New - need extractions and am terrified!! (negative experience inside)

[Molli]

Hi,

Glad to have found this forum.. It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one with these fears.

So basically.. I have a really bad anxiety/panic disorder in GENERAL and am scared of most things.. but the dentist is pretty much at the top of the list of scary things. I was supposed to have a root canal 4 years ago and never did because I was too afraid.. (before that I did see the dentist and got a few fillings but nothing major. A new dentist joined the practice and drilled into my nerve when I wasn't numb and that started this phobia.) Anyway, I never got the root canal and now my tooth is badly broken and dead.. and there is no bone supporting it. I need to have it extracted. Along with my wisdom teeth.

I went today to an oral surgeon to get the infected tooth extracted and had a horrible experience. They started giving me nitrous oxide, and I had never had it before so was scared of that too.. the dental assistant asked if i'd like for the dentist to explain how I would feel on it and I said yes. She went over to him and asked if he could and he said "oh she's such a pain" In a really annoyed tone.. and then came up to me all smiley and started to explain. At this point I started feeling the nitrous in a really negative way and told him that I had heard him.. and then I became really dizzy and tried to remove the mask and started crying hysterically. He told me to leave the mask on! and then refused to give me the novocaine and told the oral surgeon to do it. The oral surgeon gave me 4 shots of novocaine and I was not numb. He then came back and started giving me more.. and one he jabbed in really hard and it hurt so bad I reached out and shoved his hand away out of reflex!! At this point I still wasn't numb but he said ok, enough needles, let's just extract it. I said I wasn't numb and asked if it would hurt and he said "well you're getting a tooth removed of course it will hurt!" At this point my anxiety was through the roof. He said he'd waited long enough and had other patients to attend to and wanted to know now if I was going to let him extract it. I'm shaking and crying like a baby at this point.. and I just say no. I'm not. He flips the light off and just walks away and I'm left to find my way out of the office on my own. Noone said a word to me.

So yeah. At this point I still have this horrible infected tooth.. and NEED to do something about it or it will probably kill me. Has anyone had this degree of fear and overcome it?? I'm so upset. Sorry for the long post.

 

[ScaredyCat22]

Hi,

Glad to have found this forum.. It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one with these fears.

So basically.. I have a really bad anxiety/panic disorder in GENERAL and am scared of most things.. but the dentist is pretty much at the top of the list of scary things. I was supposed to have a root canal 4 years ago and never did because I was too afraid.. (before that I did see the dentist and got a few fillings but nothing major. A new dentist joined the practice and drilled into my nerve when I wasn't numb and that started this phobia.) Anyway, I never got the root canal and now my tooth is badly broken and dead.. and there is no bone supporting it. I need to have it extracted. Along with my wisdom teeth.

I went today to an oral surgeon to get the infected tooth extracted and had a horrible experience. They started giving me nitrous oxide, and I had never had it before so was scared of that too.. the dental assistant asked if i'd like for the dentist to explain how I would feel on it and I said yes. She went over to him and asked if he could and he said "oh she's such a pain" In a really annoyed tone.. and then came up to me all smiley and started to explain. At this point I started feeling the nitrous in a really negative way and told him that I had heard him.. and then I became really dizzy and tried to remove the mask and started crying hysterically. He told me to leave the mask on! and then refused to give me the novocaine and told the oral surgeon to do it. The oral surgeon gave me 4 shots of novocaine and I was not numb. He then came back and started giving me more.. and one he jabbed in really hard and it hurt so bad I reached out and shoved his hand away out of reflex!! At this point I still wasn't numb but he said ok, enough needles, let's just extract it. I said I wasn't numb and asked if it would hurt and he said "well you're getting a tooth removed of course it will hurt!" At this point my anxiety was through the roof. He said he'd waited long enough and had other patients to attend to and wanted to know now if I was going to let him extract it. I'm shaking and crying like a baby at this point.. and I just say no. I'm not. He flips the light off and just walks away and I'm left to find my way out of the office on my own. Noone said a word to me.

So yeah. At this point I still have this horrible infected tooth.. and NEED to do something about it or it will probably kill me. Has anyone had this degree of fear and overcome it?? I'm so upset. Sorry for the long post.

Hi Molli welcome to the forum
I can not say I have over come my fear or I would not still be here. But I am sorry that happened to you and that you had to see such an uncaring inconsiderate unprofessional dentist. No one should be treated that way. I recently had to have a tooth extracted because of shoddy dental care and I am still not over it and never will be over it. A dentist caused me a vertical root fracture and I had to have it extracted because of that/
But when I went to the oral surgeon to be rid of my tooth was the quickest easiest most pain free dental experience I have ever had. So all I can tell you is not all oral surgeons or as heartless thoughtless and careless as the one you saw and if your tooth needs to go you really should get rid of it.

 

[Molli]

Thank you for responding! The thing is.. I bet the actual extraction of my tooth wouldn't have been painful.. it was just everything leading up to it.. up until the end where he was holding the tooth extractor up and rolling his eyes at me. All combined it was just way too much. I didn't feel safe at all!! All of the staff were making inappropriate remarks about other patients as well. It took so much courage for me to finally agree to go.. and I had every intention of following through. Very upsetting.

 

[ScaredyCat22]

Oh I totally know what you mean. I was terrified when I went to get my tooth out, and although the oral surgeon was nice his office workers were giggly young girls who thought it was funny that I was so afraid. I really didn't appreciate it at all. my heart was pounding out of my chest and I thought I would have a heart attack. they had attached a blood pressure cuff to me and it was scary watching my blood pressure go higher and higher with each reading.

 

[Molli]

Did you just have local anesthesia? and did the injections hurt?? I swear he gave me 10 shots and I still wasn't fully numb.

 

[ScaredyCat22]

I had local, he was really good with the shots. He only gave me 2 shots and they were not very painful. I also had nitrous but it did not work on me at all. I was not relaxed or light headed or anything and the office girls laughed at me for wanting it and said he only ever gave it to children not adults. I wish I had known it doesn't work on everyone because it was not covered by insurance and cost me an extra 95 bucks for nothing.
I was so scared I would feel something because I've had 6 or 7 shots just for a filling before! and they hurt! He checked first to see if I was numb and when he took my tooth I didn't feel a thing. I squeezed my eyes shut tight because I didn't want to see the scary looking tools, and I gripped the arm rests so tightly I'm surprised I didn't break them off. My heart was pounding out of my chest but I didn't feel a thing and didn't even know that my tooth was out until he told me that he was going to give me 2 stitches. He was really good and really fast.

 

[Colin65]

What an appalling way to be treated, I would never go back to a so called dentist like that, for some of us that's the whole reason we now have a phobia.

Please research and find another dentist who actually cares about his/her pts, despite an awful experience you did very well and should be proud of the fact.

Best wishes.

 

[Molli]

What an appalling way to be treated, I would never go back to a so called dentist like that, for some of us that's the whole reason we now have a phobia.

Please research and find another dentist who actually cares about his/her pts, despite an awful experience you did very well and should be proud of the fact.

Best wishes.

Hi Colin, thanks for replying. Unfortunately I don't have dental insurance, and money is a real problem. I was working with a private program here that helps out financially with dental issues. I only had the choice of 2 oral surgeons.. the other guy had horrible reviews so I went with this one. I don't think this program will work with me anymore, because I didn't follow through with the procedure and walked out. I really feel like the only way I can get this tooth taken out & my wisdom teeth is to be completely sedated.. and there is no way I can afford that. I'm feeling pretty hopeless at the moment.