Sexual Assault Going Under To Get My Wisdom Teeth Taken Out, Worried I Will Have An Episode From The Drugs. Help?

[Deleted member 12723]

I am having some teeth extracted next week and I opt to be put out. I did this before and I trust the oral surgeon and staff very much. My daughter will be with me and she is very soothing.

I am not afraid to be put out this time as I know what to expect.

Your situation is complicated so I say follow your heart and trust your gut instincts. I hope the procedure goes very well for you and also that it will become a healing experience for you.

 

[racheldiane]

As a surgical nurse I have to stress to you that a general anesthetic should and does in 99.99999999...% of cases fully knock you out so that you are asleep and will not see or feel anything during that time. It has rarely been reported for it not to work and even in such rare rare events, the anesthesist usually notices before the patient would be conscious of it, and tops up the sedation. I have never seen or met anyone who reported it not working fully.

While I know it's extremely unlikely that the sedation wouldn't work completely, I still worry. The thing I'm more concerned about though (and is much more likely to happen) is that the feeling of the drug's onset or comedown, when I AM awake, will trigger something. I will probably opt for a conscious sedation.

 

[racheldiane]

Maybe you can take an iPod or something similar with a headset with you?

Will this prevent me from hearing anything if I do conscious sedation?

 

[racheldiane]

It sounds to me like you are confused by the terms.

The term sedation is often used for medication that sedates - ie makes you feel sleepy and relaxed, but not necessarily fully asleep. Under sedation you can feel like a zombie and out of control. If you have no worries then it usually works well. For you, as somebody who is anxious about the whole thing in the beginning, and a history of being raped while under the effects of a drug, then I would suggest that sedation is not appropriate, but a full GA would be preferable

Hmm I will talk to my doctor and clarify. Yeesh, maybe conscious sedation is a bad idea? Wow I don't know. Either way I'll make sure I have a social worker there or something

 

[racheldiane]

@Lucycat - I don't think she was saying it will be ketamine that will be used - just that that was the drug used in the rape.

I was thinking some more and I word were if a second opinion about your teeth might be useful? I remembered that the first dentist I saw for my wisdom teeth pain said I'd need a GA and all my teeth taken out..

I was drugged with the research chemical 'equivalent' of ketamine. The dentist mentioned that sometimes they use that for sedation, but I could probably ask for something else. I'll have a conversation with her about it and see if there are any options that would minimize the effects I have from the sedation. No way am I letting them give me ketamine ): GA scares me too though because of the whole 'going under and coming out of it' feeling. I'm scared that it will feel similar to the drugs I was slipped.

Unfortunately I've already gotten an infection in the gums around one of my wisdom teeth, and I can see that it's growing in crooked. Also when I close my mouth my wisdom teeth chew on my gums back there so I've basically wrecked the back of my mouth already and need to get them taken out.

 

[StarChild]

if I do conscious sedation?

@luckkbealady, I did not write "conscious sedation" - I wrote "local anaesthetic". That means, making the tooth and its area numb, by several injections into that area of your mouth. That's a big difference.. Please read:

something else than a local anaesthetic in dental / jaw surgery.

I don't know how they'll have to remove your teeth out? Did they tell you, how exactly they'll do it? Is it more than one tooth per session? Maybe some clarifying could be of help here?

 

[Friday]

Nope. You'll still be able to hear through your jawbone. It won't be clear, except for sounds in your mouth, which will be quite clear, but it will give you something to focus on.

Honestly... I would suspect you'd do best under a GA, or local anesthetic. Conscious sedation is like being drugged. You're awake, and aware, but altered and unable to think clearly or rationally, and unable to move well or at all, but still aware of that. Not like being asleep (GA) or awake/alert but numb with a local. Even if coming out of GA is problematic, it's a thing where you're getting clearer every minute. Not foggier and foggier and physical trauma and not for a goodly long time do you start to come out. Partial sedation / conscious sedation is fantastic for people who don't trust being asleep... But as someone who has used ketamine/GHB/nitrous and other drugs recreationally... Partial/Conscious sedation is very, very much like that.

- Local Anesthetic = Numb but awake, alert, & aware.
- Partial Sedation / Conscious Sedation = Numb, awake, altered
- General Anesthetic = Numb & Asleep

 

[racheldiane]

I know this may sound like a stupid question. But, do you actually need your wisdom teeth removed? The reason I ask is that I know in the US they tend to want to take them out regardless of whether they are actually causing you problems. In the UK they only tend to remove them if they are causing problems or are growing in at such an angle as to be likely to be an issue.
. . .
If you would like the name of the forum I can always send it to you by PM.

Yeah I do need them removed :S They're causing problems
Could I get the name of that forum?

 

[rainbow1]

Sure, I have sent you a PM.

 

[GWhizz]

Definitely agree with @FridayJones on the GA over conscious sedation. Maybe you have confused conscious sedation with being awake? The main thing that worried me about conscious sedation was being out of control while still awake. Like I may say anything as patients often do in my experience. I may act out stuff from my trauma which is really frightening and I'll never know what I say as you generally can't recall. Though I do not believe they give conscious sedation for dental procedures anyway - as patients still tend to move and babble at times which would make it hard to do extractions

 

[rainbow1]

I had conscious sedation for my wisdom teeth extraction @GWhizz It is very common. You are conscious and able to follow instructions, however, it generally has an amnesic effect so that you do not remember what happened and it has enough of a sedative effect to make you not care.

 

[GWhizz]

That's interesting @rainbow1 thanks for the insight, I've never seen it for that. I had it for endoscopy myself and I guess the point I was making is that, like date rape you are not in control and it has amnesia effects and there's also the hazy feeling when you're coming out of it. You're generally not allowed drive or sign legal documents for at least 24hrs after one as you're still under it's effects