Dental sedation

Local anaesthesia takes care of the physical pain; sedation the anxiety.

My dentist refers me to a clinic that deals with nervous patients for extraction. I've had 2 extractions, no sedation, was fine.
Perhaps your dentist could do this.

My Mum would panic each time she had a dental appt looming. She would have sedation come out saying what was she worrying about. Did it every time as just was scared of dentist from childhood! So you are not the only one, hope it goes well for you!

You have my sympathy. I have a dental appointment in a week for scaling and polishing and I am scared! Its something in my mind from childhood. Once I was so terrified as a child I couldnt open my mouth and the dentist slapped me. Imagine if that happened now! I left the surgery in tears and my Mum just told me I was a naughty girl for not doing as the dentist told me. I have had iv sedation and its a breeze. No memories at all, no pain. Just drift off in the chair and next thing you are on the sofa at home. Apparently I babble nonsense to whoever is taking me home!

Try not to worry. My partner has all his dental procedures, including fillings, done under sedation due to his strong gagging reflex. He never feels a thing and everything has gone very well.

SunnySusie

You have my sympathy. I have a dental appointment in a week for scaling and polishing and I am scared! Its something in my mind from childhood. Once I was so terrified as a child I couldnt open my mouth and the dentist slapped me. Imagine if that happened now! I left the surgery in tears and my Mum just told me I was a naughty girl for not doing as the dentist told me. I have had iv sedation and its a breeze. No memories at all, no pain. Just drift off in the chair and next thing you are on the sofa at home. Apparently I babble nonsense to whoever is taking me home!

Have you considered Airflow as an alternative for scale and polish? I know it's a bit more expensive but it's very gentle but also very effective.

Wow. £600. I’ve got a private dental plan which costs me £40 a month and often resent paying so much.
But….I had a difficult extraction recently. It took my lovely dentist about 45 minutes to attempt to get all three roots out.
(I didn’t realise that back teeth have three roots).
To be honest, it was a bit of an ordeal (just local anaesthetic) but at least it’s made me appreciate the value of avoiding one-off big payments.
Best of luck with your extraction.
Please let us know how it goes.

As someone who has been scared of the dentist since I was a child I can understand your concern.
Please know that after the initial prick for the injection for the sedation you will feel absolutely nothing. They can even give you a liquid sedation that I have had, tastes horrid but works as well as intravenous.
Good luck with your treatment.

You will be fine it’s so quick 10/15 mins .
Absolutely painless. Just make sure you rest well afterwards and next day as if you start leaping around you get infections.
Have a good boiled cooled salt rinse after each meal .
It really is absolutely painless awake or asleep.

I have no fear of dentists but last year had to have a cracked tooth extracted. It was the last tooth at the back, but as I’ve never had a tooth out before and very little work done I was a little trepidations, but after the injections I didn’t feel a thing, it came out easily and hardly bled. I’m sure you’ll be fine.

You had a very bad experience when you were a child which unfortunately has remained with you and is making you feel dreadful now. Thankfully things are much better now and the experience will be very different.
Would you feel comfortable posting the date of your appointment so that the healers amongst us can send healing vibes on the day? That way you will not feel so alone but will feel supported by us all 🤗 xxx

I do understand how you feel but honestly its the thinking about it that is the worst!

I had big extraction in Jan and wasn't looking forward to it at all and had sweaty hands going into the dental chair. Tooth had been filled and then filled again and had to come out. I opened my mouth and before you could say Jack Robinson dentist said sorted! I thought he just meant the injection and I asked how much longer I would have to wait and he smiled and said tooth out! Oh the relief, I honestly didn't feel a thing not even some pulling and had no bleeding afterwards.

You will be glad to get it out if giving you pain and toothache.

Good luck, you will be fine.

Nothing to worry about. The injection puts you out in seconds and the next thing is you wake up and it's all done. Like you I was terrified as the dentist had tried doing the extraction with just a local anaesthetic but it was too painful to carry on. You're lucky to be able to have it done under the NHS. I had to pay privately for mine. Good luck.

Think of your upcoming holiday and all that means. Don't think of the dental procedure as you will know nothing of it anyway. I was a Registered Dental Surgery Assistant also Orthodontics then RGN. You have nothing to worry about, think of the relief you'll have and that holiday.

Another lifelong dental phobic here, suffering with a cocktail of fears. The absolute pinnacle of my fears was reached last year when all but 3 of my teeth had to be extracted. Unfortunately no NHS dentists in our area so had to go private (the financial pain matching my dental pain). Had IV sedation (nearly 2 hours). I wasn't out for the count but it was more of an out of body experience, helping give me a feeling of detachment from what was going on. As I hadn't slept at all with anxiety the night before the surgery, once I got home the combination of fatigue and residual sedation meant I slept late into following day. So, if you can afford sedation, I would certainly go for it, it does help a lot. Be aware however you will need to undertake to have someone with you for the following 24 hours.
Good luck, and sending you hugs, lots of us on here can sympathise with you.

Do, please, ring the dentist and tell the receptionist that you would appreciate it greatly if she would tell the dentist that you are really scared stiff of dental appointments.

I don't know the statistics, but I do know that most of us dislike it to a certain extent, and that many people are as scared as you are.

And you have my generous permission to tell your DH that he is unfeeling and unhelpful to say the very least-

Most dentists these days do prefer to know when the patient coming in the door is scared.

I had IV Valium, and would have said I remembered everything, and the work took about ten minutes. I do remember some things the dentist said, but it was only next day that the Bodach told me I had been in for about an hour! I have no recollection of the journey home, and, like an earlier poster, had a great sleep that night!
Good luck, though I’m sure you will be fine.

I can empathise with you. Recently I decided that I needed to rethink my fear and have a more positive slant. Now I try to focus on how grateful I am that all those dentists and dental nurses have studied/trained so that they can do the work that I need doing on my teeth. I’m grateful that the techniques they use are miles better than those from my childhood experiences. It still isn’t pleasant having it done but it’s great that they can do it with modern equipment. It is a good thing done by caring, experienced people. Good luck with your treatment.

Please ignore your husband. People who do not have phobias cannot even contemplate what you’re going through. You’re not alone I too have it. Since a bad experience as a child, I have also purchased stressed balls. I take one with me in my pocket and bring it out just when I’m having treatment… it’s like a very soft silk covered ball which is perfect to squeeze takes away stress. cured mine to a degree with hypnosis I am still apprehensive going but I go in without having to be pushed now. My dentist is fantastic and I feel assured when there. It is a specialist dentist who deals with phobias etc. have you thought about Hypnosis it costs per session but if you have a terrible trauma then it’s worth paying

Hi Narnia, talk to whoever’s doing your procedure ahead of the appointment.

They will be happy to help, as a relaxed patient means they can concentrate on getting the procedure done quickly and accurately.

I had a couple of wisdom teeth removed when I was younger and I was a wreck before, but the team were lovely- they honestly are used to people being nervous.

In the end, it was as though I closed my eyes and time-travelled over the whole event!
I don’t have any memories of the extractions and the pain of healing was short-lived ✅ Hth 💜

I'm terrified of dentists too! I had a valium injection for an extraction. I didn't remember a thing. So much so that when my husband said he was taking me home I said I couldn't go until they'd taken my tooth out! I didn't remember a thing. One point to remember is to rinse your mouth out with salt water regularly after you've had the extraction. Good luck!

Go to your GP and ask for Diazepam as you are terrified. They may only give you 2 tablets to take just before your visit but that in itself is a reassurance. You may have to ask for minimal anxiety medication taken over 1 or 2 months.

I too have a severe dental phobia, the reason which I won’t scare you with. But was fortunate to find an excellent dentist who totally understood my fears, I actually got to the stage where I could walk straight into the surgery without having to walk by the door umpteen times, so the best advice I can give is find a dentist that gets your fears and is able to work with you to find a plan of action. My original dentist retired, but I found an amazing dentist, a young Greek man, who was fantastic, but due to brexit he went to Belgium, his replacement is a lovely young lady who also knows how to deal with me. Don’t despair there are brilliant dentists out there.

OMG those gas extractions were terrifying, weren't they ?
I can absolutely promise you it'll be NOTHING like that !
Follow Steelygran's excellent advice & pop in and have a chat with them first. You're far from their first terrified patient
I look forward to your post after when you write "Oh I did get myself so agitated needlessly".
You can do it !!!

The dental treatment of yesteryear was often so horrendous that it is not surprising that so many people suffer from a phobia of dentists. However, this is one thing that that has changed out of all recognition in recent years and treatment, while not something we look forward to, is much gentler these days. I have been on the waiting list for dental sedation for over a year. I had a molar that was damaged by an antibiotic and never formed properly. After a lifetime of repeated fillings in that tooth and eventually a crown, which lasted for many years, it gave up the ghost last year and was extracted. Unfortunately, the roots had other ideas and wanted to stay put, especially as they had attached themselves to the roots of the teeth either side. In addition to this, I apparently have strong bones, which makes removing the roots even more tricky. I am looking forward to them being out of my gum for good and that it will be a painless procedure under sedation. I think that this may help you. You cannot keep the tooth in its present state and it will be painless under sedation. Once it is no longer in your mouth, it can never hurt you again. The sooner, the better, too.