My dental surgery paranoia?

I was just told today by my dentist that I am going to have to get dental surgery to remove all 4 wisdom teeth because they have no space to grow. when he said this i freaked out. i have never had any type of surgery in my life and it's one of my biggest fears. I guess I'd just like a few answers so I can stop freaking out when I probably shouldn't be...





1. can you be awake (but have a frozen mouth) for dental surgery? and if so would you recommend that or an anaesthetic?


2. what types of anaesthetics exist/which ones are the best?


3. how long would my surgery last?


4. this might be a stupid question but rememebr im paranoid.. can anaesthetics kill you?


5. what kind of post-surgery pain should i expect?


6. i had braces and although they were quite unbearable i didnt find them to be THAT bad, will the surgery be worse?





please share stories, it would really help... im really scared.. mostly because of the anaesthetic


thankss!

My dental surgery paranoia?
1. Yes, you can be awake for the surgery. But, I had all four of mine taken out, and was put "under" with laughing gas.





2. I personally did not have any issues with the gas, but I remember that it made me hear repeating sounds. But, all outcomes are different for different people.





3. I was out for only an hour and a half. But, it depends on if your teeth cooperate with your dentist and don't give him a hard time.





4. Yes, anaesthetics can kill you.





5. After mine, I was stiched up, and stuffed with gauze. Your mouth will probably feel blown up and bruised. Hopefully, your dentist will prescribe you some Codeine-3 to reduce a little bit of the pain.





6. I haven't had braces, but I will be getting Invisaligns in the next month. My boyfriend had braces when he had his wisdom teeth taken out, and I had never heard him complain so much about pain. But, thankfully, the pain only will last you a short time. Mine lasted a week!





Good luck and I hope everything goes well!
Reply:1. Yes, they can use local anesthetics instead of putting you to sleep. If you are afraid of the surgery already, being awake to hear the teeth being cracked apart and taken out and feeling the tugging may not be in your best interest. But if you feel you can take this and really dont want to go under than you can ask about it


2. For wisdom tooth removal, they can put you on IV sedation, with which you are completely out so that you dont hear/see/feel a thing, they can give you local only so that your mouth is numb but you are awake. With local only there are different types of anesthetics. they use a long lasting one since the surgery may take a while.


3. If you have an experienced dentist doing this it shouldnt take more than an hour. It sounds like your teeth are still under your gums, impacted. They will have to cut open the gums and take the teeth out. depending on the shape of the tooth and roots, they may need to break the teeth first so that they can get them out. then they will sew you back up.


4. Yes, an overdose of local can kill, as well as being under IV sedation, if there is no one that is watching your vitals. IV sedation is riskier, however, oral surgeons are well trained in this area, as wisdom tooth removal is done a lot today. The risk of any complications from anesthetics with getting your wisdom teeth removed is quite low.


5. Post-surgery, there will be swelling and bleeding. There will be quite a bit of pain but the dentists should provide you with strong pain killers. Some people dont feel much pain, others feel a lot, it depends on the person. Some people dont swell up at all, others look like chipmunks afterwards.


6. Well braces are a long term pain, while the surgery pain should last a week or less. The amount of pain is probably worse with surgery but thats why you get strong pain killers.





Talk to your dentist or oral surgeon about your fears. She/he should walk you through the procedure and quell your fears of anesthetic. I dont think you should be too worried about this. If the wisdom teeth have no room to come in, they will start to be quite painful and can develop horrible cysts and infections that would just be a worse pain to deal with than getting them removed. Good luck!
Reply:I was conscious during my wisdom teeth extraction. I had some kind of IV sedation (valium?) which allowed me to stay conscious while taking away any care of the world. When he took out the needle I wanted him to put it back in! LOL.





It took about a little over an hour. I had no pain or swelling afterwards. I was pleasantly surprised.





Go to someone that specializes in it. I remembered he showed me a short video that explained everything, and then answered my questions before scheduling the appointment. Make sure to line up someone to take you home.








I hate "sleep sedation". I did that for a regular tooth extraction and it was awful. I kept waking up, and he kept increasing the doseage. When I got home, I ended up sleeping for 3 days straight. Now, I avoid anything that makes me sleep.