Terrified of Possible Extraction/Root Canal

[Extrnalpanik]

Hello! I recently went to urgent care and found out I have an infected tooth. I have an abscess and I’m on antibiotics (125 mg of amoxicillin)

I’m 99% sure I’m going to need an extraction, as there isn’t much left of the tooth. I posted on Tik Tok (terrible idea) and asked for extraction success stories. 2 people said they felt everything from their extraction because they had an abscess/infection. I smoke a lot of weed like 4 bowls a day. I’ve also seen people saying they woke up during surgery bc they smoked weed/google ai says anesthesia doesn’t work if you smoke. Finally, I saw a third testimonial where someone said they felt everything and it was worse than when they got shot.

My fears are:

1. I will feel the extraction/root canal
2. The iv sedation won’t work
3. The dentist will not listen to me if I’m feeling pain and will continue/force me to continue
4. They’ll give me laughing gas and it’ll make me freak out (even though I’ve had it before as a kid and didn’t)


I’m so scared of pain, I’m willing to do the local anesthesia because I’m used to needles, but I’m scared the iv sedation/laughing gas/local anesthesia won’t work and I’ll feel excruciating pain. If it helps for context I have had a tooth drilled and felt it because I wasn’t numbed enough.

 

[letsconnect]

Hi @Extrnalpanik, there is no reason for dental treatment to be painful in this day and age. It is a sad fact though that some dentists (a minority) don't seem to be all that concerned about patient comfort, so the key is to pick someone who WILL listen to you, treat you as an equal, and strive to make any treatment comfortable for you. We've collected some tips for finding a dentist on these pages:

How to find a dentist for nervous patients

Discover how to find a dentist who is good with nervous, scared or phobic patients - and who to avoid!

www.dentalfearcentral.org

How to find a high-quality dentist

How do you know if a dentist really cares about the quality of their work? Here is what to look for and expect from a high-quality dentist.

www.dentalfearcentral.org

There are also some downloads here which you can print out, fill in, and give or email to your dentist:

Downloads

Free worksheets and a questionnaire for nervous patients which you can use to let your potential dentist know about your fears.

www.dentalfearcentral.org

Regarding the IV sedation - have you seen the success stories section? There's a special section just about IV sedation experiences here:

IV Sedation Experiences

Read about IV sedation experiences which people have shared on Dental Fear Central over the years!

www.dentalfearcentral.org

I hope you'll be able to get help soon, and be out of pain . Are the antibiotics working for you?

 

[Extrnalpanik]

@letsconnect hiii! So I went to the dentist and it wasn’t as bad as I expected. The antibiotics worked and I got rid of the abscess I was on them for 3 weeks or so. Only problem is I found out I’ll need all of my top teeth extracted. Ugh. and I have to wait 2 months to get them extracted. Just my luck right?