Sedation dentistry

I'm sure I'm not the only one around who suffers from dentist phobia. I had a terrible experience as a child and haven't been to see a dentist since. I always just suffered through the pain, it was better in my eyes then seeing a dentist.



Things finally got so bad (blood infection, bone infection) I had no choice. I was supposed to go for surgery, but was given the option of trying sedation dentistry. I was going to go the surgery route, but the timeline and risks were a lot more inconvenient.

I went and had the first phase of work done yesterday. I wont bore you with details, but he did a good job, and the sedation worked perfectly to the point I didn't care what he was doing. Before getting there I was puking I was so scared of the thought of what was to come.

For most people reading this, you think it's just dumb, and I should have sucked it up long ago. Maybe, but it's not as easy as it seems.

For those of you that suffer from the fear like me, consider giving it a try. I still wont go marching in there and let them stick their tools in my mouth, but I'll definitely let them sedate me again.

Hope this helps someone get the work done and stop suffering.

I have that fear. I can take a lot of pain but when it comes to my teeth or my ears I'm a baby about it. I went a couple months ago an the dr gave me pain killers and penicillin and never went back. I wish that drill would make a different noise.

For just a regular cleaning, it takes several shots to numb things up enough. But it takes several minutes on laughing gas before I can let them give me a shot.

For my crown, I tried the sedation route - it was so worth it. I still don't remember what all was done, but my wife says I was having very interesting conversations about death with the dentist. Not that I remember...

Originally Posted by kcscrapper

I have that fear. I can take a lot of pain but when it comes to my teeth or my ears I'm a baby about it. I went a couple months ago an the dr gave me pain killers and penicillin and never went back. I wish that drill would make a different noise.

That was my MO too until this time. I let it go to far and the infection got into my blood. The infection was spreading into my throat and causing swelling, and I was starting to notice it was affecting my breathing. Another couple hours and I'd have been in serious trouble. That's when I decided enough was enough. Actually my wife decided for me, and that was more scary than a dentist to me.

Devo,
I am glad you did get to the dentist, I am sure you will be feeling a whole lot better.
Your not alone. My husband is scared of the dentist too. But the sedation work out really well for him and that had to be 10 years ago. I only wish I would had recorded him afterwards, I still laugh about it today. Just one example: I was relaying the after care directions to him and got to telling him that he couldn't drink thru a straw(not that he does) and he told me just give him the bottle and he would two hand it.

I'm already feeling a lot better, might be the pain killers though. My wife tells me we had quite an interesting conversation, well between the sleeping and the drooling anyway.

When I first saw this title I thought "Wow thats hardcore sedating people to pull and scrap their gold crowns!"

I got a bit of popcorn down the side of a bottom tooth & it got infected & a small 1/2 golf ball sized lump appeared on my jaw.

I had to do scrapmetal (about the time I first started doing metal to get 'real' money) to get the $35 it cost for a emergency Doc to pull it out.
My shoulder muscles started twitching in sympathy & when they got out of balance (in size) friends told me to get it sorted.

In, jab jab twist & pulllllllllllll. Cut & a huge blood & puss spurt & I felt better right away, couldn't thank the Doc enough, actually, I couldn't talk at all.

In hindsight, I woulda grabbed some pliers & pulled the tooth out by hand. Wish I had actually.

Originally Posted by Ptscrapper

Why don't we just start a thread on sex and relationships too!

As long as its not a thread about Sedation Sex or Sedation Relationships..

But sometimes I do have a phobia about relationships....