One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

[AnxiousAlice]

One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

Please help,

So fat I have spend almost $1,000 on THREE Dentists and have had a basic cleaning, digital xrays, intra oral check, cancer check, Lots of checking but NOTHING done.

Dentist #1
I NEVER met. I was greeted by a concirege and a team of "consultants" who looked like the well made up ladies at the cosmetic counter at Saks Fifth Avenue, nice suits etc: who gave me a "plan" and then suggested I see an oral surgeon to have two wisdom tooth extractions and implants placed. The actual Dentist was too busy to see me.

Dentist #2
A very nice person, only three in his office, receptionist (recently out of high school), young dentist and male assistant. Practicing less than 10 years. Suggested oral sedation but was inspecific on how I may or may not metabalize it since I am one that very low does of med usually are enough. (Can't drink m,ore than one glass of wine and drive). He will also do IV sedation but said they would need to "get someone in like a nurse or something" to assist in that.??????? Also said only one wisdom tooth #32 is of issue right now.

Dentist #3
Well known in town and very experienced. Said only #32 correct for now but lots of other work later. Very experienced in IV sedation BUT will not do it for one tooth and said to make appointment with oral surgeon, and then come back to have other work done under sedation BUT I can only get sedation from this dentist if I have multiple work done at one time. My finances will not permit me to have all this multiple work done all at once.

Right now number #32 is hurting me A LOT! I am on Augmentin (from my general Doctor) and motrin both of which are highly upsetting my stomach.

My big event (where 1/3 of my annual income will be paid providing I can do the job event planning, emcee for three days, happy cheerful,and talking and entertaining people for a three day weekend.

My event is Sept 14-16. Two and a half days away and my mouth hurts, actually everything hurts at this point!

Three questions please!!!

1. Can I or should I risk waiting the 2 1/2 weeks and then search for a dentist that can do this but at least struggle through this work so I can get paid for something that I have been working on for 6 months (and the income can pay for some dental work).

2. Another oral surgeon with another check up more xrays, more money? And I have this done within the week or so (most dentists here are only open Monday through Thursday. How long would recovery take so I could function at my event??? I don't smoke, no drugs (the motrin and antibiotics are enough to make me feel ill). If something awful happened like parastesia, would I still be able to function at this event. Happy face, emcee for 48 hours, lot of talking and looking normal, speeches?

3. I know this forum is in the UK but is there a referral (some of you must have colleigues)???? in Florida USA. I live in Sarasota Florida. I need a dentist that can extract a tooth and in the near future also do root canals and is very skilled in sedation of all kinds and will have a place where I can recover form anesthesia so I can get home (I can get driven home but no one to help me with anything ponce I get home).

I have a ton of Xrays. I am not hurting, physically and emotionally worn out, stressed and cannot lose my career or would not be able afford all the work that needs to be done.

Please help. I have no where else to turn or ask.

Alice

 

[Steve In Cleveland]

Re: One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

Alice,

I'm so sorry this is turning into a goose chase for you. I can imagine what a stressful couple of days you've had, trying to keep it together and going from dentist to dentist. Take some deep breaths (really!) and let's see if we can simplify things.

The bad news: You need to get #32 extracted, and as soon as possible. You've had this confirmed by more than one dentist now, and your pain sounds like it's getting worse. You can't keep living like this.

The good news: Extraction is a quick and mostly painless procedure, regardless of the type of sedation. It will probably take half an hour, and after that your pain will be gone and you can start healing. You have two full weeks and a little more to heal, which will be plenty to get back on top of your game and host the event perfectly.

You should be able to do what you need to do over the phone. Google for "oral surgeons near Sarasota", or call back dentist #3 there and ask if they have a specific oral surgeon they recommend. If you want, sign up for Angie's List and look through recommendations for oral surgeons in your area, and call the ones with good recommendations.

Call the oral surgeon's office and tell them one thing: "I'm in pain and I need a wisdom tooth extraction, how fast can you get me in?" And then get yourself in. Today if you can.

That's it. I know it's terrifying, I know it feels like the end of the world. But you have to do it. You can ask about IV sedation, but the priority at this point is to get the tooth out. The rest of the details will work themselves out. If you have someone who can give you a ride, get them ready. Any place that has IV sedation will have a place where you can sit and recover long enough to walk out on your own power, and once you're home you'll be plenty conscious enough to take care of yourself. You'll probably sleep it off anyway.

Sorry to be so blunt, but at this point you're going to wear yourself out getting one diagnosis after another, and it sounds like it's clear that at least one wisdom tooth needs to come out. The longer it stays in, the more it's going to hurt, and the pain's going to keep spreading. You'll be AMAZED at how much better you feel, and how quickly, after it's out, and then you can sleep easy for the next two weeks and put all the worrying behind you.

Good luck, you can do this.

 

[comfortdentist]

Re: One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

Healing time on extraction of 32 will vary with the size and shape of the roots most likely you will feel much better in 1-4 days.
I am surprised that the third dentist would only sedate you if you have multiple things done.
I also have concern about the second dentist wanting to bring in someone to do IV. Sounds like he his not licensed for sedation which also means he is not allowed to treat sedated patients.

 

[carole]

Re: One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

Hi Alice you do need to see someone sooner rather than later. There are threads on here and people have been fine very quickly. If you leave yourself in pain it can effect your concentration and your ability to do your job. I think it is worth getting the tooth out as soon as possible.

I am from the UK so I don't know how you begin to contact dentists where you are, I think what Steve had said to you has made a lot of sense and he has given you places and people you can contact.

How near to comfortdentist are you, if you are at all, maybe if you contacted him he might be able to help you or know of someone that can. He has been a dentist for a long time and knows his stuff, he has even advised you on the time scale that the tooth will need to heal and which oral surgeon you should or should not see, out of the ones you have seen all ready.

Please get this seen to soon as it will make you feel ill, and if you end up getting an infection in the tooth, that will stop you in your tracks. I have had an infected tooth and they do effect your speech and your ability to function in everyday life.

Is there anyone on here from Florida or that knows of someone in Florida that Alice could go and see and get this problem sorted out soon.

Thank you in advance for your help

 

[AnxiousAlice]

Re: One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

Healing time on extraction of 32 will vary with the size and shape of the roots most likely you will feel much better in 1-4 days.
I am surprised that the third dentist would only sedate you if you have multiple things done.
I also have concern about the second dentist wanting to bring in someone to do IV. Sounds like he his not licensed for sedation which also means he is not allowed to treat sedated patients.

Thank you all of you for your comments and encouragement.

Carole and Comfortdentist, Seriously if Comfort Dentist were not a 4 hour drive I would have already been in his chair, and for future work. I have not ruled out the idea of taking a trip to the other side of the State and parking myself in a nearby hotel for future work. I am especially impressed with not only the time taken from your own busy schedule to answer all of our questions on this forum, but so impressed after researching your website on the wonderful work you did for that little girl. It takes a very special person to reach out to people in need.

As for decisions:

The Dentist #1 listed above is a definite no. They may have a fine practice, very fancy office and such. Prices seem about the same. But the entire concierge sales girl approach with no access to talk to a dentist made me feel like I was attending a time share presentation, so that is marked off the list.

Dentist #2 actually does have certification for IV sedation and he is the Dentist that suggested the bone graft which may prevent or perhaps at least lessen the possibility of dry socket. He also has a good demeanor and I like his personality and willingness to answer questions. The down side is a small office with a assistant and receptionist. His reasoning to arrange someone to come in if I opted for IV sedation is that that person would be monitoring me while he was working on me, which seems to make sense. He does have the credentials in Sedation as well as credentials in Advanced Cardiac Life Support and is a member of the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology. He is young (in practice about 11 years). Keep in mind to me everyone under 40 something is young though. He is also rated among the best in our City which is impressive and have numerous reviews with no negatives, (although I have no idea where these reviews actually come from).

Dentist #3 is the most experienced especially in IV Sedation and seems highly skilled and very informative. But he is the one who suggested an oral surgeon and ans it was put to me they would do other work on me with IV Sedation if I had multiple procedures done under the sedation. I am not sure why. Although his sedation fee is fixed and does not vary with time, I agree that multiple procedures would be cost effective for me. But although I am not wealthy, I would prefer incurring the additional cost and having one procedure at a time and paying for sedation for each procedure as needed. In any event I am not too thrilled about making yet another appointment with an oral surgeon and another exam before a procedure. Also when I asked why he would not extracted the tooth and prefered an oral surgeon the answer the receptioniist said is "He (the Doctor) wants to be your hero and not be the bad guy for your first procedure." Not sure exactly what that means but made me uneasy.

So I need to make a decision within the next day or two, and with a holiday weekend coming up perhaps Tuesday will be the day with less than two weeks to recover. And I may just opt for the Oral Sedation one halcion .25 an hour prior and then a second during. How that is considered conscious sedation though is a bi of a concern since I think one will have me sleeping. (I'm very much a lightweight when it comes to drugs).

The #32 tooth a wisdom tooth is fully erupted (not impacted) and has a large cavity on the side and also leans somewhat forward and does have a fairly large filling and has been functioning as a molar for my adult life (the two molars before it were extracted years ago when I was a young teen). It is currently abscessed but no major cheek swelling, (some swelling to the gum) and I have been on antibiotics since Sunday morning.
It's a large tooth and since the two molars in front are missing, the bone grafting may be good not only to help prevent dry socket but help in the event that I can opt in the future for an implant, partial or some kind of replacement where I may need the bone tissue.

The root of the tooth on xrays (confirmed by both Dentist 2 nd 3) is "cone shaped"and does not show roots going in weird or complicated directions, and the nerve shows to be below the tooth and root so is believed by both not to pose difficulty in extracting that either could tell.

So I am almost 90 percent sure the tooth is coming out before the event by dentist #2 under oral sedation with some bone grafting and I hope recovery will be quick. This is the dentist that uses articane for the local as well which concerns me about the parasthesia info but he seems pretty confident that this is rare.

I am hoping all goes well not just for recovering for my upcoming event by also I am hoping if all goes well I will gain some courage because I have a lot of restorative work ahead with another extraction in the future plus a root canal. bridge replacement and once pain and infection are not an issue perhaps some cosmetic work. But first things first. I need to find some courage and get past the panic.

I sure wish I had better dental care in my youth and did not let my fears get the better of me in not going regularily as I should.

Thanks again to all who responses. Wish me luck. I will post my experience after I get past this.

Alice

 

[Barb1966]

Re: One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

You don't actually need sedation, it's not routine for extractions. It's a comfort-extra for anxious people. It would require an an anethetist or dentist with anethetist training. Some anethetists also have a nurse look after recovering patients depending on how busy they are. It costs a fair bit extra to have it.

It would make a lot more sense to do all the necessary extractions when using IV sedation. It saves you on multiple recovery times and procedures.

Once you have got your xray there is no need to do them again. Just bring them with you if you go to a new dentist.

Dry socket is a small risk and can usually be prevented by being careful with your aftercare. Bone grafts are not done to prevent dry socket.

 

[Steve In Cleveland]

Re: One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

I'd agree with Barb1966: it doesn't sound like sedation is actually needed, although I'm sure you'd prefer it.

If the roots are nice and straight the extraction should be a piece of cake and should be over before you know it.

I think dentist 2 sounds fine based on our description. If he's a respected dentist with that many years of experience, he's probably done hundreds of extractions. It's a major ordeal for you, but to the dentist this is a very routine thing. Since you've met him and he seems kind, you're in good hands.

I'd recommend picking up the phone and calling his office first thing tomorrow, and see how soon he can get you in. The sooner you call, the sooner it'll be over with, and the more time you'll have to heal.

Sending extra hugs and strength to you tonight, I know this is hard but I also know you can do it.

 

[Kim]

Re: One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

Hi Alice

Just thought I'd for a bit. I am so sorry that you are fretting so much about all of this, and of course you will be, because you have so many things going through your head at this time, and different opinions from the dentists you have seen.

Sedation isn't routine for extractions, of that I am in agreement, but it is a totally personal thing that you will know yourself. I knew for me from the word go, that whatever treatment I would need done, I would have to be sedated, otherwise I would never have gotten the work I needed done - full stop. Like you, I saw three different dentists, and thankfully found Lincoln Hirst (who posts on here also). He is extremely good at dealing with nervous patients (thank heavens) and is qualified in sedation of said.

When I had my extractions, I had Lincoln, Jean his nurse and a third person to monitor things. I had a 'clippy' thing put on my finger, and got my blood pressure taken etc, so your dentist number two suggesting that he would need a nurse also sounds right to me. You would need someone to be with you for a bit afterwards, is there no-one that you could call on? You wouldn't be much company to them, as you would just be dozing on and off, but you should still have someone to make you the odd cuppa while you rest

You will need to get your tooth tended to sooner rather than later, for your own peace of mind, and if I were you, I would use whatever it takes to get you through the door to get the work done with the least amount of worry to you that you can. It is not a cop out thing, it is something to help some people on the road to getting their mouths back to optimum oral health.

I too am a little confused as to why dentist 3 wouldn't consider IV sedation for one tooth, but perhaps he has his own reasons for that?

I am more than happy to answer any questions you have about the whole IV/oral sedation thing hunni, been there, done that, and am quite happily wearing the badge to that effect.

You take care sweetie, pm me if you need, and I hope that this part of your journey is as stress free as it can be for you.

 

[carole]

Re: One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

I hope you manage to contact the dentist you decide to do the extraction soon. The meds you are on at the moment are only going to hold the infection at bay, I think you may find that left untreated it will come back fairly quickly. This is what happened with an abscess I had. I went through a lot of courses of antibiotics, which in themselves make you feel not too good, added to that the continuous infection that your body is having to fight, it all adds up to making you feel terrible.

Once you get this tooth extracted you will realise how bad it made you feel. The tooth I had to have removed had curved roots and I was told it was difficult, this had me in a bit of a lather. But the dentist then went on to explain, that it was difficult for him, and it would not make any difference to me. This put my mind at rest. My tooth was out in seconds, I couldn't believe how quickly it was over. I didn't even know it was gone until he said that's it, gone. I was amazed at how quickly it was done and how easy it turned out for me. I did this with just being numb, but if you feel you couldn't cope with this method then sedation is going to be for you. I am in no way trying to frighten you by telling you about my abscessed tooth, yours might take longer for the infection to flair back up, but after having mine removed it was an instant cure and I was walking on air for days, just because I managed to get to the dentist and get myself fixed.

I wish you good luck and I hope we will be reading on here that you have managed to get the courage to make the appointment and get the tooth extracted. You will be amazed and so happy when it is done with and gone, this stress and worry you are feeling now is the worst you are going to feel. The extraction really is the easy part for us.

I wish you good luck and best wishes.

 

[AnxiousAlice]

Re: One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

I hope you manage to contact the dentist you decide to do the extraction soon. The meds you are on at the moment are only going to hold the infection at bay, I think you may find that left untreated it will come back fairly quickly. This is what happened with an abscess I had. I went through a lot of courses of antibiotics, which in themselves make you feel not too good, added to that the continuous infection that your body is having to fight, it all adds up to making you feel terrible.

Once you get this tooth extracted you will realise how bad it made you feel. The tooth I had to have removed had curved roots and I was told it was difficult, this had me in a bit of a lather. But the dentist then went on to explain, that it was difficult for him, and it would not make any difference to me. This put my mind at rest. My tooth was out in seconds, I couldn't believe how quickly it was over. I didn't even know it was gone until he said that's it, gone. I was amazed at how quickly it was done and how easy it turned out for me. I did this with just being numb, but if you feel you couldn't cope with this method then sedation is going to be for you. I am in no way trying to frighten you by telling you about my abscessed tooth, yours might take longer for the infection to flair back up, but after having mine removed it was an instant cure and I was walking on air for days, just because I managed to get to the dentist and get myself fixed.

I wish you good luck and I hope we will be reading on here that you have managed to get the courage to make the appointment and get the tooth extracted. You will be amazed and so happy when it is done with and gone, this stress and worry you are feeling now is the worst you are going to feel. The extraction really is the easy part for us.

I wish you good luck and best wishes.

Thank you for your support and encouragement.

I did find the courage to make the phone call and book the appointment for the extraction. I selected Dentist #2 and if all goes well I will be posting rave reviews for him.

This is the dentist that I feel most comfortable with. My only concerns are that he needed to bring a nurse in for IV sedation and so the cost is higher. I asked azbout possibly giving up the bone graft for the IV sedation versus oral and the Dentist suggessted the bone graft was more important and not sacrifice it. But in any event I am shaking like crazy and trying to get my nerves under control, as the appointment is set for September 4th and my big event starts the 14th which is only 10 days later so I am hoping all heals well and this is the right decision. Wish me luck!

Alice

 

[Patti]

Re: One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

How about using nitrous gas? I did for an extraction and I will tell you I was nearly out. The extraction itself (after I was numb) took 4 minutes flat so I didn't want to go the IV route. I never felt any pain and the whole thing was over before I knew it.

 

[Kim]

Re: One more time before I have emotional breakdown. Can any USA dentists refer????

Bless you hunni - IV sedation will cost more, - just depends on your own situation and what you are able to do - you are the only person who will know what you can tolerate dentally and what you can tolerate financially - All sooooo very different things and all I will say to you is to do whatever you can and are able to

I wish you well xx