Wisdom tooth removal failure story (needle phobia)

[deanodirector]

Hello,

I'm sorry to announce that my fears got the better of me. I spent the last week anxious about my Iv sedation extraction, barely slept last night and when I got in the dentist's chair and saw the anaesthetist preparing his needle I freaked out. The dentist and anaesthetist spent half an hour trying to coax me to do one step at a time. I signed the consent form but couldn't bear the Iv needle going anywhere near me.

I had the other wisdom tooth out just fine but I tried to have this one out last year and the inside the mouth injection made me dry heave. The most awful experience - hence why I opted for sedation. Unfortunately my phobia of needles into veins got me. I then asked the dentist to try just local instead but at this point I was shaking and crying me eyes out and he made the decision to stop.

I feel absolutely pathetic. I think this wisdom tooth is the cause of my bite problems which give me terrible ear popping at night. This is far more than just a tooth extraction to me. My life has been wrecked by my dental problems but I'm so scared of things getting worse that things can't get better.

 

[Enarete]

Dear Deanodirector,

so sorry to read about what happened to you, particularly as this was your second attempt to get the tooth out.

You know, a lot of things with dental anxiety work as trial and error for both, dentists and patients. You had managed to get the other wisdom tooth out just fine so it sounds like you already had some success when it comes to treatment. Your last visit might not have ended up as you wished it would, but it maybe helped you to learn a bit more about your triggers and reactions and it will help you to prepare for the next visit. It might be good to think of what exactly it was that freaked you out last time and what might help you to get through it next time and have a good chat about this with your dentist. Maybe some sedation before the iv sedation would do the job, maybe there are just some special things your dental team should take care of, like making sure to distract you or not let you see some things. If anything fails, there are still psychologists and counselors or special clinics. Sometimes it's just about getting a break for a while or do some treatment that doesn't worry you.

So no matter how bad you feel right now, please be kind to yourself and try to see it as a further step forward. Anxiety is not the same all the time and things that worked yesterday might not work today and things that haven't worked yesterday might work tomorrow. You have been very brave already and I am sure you and your dentist will figure out eventually how to get the tooth out.

All the best wishes and keep us posted

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Hi,

When it comes to fear of needles, there are three possible kinds of fears:
1- classic needle phobia: fear of even the sight of a needle (even on the TV), can lead to dizziness and losing consciousness.
2- Blood-injury phobia: fear of seeing (and of course having) a wound, blood, hence needle penetration. In this case, seeing a needle should not be an issue.
3- fear of pain during the needle penetration.

Can you relate to one of those?

 

[MountainMama]

I am so sorry you couldn't go through with it. I used to have a terrible needle phobia, and still have quite a bit of anxiety around it. I recently had a tooth extraction and bone grafting. I do better when I know what to expect, and they did not warn me that they would be drawing blood during the procedure for the bone grafting. Luckily, I was on nitrous at the time, so even though it spiked my anxiety, I was relaxed enough that it didn't cause me to panic too much.

Would starting with nitrous be a possibility? Maybe use that until you get the IV in?

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Deanodirector,

First off , I agree with Enarete that you have already been very brave to even get to this point. Despite your fear you made the appt, you stepped into the office and chair and tried and those are great steps! Did the dentist seem patient through the process? Do you feel comfortable with this dentist and staff? sometimes that also can help if they know how to help you process your anxiety through it , some are more patient and I've had dentists who have gotten really aggitated with things too. Also some Dentists prefer the sedation method while others are more comfortable with local so maybe if that would be the case you might be able to find someone more comfortable to do just local, with maybe Nitrous like Mountainmama suggested?

 

[deanodirector]

thank you all for the kind responses. I've got braces on now (the day after this event) so I'm going to leave the wisdom tooth for a while. I think i will need to get it out because it seems like the cause of my malocclusion (it is pushing the tooth in front and making it wonky).

The anaesthetist was very kind and emailed me to say he could try a pill sedative instead. Unfortunately I'm terrible with pills, again because of my gag reflex. I think I will look for somewhere with the gas.

 

[Dr. Daniel]

I think I will look for somewhere with the gas.

Sounds like a good idea.

 

[letsconnect]

The anaesthetist was very kind and emailed me to say he could try a pill sedative instead. Unfortunately I'm terrible with pills, again because of my gag reflex. I think I will look for somewhere with the gas.

Great to hear that the anaesthetist got in touch with you - how nice of them !

Another option if you can't swallow pills but fancy the idea of oral sedation would be Versed (midazolam) in liquid form. It's given as a drink, usually mixed with orange juice. There's some more information on oral sedation on this page: Premedication and Oral Sedation

We've also got a page on the gas here: Inhalation Sedation

 

[deanodirector]

Another option if you can't swallow pills but fancy the idea of oral sedation would be Versed (midazolam) in liquid form. It's given as a drink, usually mixed with orange juice. There's some more information on oral sedation on this page: Premedication and Oral Sedation

Thanks for the response. Looking back at the email the anaesthetist did say 'oral' which I assumed meant pill but might not. I'll have to ask him.

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Deanodirector,

I can't swallow pills either. Hope its easily in liquid form whatever you may get . I forget if they know about you not being able to swallow pills? maybe it would be worth shooting an email to ask if oral could be in liquid form because you can't swallow. I do that all the time it helps.