Expert answers
We know how daunting dental treatment can be. Our Dental Phobia certified experts are here to help ease your mind before treatment by answering your questions.
I am trying to find someone who can offer me analgesia, can you help me?
I had nightmare permanent molar extractions (4) as a child to allow crooked front lower and upper teeth to ‘spread out’. I was given no anaesthesia whatsoever. Subsequently, even massive amounts of gum injections failed adequately to numb. Various dentists told me my gum nerves ‘went in unusual ways’ and became angry and frustrated with me. Eventually, I found a dentist who was a retired Dentistry Prof from Liverpool dentistry school, running a dental surgery as a ‘leisure activity’! He diagnosed me as dental phobic, saying that my body was blocking the effects of the injections. He gave me ‘alternate analgesia’ ( a light scented gas which left me happy and conscious). I amazingly used to actually look forward to going to him for treatment. Then he totally retired. Recently I broke a lower molar and was told the only analgesia offered nowadays was sedation costing £195! I cannot afford this for every dental visit on top of the cost of the dental treatment. There is an acute shortage of NHS dentists in my area (Kirklees), and my previous NHS dentist crossed me off her list whilst I was abroad for 3 years, so had to go private for this broken tooth. I was given 8 injections in total; I became extremely lightheaded and on the point of collapse, but the tooth was still not completely numbed, so I had to suffer an agonising extraction. I feel I have come full circle back to where I was as a child and am terrified of another dental visit. Can you PLEASE help or advise?
having the teeth out when you are a child with only a local and no GA can be the cause of Post Traumatic Dental Stress Disorder which remains in the memory for years after .
Your nice understanding dentist used RA to alter your consciousness , but treatment would still have to be carried out with effective local anesthesia , or it wouldn’t have been any good .
RA can still be offered , but its a question of finding a dentist who does it .
If you need extractions its possible to be referred to the dental Hospital for IV sedation or GA as you have got this phobia after your several unpleasant experiences , there is no cost to that .
However avoiding the need for extractions if possible is the best strategy .
You may need more local anesthetic than the average person , it may take more time to work . tell the dentist that that is your experience in the past on more than one occasion .
Usually the likelihood of failure is increased by not waiting enough time , waiting till you are in pain or have infection .
So have check ups at least once a year , have your teeth properly professionally cleaned by a hygienist . If you are found to need anything you can make arrangements for appropriate sedative care in a planned way and not a crisis ( easier said than done sometimes ! )
Hope this might help
Jenny
