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Terrified of Sedation

S

SpaceKadet

Junior member
Joined
Jul 15, 2020
Messages
4
Location
Tennessee
I am getting my wisdom teeth removed on the 20th of this month (5 days from now), and I am TERRIFIED. All of my wisdom teeth are pretty severely impacted and the bottom ones are covered a lot by my jaw bone and also right against the nerves. I'm 27 now, so I'm at a higher risk which makes me worry more. On top of that, back when I was a teen I had teeth pulled and I stopped breathing and passed out almost immediately from the nitrous. After I woke up they only used local injections the rest of the procedure. When I told that to the surgeon that will be doing my wisdom tooth removal he said he thought "something else was going on there" and said he still planned on using nitrous in combination with IV sedation during my surgery. Assuming all goes well, after this is over I will also have to get multiple root canals. I don't want to die from such routine procedures, and I can't stop worrying about it.
 
You will be accompanied by someone trained to perform IV sedation. They know exactly what to do in case something goes wrong and they are trained for all the different possible cases.

When I was a kid, I had an operation where I was suppose to be put asleep. I was so nervous, I never slept during the operation. The doctor told my parents everything went well and I might have closed my eyes just for a few seconds. Because of this, I was a bit nervous in regards with sedation due to wisdom teeth extraction. Everything went perfectly well that time.
 
Spacekadet,

Sounds like you have quite a bit of thoughts and anxietes with the sedation part, which I can totally identify with. I've not had sedation for dental but other medical procedures and I get a bit freaked out each time. last time I saw the nurse wrote "REALLY ANXIOUS " at the top of my chart. Its hard to not be awake and alert and more in control yet at the same time, some procedures I'd rather not be .

One thing I do to ease my mind is have a visit with my general dr. to make sure he thinks I'm fit for sedation or anesthesia. if he says yes, it makes me feel more at peace like one more health professional saying I'll be ok.. Also with the recent drugs they use the last 10 years I've had no issues or side effects at all..

:grouphug:
I really hope you can get a peace about it , remember you are ultimately in control of what they do.
 
Thank you all for the replies. I really appreciate all the advice and words of encouragement. I'll be sure to post on this thread again to share my experiences after the surgery is over.
 
I am getting my wisdom teeth removed on the 20th of this month (5 days from now), and I am TERRIFIED. All of my wisdom teeth are pretty severely impacted and the bottom ones are covered a lot by my jaw bone and also right against the nerves. I'm 27 now, so I'm at a higher risk which makes me worry more. On top of that, back when I was a teen I had teeth pulled and I stopped breathing and passed out almost immediately from the nitrous. After I woke up they only used local injections the rest of the procedure. When I told that to the surgeon that will be doing my wisdom tooth removal he said he thought "something else was going on there" and said he still planned on using nitrous in combination with IV sedation during my surgery. Assuming all goes well, after this is over I will also have to get multiple root canals. I don't want to die from such routine procedures, and I can't stop worrying about it.

Hi SpaceKadet,

you mentioned being at a higher risk because of your age and I was wondering higher risk of what you mean. Your experience with the nitrous sounds absolutely nightmarish. I was suprised to read that instead of calming you down and reschedule they went on with the procedure, without nitrous. It doesn't sound like a nice experience. Did the surgeon explain to you what was meant by "something else going on there"?

I know that breathing through the nose while having a mask on it can be a challenge when getting nitrous so some people need few minutes to get used to it and breathe normally. It makes sense for me that if you stopped breathing through the nose and didn't start breathing through the mouth, you passed. I also know of some people who passed as they stopped breathing while waiting for a part of a procedure they feared particularly (such as injection). Does the idea of dying from such routine procedures come from that nitrous experience or is there something specific that worries you?

Hope the surgeon was nice.

All the best wishes
 
@Enarete

My soon-to-be oral surgeon did not explain what he meant when he said he thought "something else was going on there." And, my fear comes completely from that time as a teen when I passed out in the dental chair. Before then I had no fear whatsoever regarding dentists, surgery, or sedation of any kind. I don't remember much now, but I do remember the technician assisting in my teeth being pulled at the time looked generally nervous after I passed out, and my mother said the same thing happened to her as a child any time she received nitrous. As for being at higher risk, once someone is past the age of 25 they become higher risk for quite a few reasons, but the main one given to me by the surgeon was that after 25 bones becomes much more dense. My bottom wisdom teeth are covered quite a bit by my jaw bone. He said having to carve away the bone to access the tooth could cause my jaw to break either during surgery or even days afterward. He also showed me on my x-rays that the roots of my teeth are against the nerve running through the bottom jaw and that puts me at risk of permanent nerve damage.
 
What a horrid memory. So sorry this had happened to you. Thanks for the explanation on what was meant by higher risk. I must say, your dentist doesn't seem to be very mindful about how things are said. I mean - the surgery can cause your jaw to break either during surgery or even days afterward? So you are expected to sit at home afterwards and wait what happens??!! If it was me I wouldn't be able to go back.

Lower impacted wisdom teeth are usually close to the nerve, but x-rays only show a 2D image so it is not possible to exactly tell where the roots are. In my experience if there is a high risk, there is the option of doing a scan to see where exactly the nerve is and then find out how to deal with it. Genrally a dentist is legally obliged to inform you about a possible nerve damage, as a part of the information about risks. I suppose the part about your jaw breaking falls into the similar category.

It doesn't sound like getting to another surgeon would be an option for you, but it strikes me as odd how your fears can be dismissed and how he simply decides to use nitrous despite this being the origin of your fear. It's like if you had no saying in what will happen and how. I was also wondering why nitrous would be necessary if you get iv anyway. I wished you had a dentist who puts you at ease, informs you properly and makes you feel participated and doesn't push nitrous if you are afraid of dying of it... but it still could be that you feel well with that practice, so if that's the case, feel free to ignore my ramblings here.
 
Getting a different surgeon wasn't really an option. I just had to pick the office nearest me that accepted my insurance. As for the surgery, it's over now and all went well. Now I can relax and focus on healing. I really appreciate this website and everyone on here that offered advice.
 
What good news, so glad it went all well! Thanks for the update and wishing you a speedy recovery! :)
 
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