To think I shouldn’t come out of the dentist crying and shaking.

[Bellabluea]

Hi all. So I need an upper molar out. The dentist tried last week and could only get the bottom half out leaving 3 deep roots which it turns out are infected. He numbed me but I swear I felt so much I couldn’t let him. He gave me a course of antibiotics and I went back today. I took strong painkillers before I left and he numbed me apparently. I was anxious but I was assured it would be better after the antibiotics.

I feel like I’ve been assaulted. My body went into shakes and I started crying. I could feel him trying to pull out my tooth and the pain was horrendous. I kept grabbing his arm and he said I needed to let him and that I was numbed.
he tried a couple of times and I tried so hard to let him and be brave but I just couldn’t.
i left crying and drove home in shock.
DH has never seen me so traumatised and I am not soft. I have had children without pain relief and I’m not someone who is an anxious person.
The dental assistant kept giving me tissues and asking if I was alight. She looked really concerned but the dentist just came across as a bit irritated and said my anxiety was stopping me.
he did another X-ray at the end and said there was a deep infection which was why I felt something and I ran out of there with a promise of an appointment somewhere else for sedation.

I think I just needed to write it down. My reaction shocked me and my body just took over. I still can’t stop crying.

am I just being soft?

I had the root canal from hell... dentist also claimed it was un-numb-able due to a deep infection but the tooth was fine before he started.

Basically it was just a malformed tooth, because of the shape it 'looked' broken but wasnt, dentists where always obsessed with 'fixing' it but I never let them and never had any problems.

Then the dentist who was doing another root canal talked me into letting him do that one at the same time and it was the biggest mistake ever. A year and half of agony (ended up in hospital being refered to craniofacial surgons) to 'fix' something that was no problem in the first place.

This has happened to me. If the infection is raging then the local doesn’t work. I’m also someone who doesn’t respond that well to the standard injections. They do have other ones they can try but again, you will still feel it if the infection hasn’t been calmed down. My dentist put me on antibiotics for a bit longer before trying again and that time it all went fine. I’m a complete dentist-phobe. Not helped by having a truly evil one when I was younger. I have now found the kindest, loveliest most understanding dentist and it makes a HUGE difference. I assume you’re not in a position to shop around for a different dentist due to the complete lack of them in this country. But perhaps next time you go you could ask to be seen by a different one at the same practice

They shouldn't be trying to pull an infected tooth. It's too dangerous and causes a lot of pain.

Deal with the infection first and finish the course of antibiotics and then ask for the tooth to be removed in hospital under a GA or get a new dentist.

I had a similar experience with a rough dentist, she shouted at me that I was making it too hard for her like I was a little kid, I had told her I got anxious as my dad had just suddenly died so it wasn’t unexpected nerves. She was too aggressive and it put me off for a couple of years!!

Was he overly rough etc?

I don't know I saw a barber dentist set up on a chair in the dusty open air square market place of an African town. Get you beard trimed and tooth pulled (no anastetic no sterilisation) at the same time.

I've had a LOT of dental work done, including an extraction. I've only ever had one dentist over 2 sessions cause me so much pain. I very much believe it's down to the poor technique of certain dentists.

Thats what the doctors at the hospital said about mine, as well as being malformed above the gum the roots where malformed too so it was like a 'knot'.

The hospital managed to pull the nerve and the infection finally went (after the 12th course of antibiotics, the final course after the nerve pulled worked) and the stuck a cap on it. The gum around the tooth has worn away down to the bone since though.

Sounds like a charlatan

you didn't even have tooth pain to begin with?

I would make a complaint, try for compensation as you will need to be seen by a dental surgeon next. I'm so sorry. I handed over a lot of money to a complete charlatan in the past as well. I now think of three procedures he did, only one was necessary.

Poor you!

You sound very brave under the circumstances.

I had a painless extraction, but there was so much drilling a pulling I started sobbing. I didn't know I was sobbing and wondered why my body was shaking and I couldn't control it. The dentist was good, and very kind so I can only imagine how awful your experience was.

I'm so sorry that happened to you. I was left with an intense phobia of dentists (which then led to crap teeth that needed a lot of work as an adult) after an experience in my teens where the anaesthesia did NOT work and nobody would believe me and they kept going. It's an awful experience. I have a lovely dentist now and while it still gives me so much anxiety, I've never felt any pain when he's done work, not even a little bit.

Local anaesthetics aren't as effective in the case of infection. Perhaps the dentist should have paid more attention during his training. Or, perhaps he's just an arsehole.

Can you find another dentist?

Hope you are starting to feel better.

Lidocaine is acid based. Inflamed tissue is also acidic, that's why it doesn't work very well on infected areas. It's called the acid base shift.

I had similar and needed to go the hospital in the end. I was very nervous but it all went fine and no pain.

I had all 4 wisdom teeth at out the same time and honestly, it was like being assaulted. It was....brutal. My husband came to collect me and I was sat semi-conscious with bloody dribble dripping off my face. OP- I would be inclined to never go back to that dentist again.

I had similar with the NHS. My dentist referred me to the local hospital, and the experience was traumatic. My dentist was horrified that I didn't get morphine and put onto a ward for the night, because I should have had stitches after the tooth splintered and wouldn't come out.

I now live in the US, and dental treatment is SO much better. They wouldn't dream of injecting without giving numbing lotion on the site first. They are so much more patient and also take x-rays etc. regularly to check on roots. I couldn't believe how much less painful and terrifying the dentists here are - I've been to several different practices and always had a much, much, better experience than even my best UK dentist. I wasn't scared of dentists until the really bad experience, so I went in relatively relaxed, but the trauma of the tooth removal, and the pain & bleeding afterwards, took a lot to get over.

The last couple of times I've had local anaesthetic for dental work it hasn't worked (numbed) in the usual timescale. It gets numb hours after the very uncomfortable procedure!!! I'm not sure if something in the formulation of the drugs has changed or if it's my body chemistry that has changed (is it a stretch to blame menopause?)

This sounds awful. I had similar having a root canal and 2 fillings recently. I swear their local anaesthetic didn't work at all. It was awful. And I have my whole back tattooed so I'm not a wimp with pain.

YANBU.

I had similar with an NHS dentist, on my wisdom tooth. He was also screaming at me so loudly that several other staff came into the room to get me out of there.

I went to a private dentist the next day, who did a digital x day and found that my tooth was on the nerve. She told me that if he had pulled it out, my face would have been paralysed on that side, and strongly advised me to file a formal complaint.

She referred me to the maxillofacial at the local NHS hospital, where it turned out that it had to be done under GA

@CottageEmo awful

I had this happen to me many years ago. I remember the agony and begging for the dentist to stop.....he just laughed and kept on going and just for the hell of it told me "if you continue to make a fuss I'll pull them out", I was 23 at the time. It took me over 25 years to pluck up the courage to see a dentist again. The one I have now is great and always makes sure I am completely numb (I had 3 doses just for a filling recently).
If you are able then change your dental practice (not just your dentist), and report him. I reported mine and I was not the only one he had done that to apparently....he got struck off soon after.

I had a wisdom tooth pulled in Khartoum (Sudan) once - was very impressed with the whole experience. Needed numbing twice - female dentist kept checking I wasn't in pain. I wasn't, but I was very trembly at the end so they sat me in reception with a very sweet mango juice and that made me feel better.

I bet female pain gets treated with less patience than male pain by British dentists, just like happens with doctors...

Sorry to hear about your experience op. I have had a huge amount of dental work done over the years. I felt very brave reading these posts!
I am not able to have adrenaline due to a heart condition. It is noted on my records. Anaesthetic without adrenaline takes longer to work but I haven’t had any problems.
I also have a lower nerve in the ‘wrong’ place. So I always tell them first if they’re in that area, again no problems (once I found out).
However, your dentist very out of order trying to pull an infected tooth! I would make a complaint, this is not acceptable, it is dangerous.
And how could a dentist take out a tooth with a twisted root - wouldn’t they look at the xray first?
Op, I hope you find a good dentist, one who specialises in nervous patients. I think most dental practices have a dentist who does that.

We would never carry I if a patient was in pain in the practice I work in. You should absolutely find a new dentist, they can give more than two cartridges.

Yes some people do seem to metabolize it a lot faster than others or need a lot more than others but that should be taken into account and they should be checking and asking if you can feel anything before they really get going and topping up if necessary.

Yes, it is. Mostly dentists have agreed to do this for me, but very occasionally I have been told that the adrenaline is necessary as otherwise there will be too much blood obscuring the area they are working on.

TBH just knowing that my terrified shaking and weeping is a reaction to a chemical injected into me, and not a reaction to genuine danger, helps me to remain calmer.

Gosh so many dentists on this site that need to brush up on their CPD. Antibiotics should NOT be given unless there is clinical need due to the risk of bacterial resistance. The best way of treating an infection is either taking the tooth out or extirpating. It is NOT dangerous to extract a tooth with an infection present, there is a very low risk of anaesthesia not being fully achieved.

Oh it also isn’t possible to examine someone and say your nerves are in the wrong place. Nerves can’t be seen. I’m not saying that nerves can’t be in the wrong place - they most certainly can - but we can’t tell by looking