Sedation (not needle phobic friendly!)

[Estrella]

Well, this periodontal abscess won't go away on it's own. It will..but it will come back. So, I have to take antibiotics and I actually let a doctor look in my mouth! Not a dentist...

Let's move forward. My husband's boss is someone I have to see eventually. He has been calling his co-workers himself and I decided he was sugar coating it. So I jumped into the conversation and starting a mini interview with these questions:

"Hi, I'm going to be your patient and I am an adult. I understand you work with Husband but you need to speak to me. Has he explained to you that I could panic at the office?"

...Well no...

"Do you understand I don't mean a normal fear of pain or dentists? I mean an actual phobia. An unnatural fear. Can you deal with this?"

"How will you deal with this?"

"I don't want to be asleep. I also want no IV sedation. I want a local or a nerve block. Can you do this?"

Then...the answer comes out. Well, we'd rather not because the tooth needs cut out. ...WHAT?! No no no no no.

It's not the needle from an IV that bothers me. Heck, I've had piercings and plenty of needles poked in me. Needles don't bother me. What *does* bother me is sedation and anything that would make me otherwise loopy or drowsy etc. This bothers me big time.

I really don't want to be sedated at all. Blahhh I'm freaking out.

 

[TerrifiedWoman]

IV sedation is wonderful. Truly..WONDERFUL. In my case I wasn't "knocked out"..but I was sooooooo relaxed I didn't care what they were doing. I could hear them talking and sense movement around me..although I kept my eyes shut because I didn't want to see anything! There was NO pain..ZERO. Yes, I was drowsy afterwards, but spent most of the evening sitting on the couch watching TV. Please don't let the idea of sedation scare you..it really is wonderful for folks like us.

 

[RP]

Estrella, You need to think of this as any other surgical procedure. If they were taking out an infected appendix, would you tell the doctor I want a local??? I think not. Why is this different? A trained surgeon has decided what is best to give you the best outcome from oral surgery, and keep you comfortable, go with it, you'll do great. I'm phobic, too. Unfortunately the really easy thing to have done is have a tooth pulled, go to sleep, wake up with the procdure over. Much less trauma, much more relaxed knowing you won't have to endure a thing. Post procedure all the same, except mentally no bad images, no pain.

rp

 

[readergirl41]

Estrella,

Listen to the experts - ie your dentist and terrified woman and R.p !!!!!

Both of these people have been through the procedure and have been open and honest witht the forum and all of us - read their success journals and u will see that they are phobics like us - but have come out the other side and I have found them to be very helpful and if i tell you it was terrified womans posts that made me sort out my problems

Yes I am am going for sedation and I am nervous/scared but I think its the fear of the unknown and if you have piercings I have been told that they are sorer than getting the iv in!!!!!

I like you have had an abcesss and I know the pain involved with them and know they dont go away for long and to me nothing can be as bad as that constant pain that is very very painful!!!!!

So read the 2 journals, and be brave!!!!, yes you will fel sickly nervous before hand but see the relief of knowing you are doing something about it and will carry you through and if in doubt just remember the constant painful abcess at its worst!!!!!!( nothing the dentist does can be that sore as that at its height can it!!!!!) and keep posting!!!!!!! This is me and if i can do it so can you!!!!!!!!