Terrible fear of lower wisdom tooth surgery

[Flavous]

Hi all,

I just found this forum recently and it does provide a tinge of relief after reading all those wonderful success stories and I pray mine would be the same.

I'm 21 years old and I have two impacted lower wisdom tooth that is GROWING SIDEWAYS. ;-(

I am very very horrified and scared of my surgery to remove the two tooth and is really afraid of the pain and drilling. I cannot stop thinking and visualizing about it, even i'm afraid to talk into the hospital and look at the chair. I've been scared for atleast two months already

Please advice me about what to expect. I have completely NO fear of what happens after. The pain after the surgery is nothing to me. What I worry most is the process.

 

[drummerswife]

Hi Flavous,
My heart goes out to you as I read your post and I wanted to off you some words of comfort and reassurance. There are a wealth if stories here about successful wisdom extractions and I think you may find great comfort in reading them. This procedure is done everyday the world over with success. I have written my own story in detail here as well and I invite you to read it if you like. I discovered this website 2 1/2 years ago and, at that time, I felt like there was no one on earth who was more terrified of the dentist than me. Just like you, I feared the process, the "what are they going to do to me" scenario. In a space of just 3 months, I had 5 teeth extracted in 3 oral surgeries. The first surgery was the biggest and most complicated. You dont mention whether or not you will be having IV sedation. I had this for all 3 of my surgeries and its just wonderful. Really, it is. I had a really nice oral surgeon who put a small IV in my arm, injected two medications called Versed and Fantanyl. These meds completely block your awareness of anything. There is no fear, no pain and you wake up with no memory of the surgery.
Using IV sedation is a personal decision between you and your doctor but its something you might want to explore if you havent already. And if you have, RELAX! Its no worse than taking a nap. Really

 

[renascencey]

The thought of having my sideways impacted wisdom teeth removed terrified me. I had my upper wisdom teeth (not at all impacted) removed with just a simple pull. The unknown factor of what it would be like to endure a more challenging procedure caused a lot of anxiety. I have general anxiety issues, so I opted to have only one of my lower wisdom teeth removed at this time because I didn't want to deal with having wounds on both sides of my mouth simultaneously.

After cancelling my appointment several times, I finally went through with it this past Friday. If you mentally prepare yourself for what you will experience, it really won't be so bad. For me, despite my anxiety troubles, the appointment itself was a breeze compared to the 12 hours after it and that even wasn't terrible. Make sure to choose a highly experienced (mine has 40 years in the field) oral surgeon known for having a compassionate staff. If you tell them you are nervous, they will totally understand and try to make you comfortable. The longest part of my appointment was just waiting to get numb. If you opt to stay awake for it, which I did, be sure to mention ANY sensation besides pressure when the surgeon tests the area to see if it is numb. As far as the actual procedure, just expect loads of noise (much louder than a traditional dentist's drill), water, and suction. Expect the surgeon to ask you to help brace yourself, using your jaws, this is a help to him. Pretend in your mind that you are part of the team and you are helping him so you both can get the heck out of there ASAP. This is something my mother told me, it seems to work for her to feel that she is on the clock, too. For my tooth, the surgeon was only actively working on getting it out for 5-10 minutes or so. Looking back, it seems like only a couple of minutes. They want to get out of there, too! I've honestly been through worse seeing my regular dentist. I once had a cavity filled that was very deep and had to be delicately drilled, which left me in the chair for a total of 1 1/2 hours of drilling!

My point in all of this is that you will be fine in the end. You will be nervous beforehand and the actual removal won't be fun, but it won't be as bad as you are probably anticipating. Trust me, if I got through it - as someone who can have a random anxiety attack sitting in a restaurant or other pleasant setting - you can get though it. I did it without using IV sedation, laughing gas or Xanax, which were all options at my disposal.

Good luck! The sooner you get it over with, the sooner you can stop worrying about it. Let me know if you need any aftercare details or tips.

 

[Flavous]

Thanks guy. I'm still scared right now. I just can't help but feel so afraid about the process.