Nervous About My Wisdom Teeth Extraction Next Week

[elfduchess]

First, I've gotta say that just reading some of the things here has made me feel oddly better. Not even just the success stories, but just knowing that I'm not alone in all this. (Even if my worries are a bit different than what I've read.)

So, I've only been to the dentist three times before in my life. (And the first time I don't even remember it.) Once was about ten-twelve years ago to get an extra fang removed (and it wasn't a bad experience, but it was also pretty simple and I already knew the dentist. He's since died so I can't go back to him) and the other time was earlier this week when I went to get my teeth x-rayed and got a referral to a dental surgeon as the dentist I went to doesn't do that. (It wasn't a bad experience, either. The receptionists and technicians were great, but the dentist himself was a little...abrasive.)

I've got an appointment for next week, Tuesday, and...it's not even the surgery itself that I'm nervous about. (At least, not really. Sure, I'm a little worried about the sedation (that I requested) not taking, because I know myself well enough to know if I don't go now and get it done, it will never happen. (I told my mom to tell me that, no matter what I say, she has to tell me I have to go.) And they need to come out because they are partially erupted and will never completely erupt.)

For me though, the worst of it is everything that leads up to it. (And, I know myself and I know that I will be fine when the exam/surgery, whatever, actually starts. It's just the lead-up. You know, panicking for nearly a week.) I have social anxiety, so having to deal with people I don't know isn't going to be fun. I'm super worried because my appointment is just before one and unless I get up earlier, I won't be getting breakfast - and skipping meals makes me feel dizzy, but if I get up earlier that just leaves me more time to panic. I also get migraines and I'm so worried that I'll get a migraine that day - not to even go into my panic about my mouth being numbed because migraines make me feel numb, so that will remind me of one.

The office I'm going to is in a town I've never been to before - so that's adding to my general anxiety. Also, I don't have a photo id and I was told I need to take one and I literally do not have one so I'm just hoping that's for insurance reasons (which I also do not have - so there's some worry about the cost, too). Then I'm worried about the pain and the recovery. (And, strangely enough, I'm worried that I won't have enough stuff to keep my attention and I'll be bored, because I probably will be home from Tuesday to the next Monday. Thankfully, time to recover isn't a problem.) (And the fact that I'll have a follow-up the next week.) (...And I can't help but feel a little guilty that my mom's the one that has to take me and that means her store has to be closed the entire day. That guilt's compounded by the fact that in my family you don't go to the doctor unless you're dying. <---Only slightly hyperbolic. And, in fact, I know my father would tell me not to go, and I'm not really sure my mother approves. So...yeah, that makes it a little difficult.)

I feel so strange saying it, but the thing that bothers me the least is the actual surgery because, hopefully, I'll be totally out of it for that. I'm trying to distract myself, but at the same time, I'm trying to get prepared. You know, I'm going to be stocking up on food I can eat and getting books/games/shows lined up. Tomorrow/or Monday I'm going to read everything pertaining to wisdom teeth extraction on the dentist's website, so that should take some of the edginess off.

If you've actually reached the end off all this, thanks. I just needed someplace that I could vent/word vomit that I wouldn't be judged for the way I feel - and I am super glad I found this place.

 

[Lexie35]

Elf Duchess, I think you're right. The time waiting for it to be done is the worst in my opinion. I got a total of 6 teeth pulled around 6 weeks ago, 2 were wisdom teeth. I was only supposed to get 4 front teeth pulled but she offered to pull 2 wisdom teeth while I was frozen so I agreed. I was super scared but it wasn't that bad. For one of my wisdom teeth, there was little pressure. For my other one, there was crazy pressure which she warned me of. By the time I said 'ouch', it was out. Come to think of it, I dont even know why I said ouch because it didn't hurt. It was more annoying & I think my mind was telling me it should hurt. Also, the healing time for me wasn't bad either. But in saying that, when the freezing was wearing off, I immediately took the medication that was prescribed. The worst part I found was trying to not get food stuck in the socket. The odd time it still happens and it's been weeks. Good luck. Please keep us posted.

 

[CDA489]

Hey there, well done for making sure you go and take care of this! I got three teeth out on Tuesday, two of which are wisdom teeth. I also had IV sedation and was very very anxious about the entire. I mean crying, reading everything on here, crazy high heart rate. That being said, it's going to be okay. To be honest, I have experienced no real pain, maybe mild discomfort but here's how it went.

I was nervous about the IV sedation but also wanted it too, it went really smoothly. First I was hooked up to some laughing gas to chill me out, then she did the IV, just a pinch! She did anti-anxiety medicine first then the sleepy stuff. I think I was almost fighting sleep for a minute or two there and then suddenly I woke up to them putting gauze in my mouth. I don't remember a thing! I felt a little groggy and a little confused, but no fear and no pain. I've had anxiety most of my life and always resisted taking medication, but honestly those anti-anxiety meds she pushed in that IV? Amazing. I felt so calm. I think I even made a joke to the surgeon about it before I fell asleep. I didn't act loopy like on those videos, the silliest thing I did was text my best friend about wanting to be in the park with the flowers and said something similar to my husband.

Recovery so far has been breeze. Luckily for me the bleeding stopped quickly, an hour after I got home I ate some ice cream and started taking the pain killers to get ahead of the pain. I kept on the pain killer schedule for 48 hours and rested. I opted for liquid like foods because the only discomfort I really had was from chewing, I did mashed potatoes, pudding, ice cream, soups etc Day three I did some mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, soft foods. Day 3 I also switched to just taking Advil. To be honest I probably didn't NEED it , but it kept that mild discomfort away.

Today is day 4, I ate soft foods for breakfast and I'm seeing some clients at work tonight (I'm a psychotherapist so trust me if I was in pain I couldn't hold sessions and be talking) that I'm not concerned about. I even took part in a conference call on Day 2 and was fine. I read the post op directions very carefully and have tried to follow everything exactly. Fingers crossed I'm in the clear for dry socket, hopefully.

As far as not being able to eat before and feeling faint etc that was a concern of mine too, the day before I made sure to drink a ton of water and forced myself to eat a good dinner even though I was anxious, luckily this was enough to get me through until the appointment.

My full experience is on the Success Stories page. I wish you the best of luck and promise it'll be okay!

 

[Enarete]

You seem to really know yourself very well, that's fascinating. Your precautions being made for the purpose of your future you not being able to avoid the procedure are really impressive.

I understand the point of your anxiety and it seems to have to do with the unknown and unfamiliar and with fear of the fear, is that right?

For the part of dealing with people you do not know. Obviously the only thing that would help would be to get to know the people you will be dealing with. In this case this will be complicated since you cannot just hang around in the clinic to get to know the people. But maybe there is a way to make you feel as you would know them a little bit.. do they have pictures on their homepage? Do they have a blog? Maybe some videos? My dentist has a blog and I literally analyzed every word to get a feeling for what kind of person he is. I would also watch every video I could find where he was on and even listen to their technical presentations to implants etc. to get familiar with his voice. I would look at pictures of the entire staff and try to imagine them moving etc., just everything that would give me the feeling of seeing people I know. This might be difficult if they do not offer too much materials to see on their homepage but maybe you can find something.

For the place, which is unfamiliar too, would you get a chance to do a small trip there and just have a look around? And maybe look at the clinic building? If this is not an option, you can use street view and go for a walk virtually. I used this excessively with my practice which is in a distant town too and I also use every possibility to look at pictures of my dental clinic.

Breakfast.. is there a way you could get breakfast without getting up earlier or without having to stay up? Maybe eating something very early in the morning and then going back to sleep?

Are there things that would make a migraine less probable on that day? Could you get pain medication against migraine very early if any occured?

And could you get in touch with your practice to get a clarity about why they need an id and how to deal with you not having one so that this point is controlled too? And also information about the costs - can you find out which range it will be?

These are just questions and ideas, the point is to get prepared in as much detail as possible to reduce as many unknowns factors as possible and to get as much control as possible. You seem to be doing this already and I am sure you have your experiences and do not really need much advice with this anyway but maybe there was something helpful for you, at least knowing you are not alone.

All the best wishes for Tuesday and keep us posted

 

[elfduchess]

Elf Duchess, I think you're right. The time waiting for it to be done is the worst in my opinion. I got a total of 6 teeth pulled around 6 weeks ago, 2 were wisdom teeth. I was only supposed to get 4 front teeth pulled but she offered to pull 2 wisdom teeth while I was frozen so I agreed. I was super scared but it wasn't that bad. For one of my wisdom teeth, there was little pressure. For my other one, there was crazy pressure which she warned me of. By the time I said 'ouch', it was out. Come to think of it, I dont even know why I said ouch because it didn't hurt. It was more annoying & I think my mind was telling me it should hurt. Also, the healing time for me wasn't bad either. But in saying that, when the freezing was wearing off, I immediately took the medication that was prescribed. The worst part I found was trying to not get food stuck in the socket. The odd time it still happens and it's been weeks. Good luck. Please keep us posted.

Thank you! It's great to hear how painlessly things went for you. (And I can just imagine how annoy it would/will be to get food in the socket.)

 

[elfduchess]

Hey there, well done for making sure you go and take care of this! I got three teeth out on Tuesday, two of which are wisdom teeth. I also had IV sedation and was very very anxious about the entire. I mean crying, reading everything on here, crazy high heart rate. That being said, it's going to be okay. To be honest, I have experienced no real pain, maybe mild discomfort but here's how it went.

I was nervous about the IV sedation but also wanted it too, it went really smoothly. First I was hooked up to some laughing gas to chill me out, then she did the IV, just a pinch! She did anti-anxiety medicine first then the sleepy stuff. I think I was almost fighting sleep for a minute or two there and then suddenly I woke up to them putting gauze in my mouth. I don't remember a thing! I felt a little groggy and a little confused, but no fear and no pain. I've had anxiety most of my life and always resisted taking medication, but honestly those anti-anxiety meds she pushed in that IV? Amazing. I felt so calm. I think I even made a joke to the surgeon about it before I fell asleep. I didn't act loopy like on those videos, the silliest thing I did was text my best friend about wanting to be in the park with the flowers and said something similar to my husband.

Recovery so far has been breeze. Luckily for me the bleeding stopped quickly, an hour after I got home I ate some ice cream and started taking the pain killers to get ahead of the pain. I kept on the pain killer schedule for 48 hours and rested. I opted for liquid like foods because the only discomfort I really had was from chewing, I did mashed potatoes, pudding, ice cream, soups etc Day three I did some mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, soft foods. Day 3 I also switched to just taking Advil. To be honest I probably didn't NEED it , but it kept that mild discomfort away.

Today is day 4, I ate soft foods for breakfast and I'm seeing some clients at work tonight (I'm a psychotherapist so trust me if I was in pain I couldn't hold sessions and be talking) that I'm not concerned about. I even took part in a conference call on Day 2 and was fine. I read the post op directions very carefully and have tried to follow everything exactly. Fingers crossed I'm in the clear for dry socket, hopefully.

As far as not being able to eat before and feeling faint etc that was a concern of mine too, the day before I made sure to drink a ton of water and forced myself to eat a good dinner even though I was anxious, luckily this was enough to get me through until the appointment.

My full experience is on the Success Stories page. I wish you the best of luck and promise it'll be okay!

Thank you! It's great to hear that yours went so smoothly. (And your recovery sounds like it's going amazingly well so far - hope it stays that way!) Anti-anxiety medication is definitely something that sounds good - so if the dentist doesn't bring it up, I'll ask about it if I think I need it.

 

[elfduchess]

You seem to really know yourself very well, that's fascinating. Your precautions being made for the purpose of your future you not being able to avoid the procedure are really impressive.

I understand the point of your anxiety and it seems to have to do with the unknown and unfamiliar and with fear of the fear, is that right?

For the part of dealing with people you do not know. Obviously the only thing that would help would be to get to know the people you will be dealing with. In this case this will be complicated since you cannot just hang around in the clinic to get to know the people. But maybe there is a way to make you feel as you would know them a little bit.. do they have pictures on their homepage? Do they have a blog? Maybe some videos? My dentist has a blog and I literally analyzed every word to get a feeling for what kind of person he is. I would also watch every video I could find where he was on and even listen to their technical presentations to implants etc. to get familiar with his voice. I would look at pictures of the entire staff and try to imagine them moving etc., just everything that would give me the feeling of seeing people I know. This might be difficult if they do not offer too much materials to see on their homepage but maybe you can find something.

I kind of did this. After finding out who my dental surgeon would be, I checked the website and found his bio - which includes a picture - and read it. It did help, I think, especially because the dentist looks friendly and he sounds really ... capable? Skilled? There's not much else on the website, but at least it was something that helped.

For the place, which is unfamiliar too, would you get a chance to do a small trip there and just have a look around? And maybe look at the clinic building? If this is not an option, you can use street view and go for a walk virtually. I used this excessively with my practice which is in a distant town too and I also use every possibility to look at pictures of my dental clinic.

Considering it's like a two hour drive, one way, there's no way I'd get the chance to go there before my appointment. (I have seen pictures of the place, but never thought about street view. I'm definitely going to try that!)

Breakfast.. is there a way you could get breakfast without getting up earlier or without having to stay up? Maybe eating something very early in the morning and then going back to sleep?

Are there things that would make a migraine less probable on that day? Could you get pain medication against migraine very early if any occured?

And could you get in touch with your practice to get a clarity about why they need an id and how to deal with you not having one so that this point is controlled too? And also information about the costs - can you find out which range it will be?

These are just questions and ideas, the point is to get prepared in as much detail as possible to reduce as many unknowns factors as possible and to get as much control as possible. You seem to be doing this already and I am sure you have your experiences and do not really need much advice with this anyway but maybe there was something helpful for you, at least knowing you are not alone.

All the best wishes for Tuesday and keep us posted

Honestly, knowing I'm not alone helps more than any advice could, so thank you! And you have given me a few other things to consider, so I do appreciate that.

 

[elfduchess]

Just dropping a note to let everyone know I'm going to be headed for my appointment tomorrow - and thanks so much for the kind words and advice. Also, my recovery time will be at home, a home that doesn't have internet. Which means that, while I'm recovering, I will not be able to let you guys know how things have went. But, I do have high hopes that things will go smoothly. (I just have to keep telling myself that these oral surgeons do this kind of stuff every day and the number of extractions without complications far out number those with complications.)

I've got plans for eating a good dinner tonight and maybe a bit extra before I go to bed, because I'm hoping I'll be in bed well past my 6-8 hour cut off point. (And I've been making sure to drink lots of water today.) And by now I've just reached the point that I want it over with and want the worrying/anxiety done.

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Wishing you the best for this ElfDuchess and that everything goes smoothly with procedure and healing !! We will be thinking of you !

 

[Enarete]

You are already on the other side by the time you read it (well done!), sending good vibes anyway, may you recover quickly. Let us know how it went as soon as you get back to an internet access!

 

[thedogdemon]

I had some sorta teeth issue when I was in junior high school, and boy the pain and such sucked. I had one side swell and such. I was so glad my parents had insurance for me then. I had to go to a dental surgeon and was thankfully put under for it. I was not as nervous as some people get since I knew I'd not remember anything when I was put to sleep. I did go see a regular dentist and such first before all of that dental surgery.

No issues since that as a junior high schooler but as stated I likely need a filling or a tooth extraction done for this one tooth. I was unable to afford dental care and am going to go next month since this dentist has a special going on which makes it cheap. I am in no pain at all, thankfully.

I hope it went well. If you're going to be given laughing gas or put under just look at it as you'll hardly remember it at all happening.