Something I forgot to say before was, I really, really would recommend that anybody having their wisdom teeth out has it done under sedation. At the place I had it done, it was only £25 extra to have it done privately under sedation than it would have been to have it done fully conscious on the NHS, and it was so worth it. It would have been worth it even if it had been twice the NHS charge. There are so many benefits of sedation for anyone, whether dentist-phobic or not.
Monday, 10 March 2008
Day 3
It's 48 hours after the op now, so the pain and swelling should hopefully start to go down from now. Still no hideous complications yet. I still can't open my mouth properly, and I still haven't been able to clean my teeth. I'm pretty sure my breath is about as bad as you might expect for someone with 3 open wounds in their mouth who hasn't cleaned their teeth in over 48 hours. My mouth tastes like a morgue.
Something I forgot to say before was, I really, really would recommend that anybody having their wisdom teeth out has it done under sedation. At the place I had it done, it was only £25 extra to have it done privately under sedation than it would have been to have it done fully conscious on the NHS, and it was so worth it. It would have been worth it even if it had been twice the NHS charge. There are so many benefits of sedation for anyone, whether dentist-phobic or not.
Fear = pain. Pain causes anxiety, and anxiety worsens pain. Take out the anxiety and it will be much less painful.
If the procedure is particularly painful, you'll be too off your face to scream, hit people, climb the walls and throw various dental instruments at your surgeon, etc. This sounds bad, but it means it will be over quicker, and it's likely that you will have at best a very vague memory of it anyway.
Sleep is the best medicine. I attribute the massive diminishment of pain on Day 2 to the fact that I spent most of Day 1 asleep, which I would not have been able to do without the drugs. If you do have this done without sedation, dose yourself up on sleeping pills, or see if your GP will give you some oral sedatives to take before and after the procedure.
You don't know what your pain/panic thresholds are. This is the most unpleasant dental procedure you can have both in terms of pain and in terms of the surgeon having to use loads of implements that look like instruments of medieval torture. Don't be a hero, take the sedation - if you're lucky you won't remember anything about it.
Something I forgot to say before was, I really, really would recommend that anybody having their wisdom teeth out has it done under sedation. At the place I had it done, it was only £25 extra to have it done privately under sedation than it would have been to have it done fully conscious on the NHS, and it was so worth it. It would have been worth it even if it had been twice the NHS charge. There are so many benefits of sedation for anyone, whether dentist-phobic or not.
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4 comments:
I just came across your posting while doing post-wisdom teeth surgery research. I have to wholeheartedly disagree with your assessment of sedation. I say don't go under EVER unless it's entirely necessary -- and I've been through some pretty gnarly surgeries under local anesthetic.
I had all four teeth pulled three days ago after a few hearty shots of Lidocaine. I was anxious out of my little brain moments prior to the extraction, but the process was a piece of cake. 20 minutes later I shot the doc two thumbs up and hopped out of the chair. No recovery time coming out of the anesthetic, no nausea, nothing. SO glad I went local. Although, undoubtedly, different people have different experiences, I think it's wise to try local first. Going under is risky business.
Word to the wise: You can always start out with local and bump it to general if it becomes too much.
In response to Wordsmith858, I think you're confusing sedation with general. They are two completely different things. When you are sedated, its thru an intravenous injection and you are not unconscious, it makes you extremely drowsy and you can barely remember what happens during the procedure - its brilliant! I just had it 3 days ago, and i couldn't have done it otherwise. General is risky, and unnecessary thanks to sedation.
Definitely recommend sedation to anyone that has the option - if nothing else, its hilarious for about an hour afterwards :) make sure you film yourself!
Hi!
I considered your post informative. There are lots of people struggling from dental phobia for different reasons. I remember what my dad told me that you can only overcome your fear if you face it alone. One of the common phobias is dental phobia. Sleeping dentistry is really helpful for children and adults. Using this procedure, pain can be avoided during the operation. But it would be a great achievement if you overcome your phobia by passing through the painful procedure. Usually, dentists Collierville-based let their patients feel comfortable before starting the dental surgery. My sister's dentist in Collierville is very kind and friendly that's why she didn't encounter dental phobia on her first tooth extraction.
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