I
ilostmysoul
Member
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2014
- Messages
- 30
Hey everyone!
I have dental anxiety due to bad experiences, namely from an intrapulpal injection. I can handle normal fillings and injections well but anything that goes beyond that (like extractions or RCTs) get me very nervous.
I had 2 upper molar extractions scheduled and was terrified of a palatal injection. Thanks to this very forum I heard about electric anesthesia and ended up going to a clinic that offers electric anesthesia + nitrous oxide. I had my first appointment with the clinic owner, who was extremely nice and took the time to explain everything that was going on and what we had to do.
Told him about my trauma and he said he understood it because intrapulpal injections are quite painful. He told me I could have avoided it with an electric anesthesia, but he said that electric anesthesia would not be needed for the two extractions and that "traditional palatal injections don't hurt that much, it depends on who is doing them, but if you are that worried just get sedated". He then did a filling on my upper front tooth using laser technology instead of drills and the entire procedure (traditional anesthesia + the filling itself) was amazing, completely painless.
I ended up choosing to get sedated + electric anesthesia for the extractions anyway and was transferred to his colleague who is the only one qualified to work with the electric anesthesia. The procedure itself completely painless, the post-op was also flawless. I did a post here to celebrate that because I could not find information anywhere on extractions under electric anesthesia + NO2 and was surprised at how well it went.
Today I went to her to remove my stitches, which also went smoothly. I went in planning to talk about next steps, if implants would be necessary, how much money I should start putting aside, etc. And I got out with no answers and more questions for whatever reason. She dodged most questions other than saying that implants "would be the most comfortable option because otherwise you will lose most of your chewing ability from that side" and nothing more.
I have a tooth with a HUGE cavity that both the clinic owner + two other dentists have confirmed will need endo in October last year. I asked her if that would be the next step and she said she would look at my file and asked me to go pay and that her assistant would fill me in. She didn't. She just scheduled again in 1 month and we'll be treating a regular cavity, no RCT, even though I was told it could be urgent. I know I was probably rushed because this was a free 5-minute appointment just to remove the stitches but I still feel like some more information was necessary.
Her assistant also did something quite strange which was to push me off sedation and electric anesthesia for some reason. I understand they might be reluctant to get people sedated on nitrous willing-nilly to avoid abuse, but I have no idea why she was so adamant I didn't go for the electric anesthesia again. The difference in price is also extremely small (€10). I told her I felt comfortable with it and would like to have it again, especially in more complicated procedures, like RCT, but she just put it down with stuff like "Oh it really is not that different from traditional anesthesia". She said then said something like "Well you've been here twice and it went smoothly so now that you are more comfortable you shouldn't be needing these things".
With all due respect but I kind of feel like this was out of place. If I wanted to deal with my fears and anxiety I'd go to therapy. If I want to have a comfortable medical procedure I go to medical providers who provide more comfortable technology. All her discourse did was make me feel unvalidated and get me questioning whether or not electric anesthesia is effective. Even if it was just placebo, maybe next time I get it I'll be thinking "This is just like normal anesthesia and it will be hurting just as much". After this conversation I now feel like they do not want to make me comfortable, they want me to lose my anxiety, which is absolutely not the reason I went there.
This is kind of sad because all the procedures themselves went well but I no longer feel cared for in that clinic after today. I'm actually considering scheduling the next appointment with the clinic owner again, who I felt was the most transparent and open person in this entire process, and speak to him about this experience, and if the feeling persists I am now considering switching to a different dentist who also offers sedation and electric anesthesia.
Am I being unreasonable or overthinking/being petty? What was the point of them shooting me down and shooting down my praises for electric anesthesia when they know it made me more comfortable? I thought I had finally found a dentist I could go to comfortably to start taking better care of my dental health but I was taken aback today and still don't know how to interpret it.
I have dental anxiety due to bad experiences, namely from an intrapulpal injection. I can handle normal fillings and injections well but anything that goes beyond that (like extractions or RCTs) get me very nervous.
I had 2 upper molar extractions scheduled and was terrified of a palatal injection. Thanks to this very forum I heard about electric anesthesia and ended up going to a clinic that offers electric anesthesia + nitrous oxide. I had my first appointment with the clinic owner, who was extremely nice and took the time to explain everything that was going on and what we had to do.
Told him about my trauma and he said he understood it because intrapulpal injections are quite painful. He told me I could have avoided it with an electric anesthesia, but he said that electric anesthesia would not be needed for the two extractions and that "traditional palatal injections don't hurt that much, it depends on who is doing them, but if you are that worried just get sedated". He then did a filling on my upper front tooth using laser technology instead of drills and the entire procedure (traditional anesthesia + the filling itself) was amazing, completely painless.
I ended up choosing to get sedated + electric anesthesia for the extractions anyway and was transferred to his colleague who is the only one qualified to work with the electric anesthesia. The procedure itself completely painless, the post-op was also flawless. I did a post here to celebrate that because I could not find information anywhere on extractions under electric anesthesia + NO2 and was surprised at how well it went.
Today I went to her to remove my stitches, which also went smoothly. I went in planning to talk about next steps, if implants would be necessary, how much money I should start putting aside, etc. And I got out with no answers and more questions for whatever reason. She dodged most questions other than saying that implants "would be the most comfortable option because otherwise you will lose most of your chewing ability from that side" and nothing more.
I have a tooth with a HUGE cavity that both the clinic owner + two other dentists have confirmed will need endo in October last year. I asked her if that would be the next step and she said she would look at my file and asked me to go pay and that her assistant would fill me in. She didn't. She just scheduled again in 1 month and we'll be treating a regular cavity, no RCT, even though I was told it could be urgent. I know I was probably rushed because this was a free 5-minute appointment just to remove the stitches but I still feel like some more information was necessary.
Her assistant also did something quite strange which was to push me off sedation and electric anesthesia for some reason. I understand they might be reluctant to get people sedated on nitrous willing-nilly to avoid abuse, but I have no idea why she was so adamant I didn't go for the electric anesthesia again. The difference in price is also extremely small (€10). I told her I felt comfortable with it and would like to have it again, especially in more complicated procedures, like RCT, but she just put it down with stuff like "Oh it really is not that different from traditional anesthesia". She said then said something like "Well you've been here twice and it went smoothly so now that you are more comfortable you shouldn't be needing these things".
With all due respect but I kind of feel like this was out of place. If I wanted to deal with my fears and anxiety I'd go to therapy. If I want to have a comfortable medical procedure I go to medical providers who provide more comfortable technology. All her discourse did was make me feel unvalidated and get me questioning whether or not electric anesthesia is effective. Even if it was just placebo, maybe next time I get it I'll be thinking "This is just like normal anesthesia and it will be hurting just as much". After this conversation I now feel like they do not want to make me comfortable, they want me to lose my anxiety, which is absolutely not the reason I went there.
This is kind of sad because all the procedures themselves went well but I no longer feel cared for in that clinic after today. I'm actually considering scheduling the next appointment with the clinic owner again, who I felt was the most transparent and open person in this entire process, and speak to him about this experience, and if the feeling persists I am now considering switching to a different dentist who also offers sedation and electric anesthesia.
Am I being unreasonable or overthinking/being petty? What was the point of them shooting me down and shooting down my praises for electric anesthesia when they know it made me more comfortable? I thought I had finally found a dentist I could go to comfortably to start taking better care of my dental health but I was taken aback today and still don't know how to interpret it.
. This absolutely sounds like the best plan of action both in terms of your own treatment and in terms of making the owner aware of the patient experience and how to improve it 
