Will be starting treatments with Quicksleep - is it as miraculous as it seems?

[ilostmysoul]

Hey everyone.

I know I have been posting a lot lately but I'm going to start a whole brigade of treatments soon and this is the only place where I feel like I can get good answers.

I had 2 extractions scheduled (upper adjacent molars) but I was deathly afraid of the palatal injection my dentist wanted to give me, especially because I'm already extremely nervous and my tolerance for pain, especially at the dentist, is very, very low.

As I was searching for answers I actually stumbled on an answer from Gordon on this forum for quite a few years back about how Quicksleeper and The Wand could avoid these injections. This led me to widen my search for dental providers.

I have now cancelled my appointment and instead scheduled a check-up + the extractions as soon as possible after that, before the month ends, on another clinic that offered better technology. I emailed this clinic and was very open about my phobia and they said that Quicksleeper could definitely help and that conscious sedation was also at my disposal, but unfortunately I have sinus problems.

I have also found another clinic nearby that is also very phobic-centered. They do not offer Quicksleeper, but they offer The Wand, conscious sedation, IV sedation, and even general anesthesia upon request or necessity.

I'm going with the Quicksleeper one for the extractions. If it goes well, I will keep going to them for what I consider to be more painful-prone treatments (front teeth, RCT on - another - upper molar) and once all I have to do is fillings, I will go back to traditional dentistry because it's cheaper and I don't care for the regular injections.

However, extractions are new to me, and so is Quicksleeper. Is it really as good as it seems? If it is as painless as it is being conveyed to me, it will change my outlook on dentistry forever. But I'm afraid:
a) That I will still get a palatal injection or another injection just as painful. That said from what I've read, if it hurts with Quicksleeper it would most likely hurt more with a traditional injection.
b) That I won't get numb enough and will feel pain mid-procedure, especially regarding extractions.

I will ask all these questions to my dentist himself, but he is incentivized to tell me it's going to be completely painless, whereas I think I will get more honest answers from this forum. Are my fears well-founded? Thank you all!

 

[Gordon]

(I've not used a Quicksleeper or even handled one, but do have a lot of experience with a Wand. Quicksleeper is a bit different in its operation, using intra-osseous rather than submucosal infiltration. Sorry for the big words, you can google them)

A) A palatal injection with a Wand (if it's used correctly is pain free). From the videos on their website, Quicksleeper will not need a palatal injection in theory (remember I haven't used it!).
B) It's always possible that you might feel pain, the important thing to do is to agree a stop signal with the dentist and trust that they'll act on it. The technique used to get you numb is much less important IMO.

 

[ilostmysoul]

@Gordon Thank you for answering!

Given your guarantee that the Wand is pain-free it is now a quite interesting possibility to me too. It is unfortunate that the clinic that offers it is 5h away.

Apparently Quicksleeper has potential risks. If other teeth roots are touched by accident, it may cause root penetration and bone necrosis. I am unsure what that means because researching about this only leads me to papers and dentists asking questions in professional forums, but as far as I can tell once bone necrosis has set in there's not anything to do to cure it and will cause tooth loss. I don't know whether the bone itself could then be healed or if there are more issues besides those.

Since I have 2 adjacent molars up for extraction and it those 2 that I want numbed, I'm not sure whether this will be an issue, but I will try to set up an appointment before the extractions to get to know my dentist and bring this up. If I feel like this might be a big risk I will probably move on to the Wand. From what I've seen the traditional injection has its own sets of risks as well, including nerve damage and facial paralysis, and it includes additional pain, so it seems as though there is no risk-free solution anyway.

Thank you again!

 

[Gordon]

I am unsure what that means because researching about this only leads me to papers and dentists asking questions in professional forums, but as far as I can tell once bone necrosis has set in there's not anything to do to cure it and will cause tooth loss. I don't know whether the bone itself could then be healed or if there are more issues besides those.

That would be both spectacularly unlucky and grossly incompetent by the operator at the same time...
I can't see how touching the root of the tooth would cause bone necrosis, I could see it damaging the root but it's a huge stretch from there to kill off healthy bone (necrosis means dead cells basically)

From what I've seen the traditional injection has its own sets of risks as well, including nerve damage and facial paralysis, and it includes additional pain, so it seems as though there is no risk-free solution anyway.

Again, lasting nerve damage or facial paralysis would be spectacularly unlucky, especially if we're talking about upper molars.

 

[ilostmysoul]

Jumping in really quick to share my experience with this new dentist.

It was quite an expensive experience because they are on a different town. Both the Uber driver and the dentist themselves were extremely surprised that I decided to go on a 1 hour trip to get there.

But it was SO worth it.

Best dental experience I've had in my life.

I didn't have the extractions yet ( ) but I did have a huge cavity treated in my upper front tooth. I went in expecting this to be an introductory appointment and was not emotionally ready to be treated, but once the dentist said "Well you're already here, so might as well do something" I decided to just accept it.

I was preparing for that anesthesia to hurt at least a little bit since it was an upper front tooth but it did not hurt AT ALL. Not even exaggerating, did not feel anything, not even the little pinch I'm used to and okay with. I just felt my mouth go numb.

And as if that wasn't surprising enough, in comes the next part... a laser treatment. Instead of drills. I did not even know they had those! The worst part was them using their little metal instruments so much (I'm used to those instruments being used for 10-15 seconds before and after drilling, and not for what felt like 5 minutes) and I felt them using them in my tooth, but that's just so minor discomfort. The no drills part was a dream.

I told him about my fear of palatal injections for the extractions and he said "that depends on the hand of the person who is doing them. If the person does it very slowly, you won't feel a thing". He adviced me not to go for the electric anesthesia because he felt it was unnecessary, but left it up to me. I decided to go for it anyway, and then I got the news that it will be another doctor doing it because he does not hand the gear :c

He also recommended conscious sedation. I told him I have sinus issues but he told me to get it regardless because apparently I can have it for just 3-5 minutes to get over the injections and then remove it, and I can breathe the gas in through my mouth if needed.

So now extractions + electric anesthesia + laughing gas for the first time in my life. New appointment mid-January. Very, VERY anxious to see how it goes (will I need a palatal injection, will it hurt even if it's done with electric anesthesia, etc.) but weirdly excited because this first experience went so well.

Thank you for answering happy 2025 to everyone!!