So close to cancelling my wisdom tooth extractions

[Chantel16]

I am booked to have my two upper wisdom teeth removed this evening and I want nothing more than to cancel the appointment. I suffer with severe anxiety as it is, and this appointment has made it unbearable. I have not slept in 4 days and have had several anxiety attacks at work due to it. It is also why I’m currently awake and posting this at 4 am. I am so afraid of the procedure and recovery so I’ve been putting it off for so long. I had some pain in my upper left a couple weeks ago and decided it was time to have at least my top two removed but since then the pain has stopped and I do not want to go in now. I am scared to get an IV but it’s either that or laughing gas and I’m not really comfortable with either. They have prescribed me a pill to take an hour before to calm and relax me as well before I get the actual anesthetic but I’m still panicked. I’m terrified I’m going to be the person who tries to do everything right with recovery and will end up with a dry socket or I’ll just never form a clot to begin with. I also have no idea what I’m going to eat and my husband has to go to work the rest of the week so I’ll be on my own. My dentist is also 2 hours away and honestly I have a feeling my husband is going to drive all the way there and I will refuse to leave the vehicle. And if that’s the case I’d rather just cancel and not go over wasting the fuel and time. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Catie McBain]

Honestly, I'm the same way. I've had pain and infections in my wisdom teeth, and I was told that I need to have them taken out. But I'm too afraid of having it done, even though the infections have made me seriously ill several times now.

But I know how it goes, when you have pain and think, well, I guess I'll have to do this. But then the pain stops and you're like hey, maybe I don't need to do this after all. I've never been more terrified of something in my entire life. They said they would give me a pill to take as well, but I panicked so badly the sedatives wouldn't work, and I lose sleep before dentist appointments because of just absolute terror. There's no other way to put it, just absolute overwhelming terror.

Now, I can't decide for you what you should do. The decision is up to you. But for me, I just flat out gave up and decided not to go through with it. I'm seriously not ready for this, I can't do it, it's too terrifying. And if you feel like you can't do this right now, that is alright. If you want to do it anyway, that is alright too. Whatever you decide is alright, whatever you feel is valid, and you are not alone.

I'm sorry if my post isn't very helpful. But someone once told me that it's important to consider your mental and emotional health too, not just your physical health. That's one of the reasons why I decided not to have mine removed, because the anxiety, fear and panic attacks were too much and I had to think about what this was doing for my mental health. Maybe I could make myself feel better physically, but at what cost? It's not as though I'm sick or in pain right now anyway, and I've been keeping things under control with natural remedies, so I'm in no hurry to do this. Ever.

You're doing better than me, though. Because if I were in your situation, and someone drove me there, I wouldn't just refuse to get out of the car. I would probably panic and jump out of the car during the drive and make a run for it. Believe me, I have considered it. Jumping and running from a moving vehicle, because my fear is that bad. And it would certainly delay my appointment for a while (just don't go trying that yourself).

 

[ashlynrose]

Hi--I totally understand what you're feeling. I grew up with a major dental and needle phobia and usually worry for weeks ahead of my appointments.

Have you ever gotten laughing gas during an appointment? I know many people have different reactions and experiences with it, but for me, it was a life saver. I just recently got it this week for the first time, and it made the appointment completely bearable. Id just had it for a filling, and I also took some anxiety meds beforehand too. My anxiety had been building up for this appointment ever since I booked it, crippling anxiety that made me lose sleep, unable to focus on work, worry about deadlines that were around the date because I knew I would be even more of a wreck as it got closer.

I've also feared for my wisdom teeth surgery ever since I knew it was a thing! But experiencing laughing gas made me, for the first time in my life, not paranoid about it happening someday. And, I know of some offices that can give laughing gas just to calm you down before they even start any dental work or other forms of sedation. I know I would also be terrified of an IV, so maybe this is an option for you.

I know its so hard to get through the anticipation over these appointments, but I found that the best thing to do was to kind of indulge in my anxieties and look up on youtube "wisdom tooth anxiety", "laughing gas experience" "dental anesthesia" etc. etc. For me, the obsessive thoughts that surrounded my anxiety were just too distracting, and I'm the type of person who does a little better when I know as much as I can about something. Try not to let this research take over and make you more anxious, but I felt the extra knowledge helped me.

I hope this helped you even a little bit!!! Sending you good vibes and prayers