Wisdom teeth removal and fainting!

[Mermaid]

Hi guys , so I'll explain my problems. About 8 months ago I got an infection in one of my upper wisdom teeth, got antibiotics then went to get them out. I got them out awake because I'm afraid of being put under, I'm also a nervous about the shots, but the dentist was really gentle and I didn't even feel em..so I thought I was in the clear..
Lots of tugging and weird pressures but I did it! I got up to go pay and was standing at the desk when I started seeing black..I walked away and found a random chair and sat, then a nurse helped me to this bed and she put a oxygen mask on me and gave me apple juice, it was all a blur. I think this incident messed me up pretty bad, as I've been dizzy off and on since October, my doctor thinks its anxiety, sometimes it feels like something else though. (I've recently had the same black-outtyness from a blood-test last month, I had to lay there for 45 minutes and still struggled to a cab.)

Anyways! my bottom ones are coming in and hurting, I'm so nervous, as my anxiety has clearly gotten worse since then. Have any of you taken anything like Valium? What dosage do you think is best? I'm 5'3-5'4 and 105 pounds. Will that help me not faint and freak out? I just want it to be a calm, sleepy blur..without being put out.

 

[brit]

Fainting During Dental Injections

Why do I faint when having a dental injection? Is fainting dangerous? What can I do about fainting during numbing shots? Find out here!

www.dentalfearcentral.org

It sounds like you did really well. Next time it might be better to sit and recover for a while before leaving the treatment room, have a sugary drink and have your blood pressure checked since fainting is caused by a drop in blood pressure I understand.

For the future it's not the end of the world if you come over faint - you may feel much less in control by taking valium as since you coped so well with just local it seems a shame to get into a mindset of thinking you need sedation to cope, when you likely don't.

The problem could have just been relief it was over and the fact that you hadn't eaten much on the day beforehand maybe?

 

[vicki]

From what you posted, as brit said, it sounds as though you did really well . If it hadn't been for feeling faint and needing to lie down for a while afterwards, it would've been a good appointment. Although you were worried about the injections, you did really well and coped without sedation.

There are several reasons why people faint in various situations, whether it's because of anxiety, stress or some other reason. Fainting happens when your brain isn't getting enough oxygen. Oxygen is supplied to your brain via your blood, so reduced blood flow (including a sudden drop in blood pressure) can cause you to faint. When a person faints, you lie them down, usually with their feet raised (to encourage blood circulation) and you give them oxygen to breathe. Usually within a few minutes, the person regains consciousness as the oxygen supply to their brain returns to normal. If someone looks like they're about to faint, giving them some oxygen to breathe and something sugary to drink (to raise blood sugar levels) can sometimes prevent that person from passing out.

If your doctor has ruled out any other 'medical' causes, then it might be down to anxiety. I've experienced this myself before during dental appointments, especially just after the local anaesthetic injection and sometimes after the treatment has finished when the chair has been sat back up. The room starts spinning, background sounds and voices suddenly seem more distant and distorted, I go really cold or really hot and it feels as though I'm about to faint. In my case, it's usually because I've been really anxious during the appointment and so when the local anaesthetic injection is finished or the treatment is finished and I start to calm down, the drop in blood pressure (if it's too quick) can cause me to faint.

I had a lot of root canal treatment last year and I took Valium for these appointments because I can get into a real panic sometimes. Different people respond differently to different doses of drugs like Valium. For some people it doesn't feel very different and for others, it makes them feel very calm and sometimes (with higher doses) quite drowsy. In my cases, once I'd figured out the right dose for me, it made me feel very calm and quite spaced out. I was still totally aware of what was happening, I was able to walk and talk and I could remember everything that happened during my appointments. I just had a very calm, sort of fuzzy "whatever" feeling about the whole thing and I didn't have the panic and anxiety that I would normally have had.

As brit said, it's not the end of the world if you feel faint, or do actually faint. It is something that happens from time to time with some people during dental appointments and so the staff at dental practices are trained to recognise and deal with it. If it is anxiety related, then if you can learn to overcome your anxiety about injections and/or anything else that makes you anxious, you might find that you won't feel faint anymore.

Some people find that with the right dentist, they are able to overcome their fears without having sedation or taking any medication and other people find that they just need a little bit of extra help just to get them over their fears in the beginning. If you managed to have your wisdom tooth removed and it went OK apart from feeling faint afterwards, then it might be that with a bit of extra time and reassurance, you might be able to overcome this without taking something like Valium.

If you do decide to try Valium, your doctor or dentist should be able to give you more information about the right dose for you. However, Valium just calms things down a bit so you can get through the door and have the treatment. On its own, it's not the sedation that actually "cures" you of your fears, it's having positive experiences with a dentist that you trust, so that over time, you replace the old, anxious responses with new, calmer ones.

 

[Jim79]

You did very well not to pass out. Usually when I reach that 'everything fading' point I'm gone within seconds.

I almost passed out out as soon as they sat me up in the chair after a wisdom tooth extraction. It's horrible because you feel like you're being such a nuisance and then when they help you into the waiting room everyone is looking at you...and the last thing I want is to be sitting there looking pale, scaring the next person who has to go in!

I've never taken or been offered anything for it, but anyway I just thought I would reply.

 

[stefan]

Hi,

I just thought I'd chip in here. I had a tooth taken out recently, after many years and lots of work I'm not too bothered by the dentist. Don't get me wrong, I figured it'd be unpleasant, but I wasn't at the point of preparatory sedatives or anything.

I had the actual extraction (at the legal limit of local anaesthetic due to infection), so couldn't feel anything. Sat up afterwards, had a look at the tooth they'd taken out (as I say, not overly scared, I find it interesting), as my dentist laid me back to check bleeding, I started to feel wonky (going to be sick,I thought), and within a second or two, I was out. For bout 2 mins apparently. Heart rate got down to high 50-something. Woke up slumped in the chair with backup people stood around me tipped up at a crazy angle.

So if you're on here, I guess you're not quite as blaze as I am about dental work, to manage to stop yourself going out is pretty good. So well done