Oral sedation for Wisdom Teeth

[kaybeexx112233]

So, I have to get all 4 of my erupted wisdom teeth removed. The bottom right is partially impacted. I have very bad anxiety in general. I went to the dentist and he freaked out and told me to go to an oral surgeon after seeing my teeth. I went to the oral surgeon and he said he will remove them only if I am asleep. I said okay. My dental anxiety started affecting me badly, I was starting to even lose sleep. So I called the oral surgeon and asked for anti anxiety medication before my procedure, he said he will not do that.

SO, I cried to my mom (I am 23 lol), and we decided to find another oral surgeon who would maybe understand my anxiety better. I called an oral surgeon who's about 30 mins away. I spoke with them on the phone about my anxiety involving the IV needle. They expressed to me that they do oral sedation for anxious patients with pretty much any type of procedure. They said they understand not everyone is comfortable with IV sedation due to being heavily sedated and how expensive it is. I am going to have a consultation with these people on January 6th.

My question is this..... Do you guys think this was the right thing for me to do? I'm so anxious that this oral surgeon will see my x-rays and say they won't do oral sedation and will want to do the IV sedation.My mom even called the new oral surgeon and they already know my name, they know me as "the girl who doesn't want the IV". Lol, they seem really nice. However, is oral sedation usually used for wisdom teeth procedures? I see people have it done for root canals, but I also read online that it can be used for longer procedures and have an "amnesic" affect. I really hope they'll let me do oral sedation, because the main reason I don't want this done is because I am scared of IV sedation/GA.

 

[Med1978]

I was like you last July! I had 6 teeth removed. I had IV Sedation for the first time. It was awesome. I like this better because I have anxiety issues with the dentist. Check my original post about my experience!

My first Sedation

I just wanted to share my first experience with sedation. I had 6 teeth extracted last Monday while I was on sedation. There were 5 people including the DDS in the room. I was relieved to know there are 5 people who were going to stay in the room the whole time. Some monitors the vital signs...

www.dentalfearcentral.org

 

[Med1978]

Oh, Also, You should do what you feel comfortable. If you're not comforting with iv sedation, that's okay. Try to find an oral surgeon that you're comfortable with and understand your feelings. I never used oral sedation. Hope other members here can answer you better.

 

[kitkat]

Hi,
There is really no right or wrong answer here. People opt for all sorts of things; sometimes patients will choose IV sedation only (I did this), others will combine IV with nitrous oxide (laughing gas) or oral sedation if they are afraid of having the IV put in, others will only use nitrous or oral sedation alone, and I think sometimes oral sedation can all be combined with nitrous oxide. There are also people who want no sedation at all and do it with just local anesthesia. You have to go with whatever helps you feel comfortable enough to get through the procedure. I think there are some benefits to IV sedation over other forms (it’s a bit more predictable in terms of effectiveness and your levels can be adjusted throughout the procedure to achieve the right amount of sedation whereas, oral sedation does not allow for this specific control over how sedated you are and it depends more on how you will react to the medications after you have taken them). I think it is wise to seek a second opinion with a different surgeon if you do not feel comfortable moving forward with the first one as they can not accommodate your needs.

 

[kaybeexx112233]

See, I feel like my only anxiety with the procedure is the IV sedation. I kinda prefer the oral sedation because it's pills I am taking the night before (Which works for me because I have crippling anticipation anxiety) and the morning of, that will calm me down and lead me into my procedure. I am hoping this works out for me. Everyone on the phone seemed pretty promising that they'll offer this to me regardless my x-rays and I've seen several people get all four out on the oral sedation via youtube. So we will see!

 

[Aurora10]

See, I feel like my only anxiety with the procedure is the IV sedation. I kinda prefer the oral sedation because it's pills I am taking the night before (Which works for me because I have crippling anticipation anxiety) and the morning of, that will calm me down and lead me into my procedure. I am hoping this works out for me. Everyone on the phone seemed pretty promising that they'll offer this to me regardless my x-rays and I've seen several people get all four out on the oral sedation via youtube. So we will see!

I completely understand your anxiety with IV and GA. I had to have some complex dental treatment and in the end, opted for IV as I wanted something that would be extremely reliable and predictable and I didn't want to know what was going on through the whole thing. I was really scared of dying under IV or of something going wrong, but I was absolutely fine. It's really important to select the option that you feel is best for you after talking to your dentist and doing your research, good luck and let us know how it goes!