Fear of dental extraction

[tiana]

Hi all,
i am new to this board. I spent some days reading some posts in order to find answers to many questions...
I am 36 and i am going to put braces for the first time in my life. I hope to have made the right decision.

Unfortunately i have to extract a tooth, and i am really scared about it.
In general i feel really anxious when i go to the dentist, but i really panic if i think about the extraction.
I do not know how to handle this.

I would appreciate if you could tell me how it is to have a tooth extracted. What do you feel? Is it painful?
Do you think it will worth to have a nice and good tooth pulled off only to have a better smile -- at my age?
I am full of doubts.

Thank you so much

[sweetcynic]

Injecting the novocaine is mildly painful(comparable to getting a shot on the skin), but the tooth pulling itself is painless. I lied low for the next day, was careful how I chewed for the next week and a half, and was fine after that

[Carlosis]

I can see the following few days from extraction to be pretty sore but certainly the time at the dentist you'll be fine! i had a root canal a few weeks ago and the only pain was the split second of having the pain killer injected in my gum. If you compare the split second of pain compared to not having the injection and having the tooth extracted would be pretty huge!

I'm due to start treatment with braces and need to have a tooth out too so let us know how you get on and good luck, it'll be worth it.

[Tingrinteacher]

I had a molar removed in prep for my braces. It doesn't hurt at all, except the wo slight scratches when they put in the anaesthetic jab. There is lots of tugging, and you twisting, which feels strange, but does not hurt. The following day, the area is rather sore, but nothing that lots of ibruprofen/codeine doesn't fix. It took forty minutes to do mine, and they had to make a surgical incision into my gum and jaw as the root was wrapped around the bone. Still, it really wasn't that bad!!! A few days of soft food, job done.

Good luck,

Gem xxx

[oldfart]

Mine was:
1) Insert needle
2) Go to Sleep
3) Wake up without a tooth.

No pain associated with the removal at all.

[Ciara]

I had 2 wisdom teeth removed last summer (one in July and one in August). I'd put it off for years because I was so worried about getting them extracted. I'd been worried for no reason! The only part that hurt was the injection for the anesthetic and even that wasn't so bad because my dentist applied a topical cream before giving me the injection. She had both teeth out really quickly and all I felt was some pressure. I was in and out within 40 minutes.
When I came home, I put an ice pack on and off to that side of my face for a few hours to reduce any swelling and I took a the painkillers the dentist had given me before the anesthetic had worn off. I was a little sore that evening and night but that was it. I ate and drank carefully for the next few days, took the antibiotics and painkillers as directed, had the stitches out a week later and all was well.
Be brave! It is not as bad as we imagine.
Ciara

[starfish88]

After my freak out before christmas when my ortho thought i would need more extractions, I'm probably not the best person to answer. I did have wisdom teeth out last june - one of which was horizontally impacted and another was vertically impacted, and that was fine! I got IV sedation but felt no pain during and barely any after. I know for me though the extractions aren't the worst part its the irrational fear and stress leading up to it which I have no idea how to treat that!

[Bernadette007]

I had 4 bicuspids removed the day my braces went on. There was some pain during the removal but the worst part was the anxiety leading up to the procedure.

My dentist is very liberal with the nitrous, so there wasn't a lot of sharp or stabbing pain, just pressure, twisting, wiggling, and the sense of pain. Very hard to describe.

Lots of people don't feel anything during the procedure, so I think I may be in the minority.

[tiana]

>just pressure, twisting, wiggling, and the sense of pain

Thank you. I agree that imagination is the worst thing. Wondering about the pulling sensation make me mad.
I know that i am not rational.

Is there something i could to do make me at easy? Somewhere i read that using a mirror to see what the ortho is doing might help to cut anxiety down.
But i am not sure that seeing blood would be good for me.
When i was ten years old i had a baby tooth extracted (without pain killer). I was so scared that i could not keep still and i started screaming and moving and the dentist extracted a wrong tooth, the one right next to the other one. Then he was so upset that he slapped me and proceeded extracting with the other one.
Then they gave me an icecream to sooth the pain.

I keep telling me that now i am grown up, and that this time i will have pain killer, but i am not sure it will work.

[WiredJon]

I had a wisdom tooth removed under laughing gas and it was a fantastic experience! I didn't care about anything and might even have fallen asleep during the operation (it was a particularly difficult extraction and took over an hour). The only bad part was when the dentist had to cut the tooth into bits to make enough room to get the roots out, the taste of the burned up tooth was disgusting and made me gag.

I've also had a tooth pulled with just an injection to numb the local area and that's fine too - just a bit of discomfort, but no real pain.

In both cases, I was able to go straight back to work afterwards.

My ortho wants me to get two more wisdom teeth pulled, but I guess that'll be part of my SARPE operation, so I won't get the gas again

[Jamie83]

when is your extraction? I hope it goes well, i need to get four premolars extracted and am so nervous about it!! From what my friends have told me it doesn't hurt having them taken out, it just feels like someone is pulling and you can hear your tooth root cracking (not breaking but just being made loose). Urgh it makes me feel queesy jusy typing :/ !

i have to go back to work the next day so i hope it isn't too bad!

let me know how you get on :)

[kennyandrew85]

Painless procedure, you'll be surprised actually.. the couple of days after will be a little bit of aching pain when the painkillers wear off.

[tiana]

Oh my! four is a lot of teeth!

I am going to put braces for a week or so before the extraction, to make the tooth loose.
Braces are due on the 26th of March. There is plenty of time to change my mind.

I am looking forward to hear about your extraction ! let me know how it goes.

[AdultGettingBraces]

Try not to worry about it. I had 2 out today about 14 hours ago and I still haven't felt a bit of pain.

The numbing gel took away the feeling of the injections and they numbed the whole front side of my mouth so the most I felt was a pressing feeling on my teeth, but no more pressure than you can apply with your own finger.

I was shocked at how painless, quick and easy it was.

I followed it up with a couple paracetamol/codeine tablets every four hours and everything's good so far.

[tiana]

Thank you so much.

I have read a lot of posts, telling about teeth extraction, that i am convinced that it is painless, but my mind still fears it.
I think i will try to talk to the ortho: maybe he could help me.