Wisdom tooth fear :(

[Dancergirl]

Good evening fellow friends. I had three wisdom tooth removed several years ago in a developing country (not sure this is relevant but from what I have seen online, this is NOT done in for example US or Europe) and they only used the topical gel anaesthetic ... I know this is hard to believe but he said there was no need to put me to sleep (which is what I wanted) nor for a local anaesthetic. I trusted his professional judgement and believed he has trained and qualified in a western country. Needless to say it was painful but I won’t explain all unless asked as don’t want any one to be upset. (Apparently this is ‘normal’ as anaesthetic is expensive- though I would have paid the price having feared dentists since childhood)

Now roll on seven years and I’ve never needed to go to the dentist, I have never even had a filling and I’m in my thirties (I take real good care of my teeth!) I now have the fourth wisdom tooth and the tooth itself isn’t painful at all but it’s pressing down on the gum below and that got infected so I faced my fears and went to a qualified and highly recommended dentist by my boss, who has used him for years and I have utter belief in him and my bosses opinion. Apparently this tooth will keep growing as it looks for a tooth to meet, causing problems in my lower jaw.

So today I went for the removal and a few things went wrong.

I accidentally swallowed some of the gel which numbed my throat and I couldn’t swallow nor breathe and started having anxiety..... the helper (nurse?) used the suction to clear my saliva and touched my throat at the back which made me gag and heave, adding to my fear.... when I’d calmed down the dentist did the local with the needle and I didn’t feel any pain (at that point I felt relief!) and after a short while he did the ‘pain test’ to establish if it had worked. One side was fine- perfect- the other one no I felt pain and I got really upset.

Then to have the top up injection he said the other dentist would do it (I don’t know why? I didn’t want to be rude and ask but I didn’t know the second guy so I panicked.

To anyone who hasn’t had a scary dental experience this is probably silly, my best friend laughed (not in a nasty way but he has no such fear) when I mentioned it so I googled for support and found this forum to my relief!

I feel utterly stupid.

It’s evening where I am now and I am still feeling really upset. I have booked next week off work to recover and now I’ll have to do it later.

It was the two dentists that eventually insisted we postpone as the anaesthetic was starting to wear off by the time I had composed myself. I wanted to continue in a way as I have been suffering severe anxiety about today this all last week..... I don’t know what to do?

Any advice on if it’s ‘normal’ to be given general anaesthetic?

Any experience with sedation?

Any tips to stop myself stressing so I can get it done?

I don’t like the idea of being sedated because what if I’m in pain but I can’t speak?

Any advice at all would be VERY much appreciated. I feel like I have no support and don’t know what I’ll say to my boss....

Thank you all for reading and God bless you all. My apologies if this was upsetting to read. It has taken me an age to type as I cannot stop crying. I feel terrible for the dentist as well. Two hours I was there wasting his time.

Dancergirl

 

[Dg6300]

Oh goodness! I am sorry you had such an experience. That was some pretty bad luck!

It sounds like you are handling it pretty well, all things considered.

Hiw is are you feeling now?

 

[Dancergirl]

Thanks so much for a reply. I am felling mortified that I was shaking and having anxiety, though the dentist was lovely and calm and suggested we reschedule. So now I have tooth pain. I don’t know what to do now.

Did you experience something like this?

How do I get over the fear? I NEED this tooth out but I am so afraid

 

[Dg6300]

You’re going to make it. This will be okay.

What you you need now is a plan.

Think about what you need to resolve, that is problems/situations.

Once you you have a list you can start to break it down into achievable small chunks.

For now, here is all you have to do:

what can you do right now to reduce your pain and your anxiety so you can make it through the night?

Then go do those actions, ASAP.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[Dancergirl]

I don’t know how to make any plans for it. That’s why I am looking for advice. I feel like such a loser

I can reschedule for next week or next month and this kind dentist wasn’t even concerned after saying we can try again but now my anxiety is even greater. I wish I could get a GA and just sleep through.

Any experience with this?

My thoughts are that the longer I leave it, the more stressed I will be!!

 

[Dancergirl]

Dg6300- I don’t have a plan. I don’t know how to plan for this. It’s morning for me now and I have hardly slept. I want the pain to go away. I feel like I should just suck it up and let them do it without the anaesthetic but it was sooooo horrible last time I thought I was dying. Honestly. That sounds so dramatic but I had three wisdom teeth removed with no anaesthetic. I need to get over it but I don’t know how.

 

[Rebecca2605]

Hi DancerGirl, I've just only found this forum too.
I'm in a similar situation - I'm in the middle of treatment, in a ridiculous amount of pain and need something doing, I'm just too nervous to ask the dentist about it.

I know it won't help but I'm sorry you've had to go through all the pain and anxiety. If you spoke to family or friends about it, do you have anybody who would try and help instead of just laughing like you other friend did? If you do, maybe you could go to the dentist together so they can ask for you about your wisdom tooth - or they can speak to them over the phone?

It's hard asking questions when you're that anxious. Are you in the UK? I'm from England and they use Local Anaesthetic here, if you're too nervous to have a tooth taken out, sometimes they decide to use General Anaesthetic but then you have to have it done in hospital instead.

From what you've said it sounds like as your wisdom tooth is coming through, there isn't enough space for it to fit, so its putting pressure on your other teeth as it's trying to come up. It is really common for wisdom teeth and the pain can be as bad as you're describing. Usually if they agree that this is the problem, they extract the wisdom tooth before it causes complications with your other teeth. An x-ray will show if this is the problem or not - if it is then they can still extract it before it comes up through your gums.

If painkillers or Bonjela Et cetera isn't working and you can't sleep, I think it'd be best to get an emergency dentist appointment, they'll have to do something and they'll take it more seriously because they'll know how much pain you'll be in. I think it's worth a try even though it's scary.

I have 3 wisdom teeth coming through (they've took over a year already) and a root canal and false tooth needed - I was in agony like you, got an emergency appointment and they done treatment and gave me local anaesthetic just so I could have a good few hours peace from the pain.

This probably hasn't helped haha but I hope you manage to pluck up the courage to ask the dentist about it!
Good Luck,
Rebecca

 

[Enarete]

Hi Dancegirl,

sorry to hear about your ordeal and I can understand how complicated your situation is right now.

First of all: it is not normal, not usual and not ethical to do any procedure on a patient that is not properly numb. I am terribly sorry for what happened to you in the country you had your first extractions done and can reassure you that no dentist in any modern country will ever agree to extract a tooth without numbing. Your dentist suggesting to postpone the extraction because of you not being numb was the only right thing to do in that moment since every further attempt would only raise your stress levels, after the part with numbing gel and the suction instrument. You might survive the extraction if they would go on but the question is, how probable would it be for your to ever go back to the dentists if you suffer further pain and discomfort (however I am aware that the visit was traumatic anyway).

I could only imagine that the reason why your dentist let a colleague do the second numbing was the hope that the second dentist would find a way to make you numb - maybe he had more experience or whatsoever.

Here is, by the way a link where you can read a bit more about reasons why someone wouldn't get properly numb: https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/fears/not-numb/

Rest assured that if someone knows how you feel or understands your situation it's the people here on the forum. There is no reason for you to feel stupid, but I can understand that you do. There are just so many emotions and experiences and worries layering over each other and people who do not suffer from dental anxiety may lack understanding for this. And you are not a loser at all. Actually if you went through extractions without numbing and even had the slightest thought of doing it again then you must be quite tough!

So what should you do next?

1. The two biggest decisions to make now would be this: who should treat you and how would you like to get treated. Do you feel confident enough to see your current dentist again and let him try despite the last visit being so uncomfortable? Do you feel confident enough to see a different dentist?

No matter how you decide, it might be a good idea to make a small step back and see a dentist to have a talk about what your past experiences were and what your fears are. Your current or new dentist should explain to you what exactly happened and why it won't happen again. It also gives you the possibility to gain a bit of trust and make yourself familiar with the place before you get your treatment. It's always good to take things slowly and trust with familiarity are the main ingredients to deal with dental fear.

As to the question how would you like to be treated. With a good dentist who invests some time in getting to know you and building some trust and who will be familiar with difficulties in getting numbed it might be possible for you to get through the extraction without the use of iv sedation or GA. The fact that sedation scares you is just one reason more to try to work without it. You could also try to get oral sedation or nitrous to feel a bit more at ease. This is again a topic to discuss with your dentist. Here is a link about sedation that you might find helpful: https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/help/sedation-dentistry/

Whatever you decide to do, I would like to encourage you to consider not only the urgent treatment you need right now, but also your anxiety in general. You want to make sure that if you ever get a dental problem / question / insecurity in the future, you will have a dentist you trust and who can treat you.

All the best wishes, let us know your thoughts and may you soon find a good solution