• Dental Phobia Support

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SO SCARED! Anyone willing to give advice or words of encouragement?

S

sunshine88

Junior member
Joined
Jun 23, 2014
Messages
4
Hello everyone! I am so glad that I found this site. I can’t tell you how great it is to find a place where I can share my fears and be understood.

I am getting my wisdom teeth removed on July 23 with IV Sedation. I have been putting this off for at least 5 years. I will be 25 at the time of extraction. They aren’t hurting me, but they have slightly pushed my teeth out of place. My dentist also reminds me every time I have a cleaning that they really need to come out before they start causing big problems.I have finally worked up the courage to setup an appointment. I did not want to do IV sedation as that just adds to my nervousness, but my oral surgeon highly suggested that I do it due to my nervousness and the direction they are growing. I am quite the worrier, and since they aren’t hurting me at all/ haven’t caused anyproblems except slightly pushing my teeth out of place, it is taking everything I have in me not to cancel the appointment.

I’m scared of how it will feel when I am going under for IV sedation. I don’t like feeling strange or like something is wrong. I’m terrified that I might not wake up because I have heard about several fatalities from having the procedure done. I also have this crazy thought that the sedation will mess up and I will be completely aware of what’s going on but won’t be able to move or let the oral surgeon know.I’m also worried of how it will feel when I wake up. I have never had any type of surgery, drank alcohol, or anything like that so I have no idea what that feeling feels like and it completely terrifies me. I hate throwing up and it seems common that many people throw up after IV sedation so that scares me as well.

The actual procedure also completely terrifies me.I’m worried that the nerve running down thebottom of my jaw will be damaged and I will lose all feeling in my face area forever. I’m scared that the pain after the numbness wears off will be terrible. I have a very low tolerance for pain.


Thanks so much for listening to me. I know I sound like a really crazy scared person right now. Is anyone willing to share their experiences, offer any suggestions, or words of encouragement?
 
I just had a couple of my wisdom teeth out in April. Similar situation to yours. My wisdom teeth were not causing pain but the upper ones have pushed my teeth a bit out of alignment and they were all impacted. Tooth 17 was the real issue as there was a smaller extra wisdom tooth in that same spot (17a). That tooth was slightly erupted/decaying. My dentist had made the case to have them all removed but after speaking with an oral surgeon he only recommenced having those 2 out.

Anyway, about the IV sedation. I think you will be glad to have it done that way. I'm a needle phobic and had never had a surgery done before so I was also worried about how it would feel. Once they had the IV set up I fell asleep in a few minutes. I remember thinking I was going to close my eyes for a second but when I opened them again they were already finished. I didn't feel sleepy or groggy before or after the surgery which surprised me. I had heard some people can get nauseous from the IV or the pain killers but that didn't effect me. Damage to the nerve along my jaw was also a potential issue and the day of the surgery my whole lower lip on that side felt numb. So I was a bit worried that maybe there had been some damage but when I woke up the next day that feeling was gone.

As far as pain goes I took a couple of the prescribed pain pills the day I had the surgery and I felt pretty good. I think using ice packs in that area may have also helped. For about 5 more days after that I was able to get by just using a couple of ibuprofen a day. Hope that helps and good luck with your surgery. :clover:
 
Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experience with me. It really helped put my mind at ease. In the back of my mind I know everything will be fine, but I can't help but worry about every little thing that could go wrong. I am trying to stay confident and keep telling myself that I will be able to post my "success story" shortly after. :)
 
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