Terrified of pain after wisdom tooth removal - reassurance please!

[Daisy21]

Hello,

I need to get all four of my wisdom teeth removed, and I'm really worried about the level of pain I will experience afterwards. If anyone can reassure me that it won't be that bad I would be so grateful, as the anxiety is making me crazy!

I'm 24, with two partially impacted bottom teeth, and two full erupted teeth on the top. About 6 months ago I got an infection in one of my bottom teeth (while on holiday!), and the pain was just awful. I couldn't eat or sleep, not even the strongest over the counter painkillers were helping, and the constant pain that I couldn't do anything about was so stressful. Luckily I eventually got some antibiotics which dealt with the infection (but made me nauseous as well).

I will be getting all four wisdom teeth out under IV sedation, and while I'm a little nervous about that too, my biggest fear is how painful it will be following the surgery. Unfortunately I don't have a particularly high pain threshold, and I'm not sure whether or not I'll be able to take the strong medication prescribed by the dentist as I've never had it before but my mom is allergic and it makes her vomit. That, combined with the bad experience with the infection and a general fear of everything medical, and I'm a mess.

I know everyone's different, but would any of you guys who've had this done be able to reassure me that the pain won't be too bad? I'm hoping that it won't be anything like the infection since it's not inflamed tissue, just wounds, and also that it won't be so constant 24/7? Ideally, I'd like to hear that it will be a little sore, but the pain medication takes care of it pretty well, and that I can just anticipate taking it easy and eating mushy food for a few days.

Scared out of my mind, so any insight/advice/support you can give me would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance, and for reading this novel of a post!

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Daisy 21

This is exactly what I experienced, some taking it easy , and I don't remember for long at all... and a little pain meds.. maybe for a night or two. Definately no where near what I feared . The anxiety before always seems to be the worst for me . Do you already have an appt? Do you have a dentist you trust you will be going to? or going to oral surgeon? Extractions are always hard to think about..

 

[Daisy21]

Daisy 21

This is exactly what I experienced, some taking it easy , and I don't remember for long at all... and a little pain meds.. maybe for a night or two. Definately no where near what I feared . The anxiety before always seems to be the worst for me . Do you already have an appt? Do you have a dentist you trust you will be going to? or going to oral surgeon? Extractions are always hard to think about..

Thanks for the reply! Yeah I think the anxiety is probably making it seem worse for me as well, it's so hard not to get carried away with nerves! I have a consultation booked at a dental clinic next week, they seem nice so hopefully they can help. Wish I as one of those people that didn't freak out about these kinds of things, but what can you do.

 

[krlovesherkids777]

You are definately not alone..!! Its so human to worry about these things. I've been there on getting bad nerves for sure! and so many of us have. You are definately in the right place. I really hope your appt goes well and they are very kind and good ! That will definately help ease the nerves at least a bit if you know you are in caring and empathetic hands.

 

[Enarete]

Hi Daisy, I am sure the pain won‘t be as bad as the one you had when having the infection. As I had my wisdoms out, a normal over the counter pain med was sufficient and I cannot remember having any discomfort. Just talk to your dental team next week so that they can also put you at ease. The anxiety is always worse than the reality.

 

[Dg6300]

Agreed with the others.

It won’t be fun, but it will definitely be tolerable and manageable.

Were I to go through it again, I’d rely on ibuprophen.

You’ll do well.

 

[Daisy21]

Thanks guys, I hope you're right and that afterwards I can say I was all worked up over nothing. It's hard to believe it as I'm definitely prone to imagining the worst case scenario, but it helps a bit to hear from people who have gone through it already!