Need to get back molar removed and freaking out

[shelblub]

My dentist has recommended me to an oral surgeon, I have already had my wisdom teeth out but one of my very back molars (on the bottom left side) is beyond repair and needs to be removed by an oral surgeon. According to my dentist, I have more than a couple nerves wrapped around that tooth and very long roots. He said it will be likely that the tooth will need to be removed in pieces and require stitches. For a few years as a kid, I had a sadistic dentist who liked to hurt me unnecessarily (poke me in the arm or leg with the teeth instruments, squish my hand, let the numbing stuff wear off) and he would laugh and smile while he did it. He pulled many of my baby teeth as a kid and now that I need to get this one pulled, all of those memories and traumas are coming back and I am just absolutely terrified and in the middle of a panic attack. Can someone tell me if they have experience with the whole "extra nerves wrapped around the root and going to need stitches" situation. How long does this process take? What will my day be like afterwards? Will it be like my wisdom teeth where I am numb down to the base of my throat and can't even spoon a smoothie into my mouth hours later? Please someone talk me through this logically and honestly so that I can have some answers before meeting this surgeon.

 

[elizv]

I've had my wisdom teeth out and two molars. One by an oral surgeon and one by a dentist. My wisdom teeth I was young and recovered quickly even though they were impacted. The other two took a bit longer but it was not a big deal. I was drinking smoothies after with ease. Try not to worry. It won't be super fun but it wasn't that bad.

 

[FearfulInMA]

I just had my first non-wisdom tooth out about 6 weeks ago. It was a bottom back molar and I was told I have very, very long roots - likely the reason the root canal in that tooth failed. I was unable to be properly numbed for either of my bottom wisdom teeth so I was terrified that the same would happen for this tooth. I also knew it would likely need to come out in pieces and would require sutures.

It took about 45 minutes between getting numb and the extraction itself. The tooth came out in many pieces (it also had a crown on it so that came off in pieces too). The dentist was able to get me mostly numb - I was numb from my chin to my ear and felt nothing for about 95% of the extraction - which, for me, was as good as I could have hoped for. My extraction was late in the afternoon. I went home and went to sleep for the night - I had been so exhausted from the anxiety that I just crashed. The next day I drank smoothies without a problem. I still have a big hole that good gets caught in, but it's not at all painful, just annoying.

 

[janchan]

I also received rough treatment from dentists (one in particular) that led me to have dental phobia. I have to say, though, that dentists seem to be a lot gentler than in those days. Regarding your extraction, I had to have 5 back teeth extracted last year. Because I had open-heart surgery 6 months before the extraction, I had to either stay awake during the procedure or have it done in a hospital if I required full sedation. I decided to try staying awake and have nitrous. They numbed me up and let me get pretty loopy on the nitrous before they started pulling teeth. I didn't feel a thing. I hope you have the same experience.

 

[Ldr]

I had all of my upper teeth removed in the dentist office with just novocaine. Some were broken etc but other than a pulling sensation, I was in no pain. Took just over an hour. I'm not very brave about the dentist so I surprised even myself! Dentist said any pain raise hand and she would stop, never needed to stop. Try to breathe and not worry.