Sunday, August 2, 2009

Panicking about sedation options for wisdom teeth extraction?

22/m here. The oral surgeon told me that I have need to have 3 impacted wisdom teeth extracted. During the procedure, he said he could give me either local anesthesia, light sedation, heavier sedation, or general anesthesia. I opted for general anesthesia because I'm really nervous about the effects of the sedatives and the thought of being "half conscious" makes me very uneasy. He then said only 5% of people choose that option and that I'd have to do the surgery at the hospital with a "Level 4" anesthesia and a breathing tube in my throat!! When I heard that I got even more nervous!! A breathing tube for a wisdom tooth extraction just seems like complete over kill to me and it's making me panic here. When I was in high school I had arthroscopic knee surgery and I was put to sleep but I didn't have a breathing tube in my throat (unless they didn't tell me about it). I thought it was going to be like that! I'm panicking here because now all my options are scaring me. Advice?

Panicking about sedation options for wisdom teeth extraction?
Why are you panicking? Calm down. It's not a big deal. I recommend being put to sleep with general anesthesia. You do not want the "half sleep" and you don't want to be awake at all for this. Trust me, I had it done. You want to be completely knocked out.





I had it done in the oral surgeon's office. No hospital. No breathing tube. You need to find the right oral surgeon to do this. It's done in the office EVERYDAY and you'll be fine.
Reply:Don't worry about it, If they give you the option of twilight... take it. I had a upper GI done and I was only in twilight, and new nothing was even going on.
Reply:since you chose general anesthesia, they must put a breathing tube in because there is a slight risk that your tongue might block your airway. If there is no way for you to go back on your decision, take comfort knowing you will be in a hospital. I do find it a little extreme, i had mine (3 also) removed when i was 33 and they lightly sedated me. It's not such a big deal, the only "weird" thing that might happen is you listening to your roots crunching, and that's it.


If you can still change your option, ASK your dentist what he recommends and follow it.
Reply:I'm deathly terrified of anesthesia, so I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed with a local anesthetic. The injections in my jaw joint hurt like mad, but once the numbness took over I didn't feel a thing. Although I did pass out when I heard the crunch of a stuck tooth being broken away from the jaw bone. But it really didn't hurt at all.


Later I had a root canal that I was very nervous about. They gave me Valium before the proceedure. I have no idea what happened after that! If there was any pain it doesn't matter because I don't remember any of it anyway. In fact, I don't remember anything that happened during the next 2 days!


Maybe your dentist could give you something like that to relax you.
Reply:Don't worry... if he kills you off, then it will be in the news and he will also kill off his dental practice and license too.





I usually go for just a few shots of novocaine, but if you have to have teeth cut out..and three of them at that, then perhaps you have chosen the better option for you. The hospital is good because they have lots of backup people there and equipment to monitor your vital signs and oxygenation and to revive you better if need be. It is just a precaution to avoid lawsuits and the loss of his dental surgery license. The dental board went gung ho after an oral surgeon in my area (a good one who did surgery on me)...because a man he was operating on died in his office of heart trouble that the surgeon didn't know about ahead of time....



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