Not dealing well with the prospect of wisdom teeth removal

[JessicaB]

Re: Need to go back but I'm stuck!

Well it's now been four days since the second bite adjustment, and I'm too scared to test the tooth out on anything hard or chewy, though I was eating a hot cross bun last night which was a bit crunchier than I was expecting, which worried me.

I have a bad feeling that I've now entered a cycle of pain, go back to the dentist, try something conservative, more pain, go back to the dentist, try something slightly less conservative, more pain, go back....and it goes on.

It's not that I don't agree with this approach, it's just frustrating and no doubt frustrating for the dentist too.

I THINK I like and trust my dentist enough and also that I've come far enough that I can deal with it at least, just as long as I don't end up losing the tooth.

 

[JessicaB]

Wisdom teeth removal and difficulty swallowing tablets

My dentist has advised me that I should get my wisdom teeth extracted soon and largely thanks to people's feedback on here, I am staring to feel a lot less nervous about the procedure itself, for which I am very grateful. I am however scared of the potential pain afterwards because I have a lot of trouble swallowing tablets at the best of times and I'm worried I won't be able take any pain relief after the procedure.

Does anyone else have this problem with tablets and if so, were they offered any alternatives such as a liquid pain meds? I really don't know if there is such a thing available as I don't have a lot of experience with doctors and dentists and pain relief and things, and I don't even usually take paracetamol.

As this fear is largely what prevented me from visiting the dentist during my 20s, this is really starting to play on my mind leading up to my next appointment. I would really appreciate any reassurance or advice that will help me keep my next appointment and not neglect my dental health again because of this particular issue.

Thanks

 

[FinnishGirl]

Re: Wisdom teeth removal and difficulty swallowing tablets

Liquid painkillers do exist, but as far as I know they are meant for kids so you'd have to drink quite a lot of it. Liquid paracetamol tastes awful but in Finland it's available without a prescription. I did the math for you, if there is the same stuff available you would have to take 25-40 ml for the normal adult dose. There is also a version you put to a glass of water and drink it. That's for adults. I tried to find other liquid painkillers but didn't find yet, exept for one made by a Finnish company so you won't probably find it. Hope someone else will have better suggestions!

 

[Deb89]

Re: Wisdom teeth removal and difficulty swallowing tablets

It was difficult for me to swallow a bit, but I found it was easier to fill my mouth with a bit of water first...shove the pill in (not really!) and swallow that way. Since my mouth was still numb, I did this over the sink, haha!

 

[Alexandra1973]

Re: Wisdom teeth removal and difficulty swallowing tablets

Around here, a lot of pharmacies give you the option of flavoring the medicine. Grape? Cherry? No problem!

 

[ianto]

Re: Wisdom teeth removal and difficulty swallowing tablets

i have a painkiller you can buy over the counter called co-codamol, yes i'll admit they do not taste the best but they are good, my mum can't swallow any type of pill so she uses these, she tends to use the smallest amount of water possible and then take a drink of juice afterwards but you can deffo buy them over the counter

 

[JessicaB]

Nervous about meeting oral surgeon

I have been lucky enough to find a great dentist I trust and feel comfortable with, but at my next appointment he is going to refer me to an oral surgeon to have my wisdom teeth removed. I am very nervous about meeting the oral surgeon as I've convinced myself that they're not going to be as nice or understanding as my regular dentist, and that I'm not going to feel comfortable with them. This is probably and unfair assumption, but I really can't help feeling this way. I am very nervous with medical doctors too whcih doesn't help given that as far as I can tell, many oral surgeons (in Australia anyway) are also medical doctors.

As my next appointment with my regular dentist gets closer and closer, the more nervous I am about this situation and I'm not really sure how to deal with it.

I just wish my regular dentist could do the extractions for me, but that doesn't seem to be the way things work here (particularly where there are impacted teeth involved) and my dentist also doesn't offer IV sedation anyway so it's not really an option.

 

[Stress Doc]

Re: Nervous about meeting oral surgeon

Hello JessicaB:

I can understand your feelings since the OS is unknown to you. You seem to be comfortable with your dentist and trust them.

I will give you my view on referrals. When we do a referral of one our patients to a specialist we are very careful. Here is why.

Our reputation goes with the referral. If the patient is treated poorly it is a reflection on us. We take good care of our patients and are very careful with their care.

We like to have good ongoing relationships with specialists since we can do a lot of referrals. The specialists know this and treat our referrals well since we are a source of new business.

If we have poor reports from patients we will not refer to that specialist anymore. This information travels very fast in the healthcare community. If you treat people poorly it is a quick way to lose business.

I would speak with your dentist about your concerns and ask them about the OS and how many people they have sent to them. Your dentist can also contact the OS and communicate your concerns. This is very common and not out of line.

You should also have a consult with the OS before the procedure. If you do not feel comfortable with them ask you dentist for a different referral.

Remember you are in control.

Take Care

 

[JessicaB]

Re: Nervous about meeting oral surgeon

Hi Stress Doc. Thank you so much for your reply. There is a lot of logical and useful information in there to help me deal with my fear, which I know is largely illogical. I hadn't really thought about referrals in that regard before, and the way they reflect on the referring dentist. Being a professional person in a relatively small industry myself, I know all about professional reputation and how important that is, and I also know that most of the time, it's a pretty accurate reflection of someone's work practices. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain this process to me.

I also thank you for reminding me that I am in control. If I had been aware of that ten years ago at the age of 20, I never would have shyed away from the dentist in the first place due to the fear of getting my wisdom teeth out, I simply would have advised the dentist that I wasn't ready to do it yet, and then I could have continued to get check-ups and cleanings rather than just ignoring it all for 10 years. So it's really important for me to be reminded that I am in control at all times. I also didn't consider the option of asking for another referral if I don't like the first oral surgeon I see. It really helps to know that I do have that option, even though hopefully it's not one I'll need to use. Thanks again.

If anyone else has any other words of wisdom I'd love to hear them!

 

[JessicaB]

Less than a month now - starting to feel very anxious

So my first maintenance cleaning and check-up appointment since conquering that first initial appointment is now less than a month away. This in itself makes me slightly anxious, but the fact that I know this appointment will bring a more in-depth discussion about my wisdom teeth and the referral to the oral surgeon and all of that is making me extremely nervous. This is something I've been putting off for about 10 years and the fact that it's so close to becoming a reality is now constantly on my mind. Once that appointment in June is here it's going to be all too real and I'll have to actually face it. I know it's going to be a very nervous next few weeks.

On a positive note, I feel I'm much better able to face it than I was ten years ago, as at that time, it didn't even seem like an option to actually go through with something like this. I'm also very thankful for all the fabulous feedback on IV sedation, as I think this is going to make things a lot less stressful for me - no need to go to hospital, but also no need to be totally awake and totally aware of what is going on.

Any words of support, advice or 'wisdom' (sorry, bad pun!) would be very much appreciated.

 

[Stress Doc]

Re: Less than a month now - starting to feel very anxious

Hello Jessica:

Good job on dealing with the first appointment. Do not waste time stressing yourself out over what may happen. You are going to have a cleaning and a chat.

You are pre-programming the next few weeks to be difficult. This does not need to be the case. You can choose to make them the best weeks you have had in a while. This is a choice that you have. Choose a better option by dwelling on success, pleasure and happiness. You have total control over you thoughts and beliefs.

Your wisdom teeth options will be examined. There are many options. Wisdom teeth removal is a very easy procedure. The techniques today make the job much more simple than a few years ago.

You said you are much better prepared than you were a while ago, excellent. Make a list of all the ways your life will improve when this behind you. I am sure you can come up with many ways your life will improve.

Also, the OS does thousands of wisdom teeth every year. They are as routine to them as putting your shoes on is to you. This is a proven procedure. There is almost zero risk, you take more chances when you drive to the store.

You are going to be fine and will do great.

Blessings

 

[littlestar88]

Re: Less than a month now - starting to feel very anxious

Hi
I was freaking out about my check-up and cleaning...and I was absolutely fine!

 

[JessicaB]

Feeling embarrassed for not going back sooner

In January I had a filling done and it has caused me problems even since. Initially it was too high, but I forced myself to go back twice and have it adjusted. The process itself wasn't difficult but I found it difficult to ring and make the appointments, and the second time I ended up arranging it via email. I specifically asked the second time how long I should leave it to see if it settled down before making another appointment, and I was told about a week. I waited about a week and it had got a lot better so I never went back. It has got better still since then, but it's still not perfect and is still sensitive to pressure sometimes, particularly with very hard foods and it also seems to be worse when I hit to tooth in a certain spot or at a certain angle. I noticed it was particularly bad when eating corn chips the other day, I never realised they were so much harder than other types of chips (or crisps I guess, depending which country you're in!).

So it's now been three months since that second adjustment and I do plan on mentioning at my appointment in less than a few weeks, but I feel embarrassed that I was told to come back in less than a week and I just left it. I know my dentist won't be rude or mean to me about it, because he is lovely, but I still feel bad about not doing the right thing and it makes me nervous.

Also a little worried about the 'where too from here', because he didn't seem to really know why the tooth was hurting, and seems to suspect it may be cracked, but wasn't sure. He didn't do an x-ray but I've read that small cracks generally don't show up on x-rays anyway.

 

[JessicaB]

Appointment is less than 2 weeks - really scared now

It's less than two weeks to go til my hygienist appointment and check-up with the dentist. Yesterday my boyfriend told me that my gums look inflamed. To me they look ok, certainly a lot better than they did before and they haven't been bleeding when I brush for months now (except for a couple of times in one area around a partially erupted wisdom tooth). I am now very scared about the cleaning and hearing about how my gums are doing and that they may not have come as far as I had hoped. I have to keep reminding myself that my boyfriend is not a dentist or a hygienist!

I am also scared about finding out more about my impacted wisdom teeth and how difficult they might be to remove. I know that 30 is not the optimum age to have them out as the roots will be fully grown and the likelihood of complications will now be higher, but I can't turn back the clock so I just have to live with that.

I'm really not looking forward to the next week and a half and really need some support leading up to this. When I got the text to confirm my appointment I didn't hesitate to do it, but it's now starting to feel so real and I'm worried I might be tempted to cancel or postpone, which I really don't want to do. My work is also very busy and stressful right now. I can't work out if that's a good thing or a bad thing, perhaps it is a good thing though as it might help me keep my mind of this a little bit.

 

[littlestar88]

Re: Appointment is less than 2 weeks - really scared now

Hi
I had a checkup and hygenist visit about 2 weeks ago. It was absolutely fine. I had a cleaning 3 months before and and a checkup 6 months before and the dentsist was surprised i was worried...he said it was very unlikely anything would have cropped up and if it had it would have been on the 'watching it' scale as it would be so miniscule!

So im sure it will be fine. Was your boyfriend being serious? Mine has said some really daft things like he said he thought my dentist had been on the news for malpractice as a 'joke!' Not particularly funny! I wouldnt worry you can tell by the lack of bleeding when brushing that there getting better!

Don't worry too much. i got into a right state with my check-up and it really wasnt worth it!

 

[JessicaB]

Re: Appointment is less than 2 weeks - really scared now

Hi Littlestar, thanks for your reply...yes he was being serious and showing genuine concern, even though I REALLY didn't want to talk about it. It does still appear to be a little bit puffy right in the centre bit. I did some reading on this and found out it's called the papilla - the little triangle bit in the middle. I'm wondering if it's being traumatised because I have quite a deep bite - my top teeth almost completely overlap my bottom teeth rather than just overlapping a little. Apparently this can sometimes irritate the lower gums and stop them from healing properly. Not sure if that's what's going on here or not, it's just a theory and it may have nothing to do with it. Of course now I'm convinced that I'll need to get my bite fixed to stop this from happening. I had this checked by an orthodontist when I was a teenager and was told it wasn't bad enought to need treatment, but I presume the bite can change over the years, as I'm sure can attitudes as to how bad it needs to be before it should be fixed to prevent damage to gums, TMJ disorder, tooth grinding etc - all of which I seem to have.

 

[ToastedWoobie]

Re: Appointment is less than 2 weeks - really scared now

My work is also a little crazy right now and was INSANE the day of my first appointment. I'm convinced it was a huge help for me. Keep my head off my big fears and I can sneak up on 'em.

 

[JessicaB]

Re: Appointment is less than 2 weeks - really scared now

My first appointment was in my Christmas holidays which was the WORST possible time. I was also home with my boyfriend and was somewhat horrible to him as a result of my stress and was in tears the day beforehand. I kept having to explain to him that it wasn't his fault and he wasn't the reason I was grumpy and horrible. He actually made the original appointment for me too (after I agreed to go) which was actually a great help in gettting me started on my journey, but at the time I 'blamed' him and pretty much yelled at him for doing it and for making it in my holidays. Now I'm just plain greatful that he convinced me to go.

So yes, it is good to have distractions and not be on holidays

 

[drummerswife]

Re: Appointment is less than 2 weeks - really scared now

Just like you,I worry about whats ahead and I worry that I may have neglected my teeth for too long because of my terror of dentists. But then I look at how beautiful my new crown is and I remember how terrible that tooth looked before and I look at how good my gums that have been deep cleaned look and it makes me feel really happy about what has been accomplished and that helps me have courage to forge ahead to do the rest and now that I have a dentist I feel safe with and some good drugs lol! I know my teeth will never get in this kind of bad shape again.
When you find yourself thinking scary thoughts, my advise to remember what you have accomplished and the courage you have that brought you to this point.

 

[Razzle3]

Re: Appointment is less than 2 weeks - really scared now

To what you said, Drummerswife "When you find yourself thinking scary thoughts, my advise to remember what you have accomplished and the courage you have that brought you to this point."

Jessica, you have come along way and a cleaning should only heighten your confidence and of course smile. I had my first cleaning in almost 2 years, , last month and yes, there were a few moments of discomfort, key being moment, not lasting, but I got through it and know that with committment to going every 4 months like I should (my teeth tend to build up) next visit will be much easier. It really is one step at a time, one step more away from fear.

Best of luck to you,
Mona