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I am recovering from an abscess caused by a broken wisdom tooth which now needs to be extracted. If anyone has a recommendation for a surgeon and would like to inbox me i would certainly appreciate it. -Thanks.
I'm amazed at the people on here 2nd-guessing an oral surgeon. Could it be possible that not every wisdom tooth is the same, and that some can be removed with only local anesthetic and others can't? Obviously the OP should get a 2nd opinion if he doesn't want general anesthesia but statements like the above are just silly!
Actually, there are quite a few oral surgeons and dentists that like to charge the premium for stuff like general anesthesia and twilight sedation.
My kids' dentist keeps wanting to give them twilight sedation to remove baby teeth that are lingering. Back when they were smaller, I was fine with paying the extra premium. Now that they're bigger, I'm bribing them to wiggle the teeth, else get'em pulled with local anesthesia.
I just got mine out in December and it was surprisingly painless. Everyone was telling me how I would be out for days and in so much pain and I would need all this medication....I went under on a Thursday morning, was laid up in bed for all of Thursday, and by Friday mid-day I was up and packing for a 5hr drive north. I never touched the medication, only took Advil, and the only problem I had was waiting a couple days to eat solid food. On Friday I was (slowly) taking bites of a nutri-grain bar, and by Sunday I was eating (slowly) wings & fries. By that Monday I was probably down to maybe 2 advils a day for a week or so, only when a bit of discomfort would creep in.
It's more of a PITA than anything - the eating issues, and the stupid water syringe to keep food from getting stuck back there and causing an infection. Just a hassle. BTW - USE THAT SYRINGE as much as possible.
Im thinking I definitely lucked out, but the moral of the story is, don't freak out, everyone is different, it's likely not as bad as people say it is. All four of mine were impacted as well. My guy is in Apex, DM me if you want his info.
i dont let them do a cleaning without putting me out.... LOL
but then i have a very unhealthy dental phobia, so thats the only way i can get through it. and xanax.
xanax is my friend when it comes to dr dentist time.
I'm with suedonym! I would never be able to stand that without sedation. My dentist uses a laser for some things and last year when removing an old silver filing and putting in a new composite one, she tried to convince me I didn't need novocain if she used the laser; that it wouldn't hurt. I don't her "no way! numb it up!"
Luckily, I had all four wisdom teeth out when I was 16...one was looking bad and the dr. told my parents - just take 'em all out at once.
I'm amazed at the people on here 2nd-guessing an oral surgeon. Could it be possible that not every wisdom tooth is the same, and that some can be removed with only local anesthetic and others can't? Obviously the OP should get a 2nd opinion if he doesn't want general anesthesia but statements like the above are just silly!
And the Chief of Oral surgery at UNC is probably a little better qualified to do many things that other dentists don't want to touch.
Having said that, I had a gash cut in my belly and a baby pulled out without general anesthesia (c-section). My husband watched and they told me I could look in the mirror and watch, too, if I wanted to. I passed on that one. Surely a little ol' tooth can be done!
Well if there was some specific medical reason that I need general anesthesia, he certainly wasn't very clear about it. He said my other tooth (one I had extracted with just novocaine) must have been fully erupted (it wasn't at all). In fact the lady who took my to the waiting room and explained the procedure started out with "its really far back in your mouth which isn't a problem for us but might be for you". I felt like they were trying to "scare" me into it more than anything.
So...I may be wrong, but seems to me like it might be more of a profit and/or don't want to have to worry about the patient while we work kind of thing. I couldn't help but notice that their waiting room was kind of fancy.
And not to bash dentists but...it has been my experience that some of them seem a little more profit-driven than other medical professions. Or perhaps its only more transparent. I've also had dentists try to push the "laughing gas" and even schedule it for me without asking. The first time I visited my new dentist, he went on all about the slight gap between my front teeth and tried to push some $4000 cosmetic procedure when I had only come in for a cleaning. Leaves me a little suspicious of their motivations sometimes.
Anyway I will get a second opinion, but every consultation costs about $75 so thats why I thought about asking for recommedations to find someone who might do it.
Keep in mind many dental insurance companies don't cover the laughing gas.
I've had my 4 teeth pulled out both ways. The two impacted ones I was put under for because they had to cut them out. The two that were fine, I had removed with valium and novacaine.
My experience was the opposite of yours where the doctor pushed for the non "laughing gas" route because he knew insurance didn't cover it.
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uhhh...no.
