broken decayed wisdom tooth etc...
 

Hi my name is Paige and have been having severe teeth problems for years nowbut am deathly afraid of extractions or having a root canal etc. My pain wss so excruciating last year that i finally went and had three teeth extracted. I only did the bare necessity.,knowing that eventually i wouldneed two upper molars removed also.Welllll its that time!!!! So my upper left wisdom tooth has been broken for prob almost two years but no pain was involved so i ignored it. Over time it chipped away and decayed more and more to the point where one randomday i woke up in excruciating pain all over again. Unable to eat and hardly speak because my cheek just rubs into yhe open decayed tooyh. The whole front side is rotted up to the gum. And for some reason it is triggering pain in other frontsl upper/lower teeth. Does that mean its s nerve exposed or damaged? Anyway. So i finally suck it up and attempt to have it extracted and dr tells me he cant do it because theres not enough tooyh for him to grip to pull it and thst the only possibility is an oral surgeon and thst theyll need to cut it out. Does this sound right? And he says it needs immediate attention. He also noted that the gum of the tooth in front of it that fell out on its own has left over root that needs to aldo be removed. This tooyh fell ouy over two years ago and healed fine. I have no pain whatsoever in relation to the leftover root. Is it necessary to alsohave that removed? I have the dental pictures of the area from my appt today in my email. I have o loaded them so someone could give an opinion? Thank you!

Hi pmaltby,

FYI... I am in the dental field and I agree with your dentist.... you need to see an oral surgeon for BOTH problems ASAP. The photos show a severe infection with that broken tooth as well as in the area where the piece of tooth is embedded under the gum. Both of these infections are serious and will spread beyond this area, please do not wait to have this taken care of.

Let us know how you're doing...
Bryanna








QUOTE=pmaltby3486;911802]Hi my name is Paige and have been having severe teeth problems for years nowbut am deathly afraid of extractions or having a root canal etc. My pain wss so excruciating last year that i finally went and had three teeth extracted. I only did the bare necessity.,knowing that eventually i wouldneed two upper molars removed also.Welllll its that time!!!! So my upper left wisdom tooth has been broken for prob almost two years but no pain was involved so i ignored it. Over time it chipped away and decayed more and more to the point where one randomday i woke up in excruciating pain all over again. Unable to eat and hardly speak because my cheek just rubs into yhe open decayed tooyh. The whole front side is rotted up to the gum. And for some reason it is triggering pain in other frontsl upper/lower teeth. Does that mean its s nerve exposed or damaged? Anyway. So i finally suck it up and attempt to have it extracted and dr tells me he cant do it because theres not enough tooyh for him to grip to pull it and thst the only possibility is an oral surgeon and thst theyll need to cut it out. Does this sound right? And he says it needs immediate attention. He also noted that the gum of the tooth in front of it that fell out on its own has left over root that needs to aldo be removed. This tooyh fell ouy over two years ago and healed fine. I have no pain whatsoever in relation to the leftover root. Is it necessary to alsohave that removed? I have the dental pictures of the area from my appt today in my email. I have o loaded them so someone could give an opinion? Thank you![/QUOTE]

Hi,im so happy you wrote back. I saw your previous responses and was really hoping you would. Like i previously stated i am terrified of all this and was wondering how typically they go about anesthesia? I have no veins for an i.v. so do they still use gas to knock you out.i cant even bare the thought of just novicaine and see a scalpel and pliers coming my way. And thst crunching sound....oh god!

Hi pmaltby,

Is there any chance you could have an IV placed in your hand? Oral surgeons can provide a sedation called twilight... which puts the patient to sleep but is easy to come out of after the procedure. A local anesthetic is also used to make the surgical site profoundly numb for several hours.

Other alternatives are oral sedation with valium, xanax or halcion ... and/or nitrous oxide gas and again local anesthetic is always used. All of these options can put you in a very relaxed state.

Your imagination is getting the best of you, fear will do that. Your thoughts of the procedure are actually worse than the procedure itself... trust me on this... I've assisted on countless surgeries like this.

I totally understand your fear.... completely. However, to be very honest with you.... you need to be equally afraid, if not more so, of this type of infection.

Please schedule an appointment with an oral surgeon asap.

We'll be right here for you...
Bryanna

A couple thoughts. I have the smallest veins possible-I'm 37 and they still have to us the needles they use for infants. They always can get an IV in my hand. They just have you drop your hand to your side below your body and the veins plump up.

Having said that taking medication is good too. Also, in the meantime you can always ask your doctor for something to get you through it. Low dose anxiety medicine.

You'll do great!

I feel so sorry for you Dmalt...I am currently going through a dental nightmare and am very frightened.

I also have small veins and medical professionals have a very hard time getting my blood or inserting an IV.

Things that have helped me A LOT include:
1. Drink extra water the day before, however the day that you are going to get the actual "stick," drink A TON OF WATER. I mean almost constantly drink for hours before the IV.
2. If you see they are having problems, suggest that they warm the area in some way....sometimes they have those packs that they can break or they can put very warm/hot water in a rubber glove. Then put this on top of the vein they are going to use for at least three minutes.
3. If you are having a lot of IVs or blood tests and it is getting painful, or ever find yourself in the hospital, ask for a tube of EMLA and have them rub this cream on your hands and inside your arms. You can also buy something called LMX cream and do the same thing about 30 minutes before any kind of needle stick. It usually reduces the pain by about a 1/3. EMLA is prescription. LMX is over the counter and is super expensive. I save it for when I'm getting lots of tests.
4. The Butterfly is almost always better for people with small veins. It is a small needle.

Bryanna: I hope you can take a look at my post...added additional info., it is pretty thorough. Thank you.

About IV sedation
 

Hi, I do know about being afraid of the IV stick. I too have no veins, but the OS was able to use a very very small needle, and I didn't have any trouble whats so ever. This took all the stress away! I also have to do something like this with an endoscopy on the 24th. I know it will be OK, they will take the very best care of you. The IV sedation for me was the best way to go, as I have the jitters over whats coming at me just like you do. Try to trust that this will be OK, and get rid of that bad old infection. I wish you all the best, ginnie