Some advice on sedation and stuff please

[angiebaby]

Hi everyone, as you may know i am terrified of dentist and i need some work done. For as long as i can remember i have never been able to smile!! I am totally fed up with this and i was thinking when i next get some money, i may go back to that private dentists that i went to to have it done. I know it will be expensive but when it's done, it's done ain't it. He will sedate me if i want but i am too scared of this as i know they don't put you to sleep anymore, the sedation just calms you and you remain awake throughout. I was thinking of just having the work done and not having the sedation as my problems first started two years ago when i had a routine operation with a local anaestethic and i went 'funny' because my bp dropped. Two years on and i am a wreck. I never used to be like this but i HAVE always been afraid of dentist. Now my problems is being too sensitive to any sort of medication as well as everything else!!
One of my front teeth broke off last year and i went to the dentist and they put some cement on it and made a tooth shape out of it to get me by. This was a temporary measure and then i had to see the hygienist inbetween. I DID go four times and saw her and by the fourth time i didn't cause a scene and make a fool of myself, as i had done previously. They are experts in terrified patients, but i still felt like an idiot as all the other patients were watching me sobbing like a baby. Anyway, the temporary cement came out after about a week and i had to have another one. Since then i have guarded this with my life and have to eat everything after first pulling it apart with my fingers, cannot bite at all as i may fall out again which means i would have to go back. When ever i have been to the dentists before i have always been fine with fillings, i can have the needle in my gum, don't like it but i can stand it. But if i had to have any out i was always knocked out. However nowadays they will not do this unless you are admitted to the hospital, which i don't want either.
Would like to know if anyone has had to have a crown on the front teeth and how it will be. He said that he thinks the tooth will be alright to do a crown on and i have another next but one to it that half has snapped, length ways, off which he said he might be able to build up with a filling or that might need a crown too. Each crown is £250 and if i had sedation that would be an extra £250. I know this is expensive, private dentist, but i know that sooner or later i will have to go, this cement will not last forever. But in the next month i am hoping to be able to have the money to get it done and even writing this down for you lot to read gets me in a state because i am so terriffied. Silly i know. Just the thought of it gets me rattled. Don't know how i managed to get to the dentist before to be honest, can't believe i did it even though i was in a state.
Can anyone tell me what he will do to do my crown and if i would be alright to stay awake. Will it hurt or will it bleed, as i'm terrified of things bleeding in my mouth, weird ain't i?
Can anyone also please tell me about the sedation, as this scares me too. Do you know what's going on, remember anything, side effects etc, etc. What do you suggest. I am so scared of the horrible feeling that i have when i have med's and don't like it at all, so i think i may have to stay awake and just manage. Can anyone help, advice me, please? Thankyou in advance and i am sorry that this post is so long. LOL.x

[kilvosa]

Hi There Angiebaby
I too am terrified of the dentist been waiting nearly a year to have two teeth out. Got an appointment in june. Sedation i had this for a filling and i can honestly say i dont remember hardly anything there was no pain at all the only thing i can remeber is that the dentist asked me to open my mouth wider and that is all. No after affects and didnt feel tired or anything. Hope this helps.
Take care Annexx

[Indoorsy]

I can't help with the original question, but I think you are both very brave and hope things work out well for you.

[belle]

I would totally recommend sedation 100%.

I've been to the dentist on FOUR separate occassions and had teeth removed whilst being under and i honestly do not remember a thing. I was terrified of the dentist, hadn't been for 12 years and that was the ONLY way i could have work done.

I hate medication and i googled seation/twilight sleep to death. Initally i am not going to lie, i was scared. The sensation of the sedation as they injected it was just like feeling drowsy. I read a lot on the net about "If you don't like not being in control - then don't have it." YOU DO NOT KNOW YOU HAVE NO CONTROL!!!!!! It does more than calm you. You are extremely relaxed and it 'causes temporary amnesia, which is good, because in my case i didn't want to hear the crunching of my wisdom teeth being taken out.

I would never have work done without being sedated. I enjoy the feeling now, i have three videos of me after having work done and its really funny. The second time i had a tooth removed, i got my mother to take me round the supermarket in a wheelchair because i HAD TO GET FOOD. I got to the checkout and i had no money with me...lol. I don't even recall doing it.

SIDE EFFECTS:-
I had a headache twice, nothing horrendous. The pain from having the wisdoms out was a tad worse!
You're constantly being monitored while having the work done. IF anything "funny" was to happen, they have things there that would assist with that.

Don't think twice about getting it done. It really is nothing to worry about.

x

[angiebaby]

Thankyou for your replies, and thanks indoorsy for thinking that we're brave, believe me I AM NOT AT ALL, lol.
Anyway, i would love to be able to go to the dentists and have both my teeth fixed that needed doing in one go and then wake up to a beautiful smile!! I have never been able to smile and i have loads of lipsticks that i would love to be able to try out, lol. But i AM scared and wonder if it wouldn't be better for me to just grin and bare it and stay awake, scared of the sedation.
When you had the sedation did you feel 'funny' at all or am i just expecting the worst of everything, lol. I felt funny at my op you see, when i got PTSD and this terrifies me to bits. I just want to go in, have the needle and then wake up absolutly fine with a gorgeous smile, end of!!

[mingsy]

Hi Angiebaby
I manage a Dental Surgery and before that was a Dental Nurse, we provide different types of sedation, you can have Gas and Air (happy gas), which you breath through a mask over your nose, this relaxes you, but the effects stop as soon as you take the mask off, or diazapen tablets you usually take one a few hours or the night before your appointment, then one just before your treatment, the other type of sedation is IV valium where you have an injection in your arm or hand, with all these you still get the local anaesthetic injection your mouth so teeth are still numb, with the IV valium patients usually can't remember a thing about the appointment. You can also have a topical gel applied to your gum before having the injection this numbs the gum so you don't feel the injection.
Voice your concerns to your dentist, I am sure he will understanding and explain options to you and make you feel at ease, we have numerous anxious patients through the door each day.
As for the treatment having a crown preparation its easier than having a filling, the tooth is filed a milimeter all round into a peg shape, NO BLOOD,NO PAIN,a couple of impressions are taken and a temporary crown is fitted, the impressions are sent off to a lab, the crown is made, you come back for another appointment the temporary is flicked off and the new crown is fitted.
I hope this helps, go ahead and have it done I say, I've seen the difference it makes to have a lovely smile.

[angiebaby]

Thankyou so much for your kind words. I feel a lot better about having a crown now!! LOL. But i think i will stay awake for it, it sounds as though it would be easier for me just to have the needles in my gum and have the crown done instead of any sedation. I can stand the needle in the gum i was just worried about the treatment of the crowns really. As i say one of my front teeth broke straight off and it has broken quite close to the gum, but the dentist said that the tooth could be made into a crown so i would not have to have an extraction, thank goodness. I am afraid that if i had to have a tooth out then i would have to be referred to the hospital and have to be put totally to sleep for that!! Thanks again for all of your support, you are great! x