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IV Sedation appt next tuesday

M

mr_Ihatemymouth

Junior member
Joined
Oct 8, 2006
Messages
19
Hi all.

I wont go on about my fear as its all been said on my previous posts.

After 2 check ups by different dentists I finally have an appt next tuesday, to say I am worried and in a state about it is an understatement. I am trying my best not to think about it, but its always on my mind.

As its an IV sedation i`m hoping that I will be ok, I just want to go in and get sedated immedialtly and not have to talk much to the dentist or anything.

I have read lots about the sedation, but I still cant understand it, how can I be conscious while they work on me, how can I co-operate with the dentist? if i`m conscious i`m gonna be screaming , running out of the office etc. I just dont understand it.

Can anyone give me a good explanation of what the sedation is like.

Thanks in advance.


p.s I love this site, and i`m hoping one day I can make a post under "success stories"
 
I've got my appointment this Thursday for IV sedation - 5 or 6 extractions, a couple of fillings and 'a good clean.'

From what people are saying on this forum IV sedation is the biz. A friend had it done and she said, if they had told her okay we have to cut your head off now, she'd have said Whatever. She said she remembers very little and couldn't have cared less what they were doing.

Sounds good to me!
 
Hi Mr, First of all...... well done on making your appointment!
Al I can do, is tell you a bit about my appointments to try and allay your fears..... I had 3 iv sedation appointments last year, and boyyyyyyyyyy was I petrified. (have a look back at my posts regarding Iv sedation.... I posted under the name " happydancyfeet")

Your dentist will know just how anxious you are and do their utmost to help you.
Once in the chair, they will check your bp and pulse, then insert the Iv. I have a needle phobia too, but I can honestly say.......... I DIDNT FEEL IT. What seemed like 5mins later, I found myself in the recovery lounge and it was all over! I dont recall anything........ I didnt feel the local injections or extractions or fillings that were done during those 3 appointments.
Of course, some people require different levels of sedation, but the beauty of IV is, that your dentist can top up the sedation as and when needed. You'll feel relaxed and carefree and have little or no memory of the treatment.

I hope this has helped some. Keep us posted over the next few days, I know it helped me to post in the days leading up to my appointments. And I now have another appointment looming too.
Good luck
 
Back in May, I had four wisdom teeth along with three other teeth cut out. I had IV sedation. You will know when they start putting the IV in b/c you will feel like you are floating and will get warm and fuzzy. You will not remember or feel anything. You will wake up and think that there is no way they could be done, but actually the hour(s) have flown by. It was explained to me that you will be able to follow the dentist's directions, but do not let that worry you to think that you are going to feel or remember any of it. You really won't. Just think of this as a way to legally get high. I truly did not care what they were going to do once the med's started working. Let us know how it goes. You are making a good choice!
 
Everybody here is right, you really do not remember anything about it at all. My first i/v last year after avoiding anything to do with my teeth for two many years to state, I was out for nearly four hours and had major, major work done to give me a smile that I did not have to cover up. I had teeth out, root canals on my front teeth and fillings all in one go and honestly the only thing I can remember is someone asking the dentist if he wanted tea or coffee. As you come round you feel a bit funny but I walked to the car, chatted to my husband during the hour journey home and just went around in a euphoric state all afternoon. Even as the numbing went away I really was in very little pain, certainly not enough to put me off doing it again. Next time loads of fillings, a peg (?) put in and two teeth out, one being a wisdom. Third time was the start of the procedure for four implants -honestly a piece of cake. I have just managed two appointments without any kind of sedation and was told that they actually forgot my phobia and just treated me like anyone else.

Go for it, dare I say relax and enjoy it because afterwards you will feel so great, believe me. Good luck.
 
Everyone says that you don't remember anything of it, but that's only if the dentist puts enough inside you.

The last time i had it done, i can remember everything, including the needles in the gums etc, and now i won't go back.
 
Calzone said:
Everyone says that you don't remember anything of it, but that's only if the dentist puts enough inside you.

The last time i had it done, i can remember everything, including the needles in the gums etc, and now i won't go back.

Thats terrifying, but thanks for your honesty.

Think i`ll have to  cancel the appt as that has put me right off :(
 
Please don't let Calzone's statement frighten you.  One person's experience does not dictate that it will happen to you.  I've read a lot about IV sedation and really, 99% of the patients are very happy with the results.  Many say they forgot everything that was done to them and other say that they remembered some of it but they felt so relaxed and happy that nothing bothered them.  I had that experience with nitrous and believe me, I could have cared less what they were doing.  The dentist even told me I could take all my teeth out if he wanted!!  :p  Luckily he only removed the bad one!! ;D  While I haven't had IV sedation yet it will definitely be my option if I need some extensive treatment done in the future.

I hope you don't let one statement overpower all the positive ones you have read.  
You can do it and I'm sure you will then be posting in the sucess stories!

Best wishes!
Pam
 
Thats terrifying, but thanks for your honesty.

Think i`ll have to cancel the appt as that has put me right off


Please dont cancel, ask your dentist for a deeper level of sedation. Tbh......... at my first appointment I sort of felt the first local injection, so he upped the dose and I dont recall the rest of my treatment. At my 2nd and 3rd appointment, I had a different dentist and I explained this to her, so she gave me a deeper level of sedation from the start, and I can honestly say with hand on heart........ I felt nothing and remember nothing.
 
I hope you don't let one statement overpower all the positive ones you have read.
You can do it and I'm sure you will then be posting in the sucess stories!


Thanks for putting that in your reply Pam........... I forgot to lol. I started to edit my post when I spotted yours.
 
i`m so confused, some people are saying they remember nothing, some are saying they can remember but they were not bothered about it, and then calzone is saying he can remember it and now will not go back :(

I just feel so negative about the whole thing , i`m just full of bad expectations when it comes to dental work and teeth , i`m convinced that i`m gonna be posting a horror story rather than a success story.

I read somewhere that u are restrained /tied to the chair when under sedation, that terrifies me.

I`m also thinking if i`m sedated but aware, the dentist will not listen to me if I want him to stop, or if i`m asking for more sedation, as he will think I will forget it all afterwards.

My mind just keeps running through all these scenarios, and its putting me in tears.

I dont know how i`m gonna do this. :(
 
The thing about IV sedation is that the levels of it can be controlled and tailored to meet your needs. If you are completely alert and anxious they can give you more to put you under a bit deeper.  

There are probably a number of reasons why there are different experiences.  I would assume that there are a variety of medications that may be used as well as dentist's method of use and even the way the patient metabolizes it.  For me, remembering wouldn't be bad at all.  I don't want to feel pain or be gagging, as long as that is under control and I'm feeling a bit "buzzed" from the medication I would be fine with the memory of them working.  My level of anxiety makes me feel sick and nauseas and if that is eliminated I can handle the situation much better.  Many that do remember it also say they only remember little bits of time and that it seems to go by in minutes rather than in hours.

If you aren't comfortable calling your dentist and asking some of your questions, do you have someone that can?  If they are aware of your concerns perhaps they can alleviate them.  It would be unethical for them not to stop if you tell them to.  Perhaps they would need to finish up what they were working on but I can't imagine them just ignoring you in the hopes that you wouldn't remember.  Maybe it would make you feel better if the dentist's office assured you that is the case.

Imagine the good things that people have described....sitting there and suddenly feeling as though you don't have a care in the world.  You hear some idle chit chat and then before you know it they are telling you it's over.  No pain, no fear on your part only great relief that you did it and the realization that it was nothing like you had imagined.  Those are the thoughts that you need to keep running through your head!  

There are a lot of great people on here and while it sometimes gets quiet on the week-end I know there will be a lot of people wishing you well before your appt.  
Stay strong!

Pam
 
I agree that you need to focus on the many positive experiences rather than the one negative experience. I know it's easier said than done ~ I haven't even made an appointment yet myself. :rolleyes:

I just wanted to wish you well before, during and after your appointment on Tuesday. We're here for you :)
 
I am on the point of starting treatment soon and have said I want every form of sedation going. Don't want to be sort of hazy, in a happy state, sort of aware but not caring. I want to be totally out of it - completely. I hate needles, I find it hard to swallow pills.
What my dentist has suggested is for intravenous sedation with a cream being put on my arm first to make injection painless (but its the fact that a needle is going into my arm, as well as the pain that's an issue), and then she says I will be unaware of injections in the mouth and won't remember them! If I won't remember them that infers I'll be aware of them in the first place.

I had thought of general anaesthetic but she says that would mean hospital, and because I'm going private (no other option) that would add hundreds onto the bill and then problem of getting me from the hospital to the dentist, meaning delay in fitting dentures and I don't want to be without teeth for a single minute.

Could I take valium or something similar before I even get to dentist so am not really aware of the cream on the arm or that first injection. And with intravenous will I be asleep?
Your comments greatly appreciated.
 
hi scaredstiff, one of the things you mentioned is something thats also bothering me, people are saying we wont remember the injections in the mouth, like you, I dont want to be aware of them at all, I just cant understand how I can be aware and at the same time not be bothered. Every fibre of my body will want to jump out of the chair unless i`m totally unconscious.

??
 
Could I take valium or something similar before I even get to dentist so am not really aware of the cream on the arm or that first injection. And with intravenous will I be asleep?
Your comments greatly appreciated.


Hi Scaredstiff,
I had to take 5mg of diazepam the night before my appointment to help me sleep, and also took 2.5mg an hour before my appointment, but please ask your dentist regarding this so that he is aware you are taking it before the iv.  I have a needle phobia too but didnt feel the IV.  :)
Happy
 
scaredstiff, I also have a needle phobia. I would pass out every time I had a blood test ~ which wasn't very often because I just wouldn't go to the doctor unless I thought I was dying. But, not only would I pass out when having a blood test myself, I'd pass out from seeing other people get one!

Then a couple of years ago I had to have surgery, which meant a blood test a few days before surgery and an IV for the surgery :scared: My husband (at the time he was my boyfriend) had to work on blood test day, so I had to go by myself. I was worried sick and didn't know how I was going to do it.

I had to wait in the waiting room for so long I thought they forgot about me, but just as I had decided to slip out the door, they called my name. As she led me to the blood test chair, I told her that we would need to do this lying down or she'd have to pick me up off the floor. If I'm on a little bed and I pass out, at least I'm already lying down!

Thankfully, the little bed was in an area that was more private ~ the chair seemed to be in the middle of a walkway or something. I got on the bed, turned my head away and shut my eyes. And then the strangest thing happened... I started becoming very aware of my breathing. I focused on breathing slowly and fully, in and out, keeping each breath even and steady. And I didn't pass out! Yes, I could feel it, but it didn't hurt. It was never the pain of it that caused me to pass out anyway. I guess by focusing so intently on my breathing I was reducing my anxiety level enough to get through it. Whatever it was, it worked, so when I had to go in for the surgery (and the IV) I did the same thing. And it worked again!

It might sound crazy, and I don't know why it worked. I'm just glad I found a way to get through it. Maybe if you try focusing on your breathing, it will help you get through it, too.

Of course, I'll still ask to lay down if/when I have to do it again. ;)
 
Hi Mr,
Just wondered how you were doing today? Sending positive vibes your way :grouphug:
 
hdf2 said:
Hi Mr,
Just wondered how you were doing today?  Sending positive vibes your way   :grouphug:

Hi mate, cheers for that ,nice to know I have support here.

Its now 9.45 pm, and appt is tomorrow at 10.50a.m. I dont know how i`m gonna get through tonight, and I dont know how i`m gonna feel in the morning. My mum is picking me up at 10 a.m and I think thats when I`m gonna seriously start turning my underpants brown.

The dental office rang me today at work to check I was still ok for coming in, I wanted to tell them i`m coming but i`m terrified, but couldn`t as I have not told anyone in work where I`m going. I had been trying to not think about it in work but after the call I just felt really down and anxious.

Whats the best way to handle tomorrow, I keep thinking if I dont worry enough , `ill be overwhelmed at the time of the appt. But i`m also thinking worrying will do no good.

I`d like to promise myself not to worry until the sedation starts, and then if I feel like it I can worry then , but I just cant do it.

Really really hope i`m making a happy post on here on wed morning when I get back home.

But even if its not good news i`ll still be honest and post.
 
Well done for not giving up! :jump: I bet you won't regret. Have my fingers crossed for you. Looking forward to reading your success story! :thumbsup:
 

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