so ill have to pull a few teeth (dentist anxiety)

ok so i just got the message a few days ago that my cavities in my two back molars (on left and right) are so bad id need a root filling, but my dentist also says that its actually better to just pull the teeth and let them be replaced my my wisdom teeth. Ill most likely go by the latter opinion cause most people i know agree that its better than having weak teeth and spening ton of time filling in the cavities (they are crap teeth to begin with with a ton of dental issues)

given its likely gonna be second, im a bit weirded out. I have pulled some bad milk teeth before with local numbing (syringe injection, ive pulled 4 teeth and i hated it so much)
given that its two adult teeth that are on opposite side of the lower jaw (if youve never done dental work: you can not inject numbing into both sides of the jaw at once) so idk if id have to take two visits but:

i dont know this for certain but i think they may also do a full on anesthesia where im blacked out unconcious. if that is the case do any of you know if you get the similar "numb" period when you wake up where your teeth dont hurt or if it goes straight to hellish toothace? also i dissasociate easily can anyone explain what its like to be knocked out?

 

sorry for bad grammar im not really good at medical english terms and im tired lol

 

When I had my wisdom teeth removed they knocked me out and did all four at once, so I assume they'd be able to do them in one go if you were out too.

Aside from losing consciousness more abruptly, being blacked out was virtually identical to being asleep, for me.

Everything was numb after, and my mom set timers so that I would take my antibiotics and painkillers on time; I don't think I experienced any actual pain. Mostly I just felt very dry and had to concentrate to remember how to swallow.

 

hmm i in genreal have a fear of "letting go" and im scared that may affect the effectivness of it or is it just too strong to really be able to affect (just asking cause i once fainted and when i regained conciousness i was literally already running down the hall which is weird and i dont want something similar happening) its mostly the "right as youre getting knocked out" that is the issue and also from experience i know im gonna need a ton of painkillers but seeing you all explain it as sleeping is comforting

 

Anxiety/etc can affect anaesthetic, to a degree, in that they might need to give you a bit more (or at least that's what they did the time I somehow managed to burn through the numbing shot). But I've been put under for several different reasons, and they'll be talking to you and checking your responsiveness, and while you're under they'll be monitoring your heart rate which will let them know if you're processing the anaesthetic unusually fast.

I've fainted twice, and I'd say I found waking up from anaesthetic less disorienting/alarming, since the anaesthetic was an expected thing.

 

Hmm thats really reassuring, especially coming from someone who have gone under a few times

 

Modern anesthetics are strong and fast acting. You won't have any time to be anxious once they start the line.

 

In my experience getting my wisdom teeth out, some people go under completely like going to sleep. For me it was like being half awake, i could hear my surgeon talking and stuff faintly but it was like dreaming. I had anxiety about the anesthesia too, but another vote for "it was p much like falling asleep".

The numbness took at least a day to fade afterward. You have to just take your painkillers on schedule even if it doesn't hurt, because you don't want to sit around waiting for them to kick in when it does. Mostly the difficulty is eating when your face is numb, it's not terribly dignified.

 

When I got my wisdom teeth out, I couldn't remember anything from once the IV was in until the last tooth was being pulled - apparently I was sorta moving around and stuff when they started taking the first tooth out so they just drugged me a bit more but as I said, no memory of that. I was aware of what was happening as they took the last one out, but I was pretty well numbed up, so it didn't hurt much, just weird pressure and pulling feelings. After that, nothing hurt for an hour or so, I think? at which point I took one of the stronger pain pills they gave me and it totally knocked me out (apparently this is very much a YMMV thing, because my mom has had patients who barely respond to twice the dose of the same medication). Also, one time when I had stubborn baby teeth that needed to be pulled (local anesthetic only), I was too anxious to actually let the dentist in my mouth so he was like "ok let's just give this kid some drugs beforehand" (it's been several years now so I don't remember what it was, some sort of anti-anxiety thing?). But really you should probably be under general anesthetic for a molar thing, I think?
Also, if you're AFAB and menstruate, general anesthesia can cause your period to start, so beware of that if it applies to you.

 

cool weird thing from when I got my wisdom teeth out: I went out like the proverbial light, but apparently when I woke up I didn't store any memories for a few minutes: so I woke up in the recovery room, having apparently walked there on my own-so if that's worrisome for you, be prepared for the possibility?

also my face didn't really ever hurt: when I woke up my mouth was still pretty numb in sections, and it went from weird numb tingling straight to kind of vague soreness.

that said-when/if your tongue is numb, be careful not to accidentally bite it, because it's both weird and the worst feeling ever. this was really easy to do when I was trying to talk afterwards.

 

i recall being told, when i was younger, not to do it or i'd die

but obviously, since you survived, i shouldn't have worried about that

 

....honestly, feelings wise, when i did it i think i would have preferred death

it's like
if you've ever bitten aluminum foil
but like chomped it
and also the aluminum foil was your tongue

 

When I had my wisdom teeth out, I went under general anaesthetic. My memories go like this: laying in dentist chair, anaesthetician comes over on my left, says they're gonna put the line in, i say okay, i close my eyes, i open my eyes, i'm sitting in a recovery area, my mouth feels like it's full of cotton (which, well, it kinda is), i've lost an hour or so and four teeth.

i felt fine after waking up. i don't remember being in pain. i mostly felt sleepy, but i didn't feel woozy or anything. they brought me a wheelchair because i wasn't supposed to walk, but i felt like i could have walked without any problems. didn't feel dizzy, could see fine.

i didn't start feeling crappy/feeling pain until several hours later. i think i slept on the car ride home, but i don't remember for sure. after that, it never hurt like really bad, it just sort of ached. it bothered me the most when i was trying to go to sleep for the next couple days. no big swelling, no bruising.

(i did end up overmedicating though: don't take too much medicine. i ended up taking too many ibuprofen and going to the ER with intense stomach pain. they fixed it in about an hour (some of which i am pretty sure i passed out for) and no lasting harm was done, but it was not an experience i'd recommend to anyone. easily avoidable though, just be smart with your pain meds. what i should have done was go with the stronger meds more spaced out. i instead went with the weaker meds and needed too many of them, which was dumb.)

 

I had literally no idea about the period thing but thanks thats probably good to know (and also real weird tho tf) , also ive before bitten my tounge while numb, not a good time. Thank you all for sharing experiences and mentioning symptoms and stuff, makes me a bit more secure

 

As for pain meds ill probably take ibux i think? (Hope i didnt mix up names) It worked when i got a major toothace and had to use it for a few days before booking an appointment. Or whatever i get provided at the office. And ice cream and self pity

 

i don't know what particular type of anaesthetic i was under, but they did tell me specifically not to consume any dairy products afterwards for at least a couple days. i ate a small amount of yogurt on the second day out and regretted it. don't be me.

 

I had all 4 wisdom teeth out at once with gen anaesthesia. The pain definitely wasn't instantaneous, and it wasn't even too bad with the ultra ibuprofen they gave me. They also gave some dilaudid or something similar just in case, but I didn't use it ever. The worst parts were that I couldn't eat actual food for ages and that I got a dry socket, which did hurt a lot but not as much as I read online. I'm still not sure what caused it, but I had a ton of the risk factors, so it's hard to say if it was something I did or just dumb luck. In any case, the surgeon just stuffed a clove-oil thing in there and it tasted gross but the pain went away.

I've been knocked out (medically) several times for various reasons, and it's always very quick to take effect (everything gets fuzzy for like 10 seconds then bam, I'm out). Waking up from the wisdom tooth extraction was definitely one of the better awakenings from anaesthesia for me. I felt mostly okay, although my mouth was full of gauze and my jaw was stiff. I didn't even feel particularly ill; I think they must have given some antinausea stuff too when I told them I had a sensitive stomach. But yeah, it really wasn't too bad (and I have horrible dental anxiety, so that says something).