Throat and tongue numb

[Floher89]

Hey guys, hopefully someone can get to this before my appt. Where do I start? Ok so I have Emetophia which is the fear of vomiting. The dentist will sometimes activate my gag reflex which immediately sets off my phobia. I get really bad anxiety attacks.
I have two questions, the first.. is there anyway to prevent the anesthetic from making your throat feel numb? This feeling makes me want to gag the second... I need a crown down.. but i am afraid I will not be able to get myself through the impressions... any alternatives?
Thank you all in advance

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Floher89,

I was explained this past year by my dental assistant that the big way that feeling of throat being numb gets that way is the topical mixing with your saliva and swallowing it.. so.. my assistant makes sure she is right there with the suction when they are dealing with the topical. After telling my dentist and assistant about my fears about this they have been SO careful!! Have you got a chance to talk to yours about it yet. ? If they know they can take extra precautions for you!

Also the impressions.. I HATED impressions and were very afraid of them and gagged so much it would take several times . the thing that really helped me was that my dental team stayed in the room with me and distracted me from the goop in my mouth so I wasn't really thinking of it so much, the time went by way quicker it seemed and I made it on the first time. and also being in an upright or leaning forward position vs laying back at all.

HOpe that helps

 

[Floher89]

Thank you!! I really appreciate you commenting back. Ok I will talk to them to make sure they take extra precautions with me

 

[Animalhouse]

I have the same fear (of vomiting) ever since I was a kid. Last month I had to get some excess gum tissue removed as a short term solution for pain just above my impacted wisdom tooth. Long story short, I did not know that numbness of the throat was even something that would happen and it completely caught me off guard. For some reason, not really being able to swallow makes me feel really queasy and I panic. Just the thought of having my wisdom teeth removed and having to hold gauze in my mouth freaks me out.

I totally would have mentioned this to the dentist if I knew it was going to happen but it was too late for that. The thing that helps me the most is a tip I read somewhere. Any time there's something going on that is making you feel queasy, try to take deep breaths through your nose. Breathing through my nose gives me something to focus on and it takes away the gagging feeling. As a bonus, breathing techniques can also aid with anxiety. There are several different types of breathing exercises on the internet that I find helpful at the dentist and when I'm trying to go to sleep at night. It usually involves something along the lines of taking a deep breath, holding it while counting to some number, and slowly releasing. You do that several times and it really helps take the edge off and helps me to slow my heart rate. I hope this helps you!

P.S. Definitely let the dentist know that you have this fear and they will do everything they can to avoid making you feel this way, but it's good to have a backup plan!

 

[Cat777123]

I will try breathing techniques. I was always fine at the dentist until one day my throat got numb and I felt like I was choking. I also have allergies/sinus issues and need to make sure those are dried up before my appt.

 

[kitkat]

Hey guys, hopefully someone can get to this before my appt. Where do I start? Ok so I have Emetophia which is the fear of vomiting. The dentist will sometimes activate my gag reflex which immediately sets off my phobia. I get really bad anxiety attacks.
I have two questions, the first.. is there anyway to prevent the anesthetic from making your throat feel numb? This feeling makes me want to gag the second... I need a crown down.. but i am afraid I will not be able to get myself through the impressions... any alternatives?
Thank you all in advance

I have opted out of topical anesthetics to prevent my throat from going numb. My dentist can give painless injections without it and I am not afraid of needles so if that's something you can cope with you could opt out of topical.

As for impressions, I was super worried about gagging when getting my crown but they only did impressions of the upper quadrant where the crown would be...that basically felt like biting on a bitewing xray ...there was no tray or lots of goop like I was dreading. Not sure if that's always the case but I was very relieved it was so easy!

 

[comfortdentist]

It is possible to just anesthetize one lower tooth so that your tongue isn’t numb at all. It’s a common procedure in my office.