you for being such a jewel. I appreciate all the help you gave me. :XXLhug:
 
I'm so glad to hear that it went so well! You have been in my thoughts all day and I specifically logged into the forum to see how you did! I'm so glad that your experience was as easy as mine! Good for you for facing your fear and going through with it. I bet it feels good to have such a huge weight off your shoulders now. You should feel proud of your accomplishment! Congrats Tabatha! :jump::jump::jump: Get lots of rest and keep up on your pain meds! :hic:
 
Thank you so much, Kitkat and your story helped me a lot. Yes, you have no idea how good it feels to have this over with. I really never thought it would happen.
 
Didn't I tell you last week that you were going to be posting here?????
Great job, you should be proud of yourself!!!!:you-rock:!!!!!!!!!!
 
Yes, you most certainly did, Jen. Can't thank you enough for all the encouragement. You have been a real sweetheart. :hug5:
 
I am really excited to hear you did so well :jump:I think your story and many other ones like yours will help those who are in need of care for their teeth. It is perfectly normal to have some kind of fear for the dentist, be it because are teeth are in bad shape, be it because we haven't gone it awhile, no matter what though we have to push through that fear.

If you can do it anyone can. They just have to explain to their dentists their fears and see what their options are. Sometimes it may seem like it's taking forever to finish and other times it will seem like you've only been there fifteen minutes or so. We all can overcome a fear if we put our mind to it.

Congratulations on having your wisdom teeth taken out and I wish you a speedy recovery!
 
Thank you so much, Flamingshadow! I truly do hope that my experience can help someone else. It is my desire to help others that are struggling with this like I did. I hope if anyone needs someone to talk to they won't hesitate to contact me.
 
Congrats on your sterling success!!! Fabulous, fabulous news. It's absolutely mindblowing isn't it? All the anxiety, years of dread, and then "POOF", it's over and it's all good!!

BH:XXLhug:
 
Yes, it is. I must admit I was very shocked at how easy and painless it was. When I started waking up he was still finishing up and I could hear the drill but I felt absolutely nothing. I was literally sick for months over this. I had nights that I could not sleep and would wake up throwing up. It was torture. Of course now I feel silly but it was that fear of the unknown and known negatives. All the numbness has worn off now thank, God.
 
UPDATE ON RECOVERY: :party: Day one went amazingly well. I had a little soreness but no pain. I have been strictly following all my post op instructions. Took my meds as soon as I got home and am taking them as directed. Kept ice packs on 20 min on and 20 min off for first 24 hours. Slept in my recliner as to keep my head elevated as instructed. Only ate when I had to take my ibuprofen and had pudding cups ect.. Rested as much as possible. Set an alarm on my phone to remind me to take my pain meds even at night on good advice from friends here. Anyway, have pretty much had no problems.

Today is day two and so far everything is still going great! I have now stopped the ice packs and am starting heating pad for tenderness when needed. I brushed my teeth this morning which staying well away from extraction sites. It felt good to have clean teeth. Have not had any trouble opening my mouth so far. Also started the salt water rinses today. That felt good as well. My doctor warned me that day 3 would be the worst so will have to see how it goes tomorrow. Plan on keeping up with my pain meds regularly and using heating pad when I need it. I am still in shock at how easy everything has been so far. My meds make me sleepy and feel good. They don't make me feel "out of it". I'm taking lortab which is a combination of hydrocodone and acetaminophen. (how funny just as I typed that my alarm went off to remind me to take one lol) I also have ibuprofen 800mg to take 3 times a day with food. They gave me zofran for nausea but I have not needed them at all as I have never felt nauseated. I am starting to feel some more soreness but it's not painful. Hoping I don't wake up tomorrow in pain but my Dr. did tell me it hits its peak on the 3rd day. Thank you so everyone for the good thoughts and prayers. You are a treasure. :XXLhug:
 
:XXLhug: thank you for keeping us updated. I have an appointment to see the oral surgeon on 30th jan and lovely stories like yours make me feel better about the whole proceedure. I've been waiting since the beginning of december so getting impatient now :)
I'll be having IV sedation too :)
 
What will you be having done, Blackcat??? I hope you have a good experience and easy recovery as well.
 
Great story! And I wanted to ask, you mentioned here and on your other post that it felt like you took a 15 minute nap, but I didn't catch how long it actually did take. I know for whatever reason lots of us think that these procedures will take a long time (like traditional surgery) when in fact they do not. I know the last time I had an extraction (one where the tooth had broken off at the gum and looked like 2 teeth because the roots had separated from one another) it seriously took him longer to give me the local and wait for it to work than it did to actually remove the teeth. I bet they hear "wait, that's it?" more than any other statement!

Mike
 
The oral surgeon told me it would take about 30 minutes to extract both teeth. I think most of the time took for getting me ready and all the monitors hooked up, iv in ect... I don't know for sure but I'm guessing it probably took about just what he said for the actual extractions. When I drifted off to sleep it seemed like I just woke up a few minutes later. You know how when sometimes you nod off to sleep for a few minutes then wake up suddenly? But I must say that I did not wake up with a start or anything. It was easy and I felt good.
 
I'm having my two upper wizzies removed. They're over erupted as have no lower ones (none show in xrays either- phew!) and now keep giving me jip, but because I'm not in pain continuously (only when I try to eat lol!) it's not classed as an emergency. Tell you what, eating one small bowl of noodles a day for two months is a very effective if not recommended way to lose weight! :ROFLMAO:
 
I know... I lost weight through out this whole ordeal from knots in my stomach. It is an awful experience when you are going through that kind of fear but it is a very effective diet. I'd rather not do it that way though. lol I hope your experience will be easy. I feel like it will be. When I had my upper wizzies out a few years ago it was very easy. My only problem was that the os hurt me on the right side and wouldn't stop when I waved him to. If it had been a different os it probably would not have happened. If you have a good dentist I think it will be a good experience for you. Let us know how it goes.
 
One thing I forgot to mention is when it was over and I woke up my doctor put a steroid and some tordol in my iv before they took it out. Tordol is a pain medicine.
 
Never had it before but toradol is a good pain killer..at least according to my wife as this was the only thing that touched her kidney stones and they even gave her dilaudid which didnt help one bit. See, my big issue is that I am a side effect phobic,. I hate medicine and the side effects they cause. In all my extractions I have refused pain killers. Only ibuprophin, xanax, and tagamet is all I will take easily. Really nervous about that.

Mike
 

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