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.
Is There Any Way I Can Have Treatment Without a Sickness Risk?
I need to have an impacted wisdom tooth removed and have been referred to hospital for it’s removal. At my meeting with them yesterday they said it could be done via local anaesthetic (will take over 40 minutes to do), sedation (will make me feel woozy and sick) or GA (could make me sick). I have extreme emetophobia (fear of sickness) and cannot do ANYTHING that might make me sick so none of these are an option. I left in tears fearing I will have to live with the pain of abscesses etc. for the rest of my life and it will surely only get worse. Nothing in the world will persuade me to put myself at risk of being sick, however. I can’t see any way out of this.
Firstly, is the extraction absolutely necessary?
Secondly, you don’t have to live with abscesses all your life. There is the option of just having a local anesthetic, perhaps with asking for some sedative tablets to help. IV sedation has almost no risk of making you sick, and modern drugs don’t leave you feeling woozy afterwards. The same applies to GA, the risk of being sick is minimal.
However your real problem is emetophobia, and unless you can see your way to having the local anaesthetic then your options are closed off by your emetophobia.
I don’t know if you have had any treatment for this, or where you live.
If you go to the website of AnxietyUK, they have some resources on emetophobia, and also access to low cost psychological services.
Hope this helps, Jenny.
