Molar extraction

[Aparecium]

I'm going to have a molar extracted under sedation. Please tell me what I need to know. The dentist probably told me, but I'm always so stressed at the dentist that I either forget to ask or do not remember what she says.

Until what time can I eat before the procedure?
How do I avoid dry socket?
What's the pain going to be like afterwards?

And anything else that it might help me to know.

Actually, I’m not sure whether it was a sedation clinic she was talking about. Something specialist with a long waiting time, anyway. Like I said, I don’t take in much at the dentist. Trying too hard to suppress my fright-flight instinct.

I'm just the same. What about some Valium from the GP?? I took 10 mg one time for a massive filling and I was kind of ok. Although having suggested that I'd be going for sedation myself for an upcoming extraction.

My DH had three out a few months ago. He was given Valium but it did very little for him apart from making him cranky. The aftercare was all pretty much what everyone else has said. He had dissolving stitches in his gums.

He had some bleeding afterwards and the advice was to use either sterile gauze to bite down on to stop the bleeding or a cooled used tea bag. He used a few tea bags over the first few days. The tannins in the tea help to stop the bleeding or something like that.

DH used a lot of cold packs on his face to reduce swelling.

He used ibuprofen for pain management for a few days. It’s an anti inflammatory along with being pain relief so that also helped with the swelling.

After a few days he used warm salty water in a water flosser to flush the wounds because his breath became gross. Lots of gross stuff came out. Breath smell improved.

sedation is great. you dont give a toss about anything.

you follow the rules about not eating or drinking prior and take or not take medicines you are on after discussion wirh the dentist or doctor. some i had to stop (iron tablets) and ithers i continued.

your partner/friend takes you to the appointment. He or she should also stay with you overnight to make sure you have everything you need and are feeling ok. my dentist wont proceed til he sees him with me. i cannot turn up alone! at the end he then tells him what he needs to know and gives him a sheet of info, as im half asleep and not really listening.

so the dentist will put a cannula in your arm or hand and take your bp and oxygen sats throughout. it’s not painful and he lets you sit for a while until it kicks in andyou feel relaxed. he then jags up your mouth if necessary and asks you how you’re feeling. by this pint youll be feeling pretty good, relaxed and not bothered. if he said he was going to cut your arm off you’d be like yeah that’s fine. it’s good stuff.

the extraction will involve you holding your head still while he rocks the tooth. it may come out in one go or in bits. it makes no odds. he may drill some bits too. you will not care. he tells you it’s over and you then bite down on a wadge of gauze while you relax and after a few minutes he removes it to check the clot has started.

when it’s over the cannula and bp oxygen monitors are removed and you sit for a minute on the chair and stand up and get walked to reception where your partner takes over holding your arm and you dazedly mumble thanks bye as you leave, having paid prior as you shouldn’t maje any de idioms or financial transactions while spaced out.

it’s good gear!

if you can get that get diazapam on prescription from the dentist. just 5mg takes the edge well off. 10mg may be a bit much to the uninitiated but it would prob make you as gaga as the sedation. he will only prescribe what you need eg one or two tablets. they are good too.

ps i asked for the radio to be on too as it’s relaxing and the assistant said i could hold her hand uf scared but i didnt need to.

Lots of good tips here. No one told me about spicules which are tiny bone pieces that pop up in the extraction site. They are fine but i didnt know to expect any. Dont pull them out.Good luck xx

So what do you do about them?

When I found my first one, it was loose in my mouth. I didnt know what it was. I took a photo of it and sent it to my friend! The second 2nd one appeared embedded in the extraction site and my tounge kept messing with it.

What are you supposed to do about them? My DH just pulled them out once they were close enough to the surface.

NHS Sedation is still available - I had it yesterday morning, and twice last year.

It's only done at dental hospitals though. Your dentist can do a referral to one for you. The waiting lists are long though. I've been having several treatments as there is too much work to do in one session and my appointments are months apart. I've had 3 in 15 months now, hopefully just one more to go. Luckily I'm not in any pain for the wait. They did see me same day when I developed an abscess though so it seems emergency stuff may be faster.

im in scotland and my nhs sedation was done by a qualified dentist in his (my) dental practice. as far as i know the only other requirement is no big flights of stairs. so up here it is the qualification that matters not the location. you’d need to check if outwith scotland.

You’re very lucky. Mine was over 40 minutes.

^This.
Also, need to have an adult accompany you, stay on the premises during, take you home and stay with you afterwards.

I had a molar extraction under local. No pain or issues and ate normally on the other side

I had a molar extracted in my lunch break. It had broken at the gum line but it didn’t appear to be problematic. The dentist did say they were 3 roots. No sedation - that wasn’t even discussed.

I was perfectly fine afterwards, no swelling or soreness. Bits of food got stuck in the hole, but I fished them out with a needle. 😂

I was sedated and think I had normal breakfast and had it done about 10. To be honest, it just felt like dull tooth ache after. I think I only took one lot of paracetamol once the anesthetic wore off. I ate a late lunch about 2ish and was back to normal by the next day.

Good to see so many people for whom it was not a big deal. Hope your experience is not too bad op.
I had a molar extracted 3 weeks ago under local anesthetic. I was very groggy that day and sore for about a week. I had stitches and needed the next day off work. I also had numbness in my face for two weeks which can be a side effect of local anesthesia.
I took max dose of paracetamol and ibuprofen for the first few days and then paracetamol only for few more days. Cold compresses on the day to reduce swelling.

I did not eat anything crunchy or hard until this week and stuck to soup/yogurt/mash for the first week. No hot drinks, straws, spitting, brush very gently in the first week.
I returned to the dentist to remove stitches and check healing this week and it's all going well. I will be having a bone graft and an implant to replace the lost tooth. It's a long journey though with all the healing steps between treatment stages.

The extraction went fine. I had asked to have my teeth scaled and polished at the same time, and I vaguely remember some pain from it and putting my hand up, but the rest of the procedure is an absolute blank.

On the way home I woke up to find dh getting into the car in Tesco’s carpark, and I wondered why he had gone shopping. Apparently I had kept telling dh that I wanted ice-cream and that Waitrose didn’t have any 🤪

Although I had a 3h nap when I got home, I feel cheated of the best night’s sleep promised to me - even the clinic’s pamphlet said I would probably have a good night. No, struggled to fall asleep, and awake at 5 bloody a.m. as per usual.

At least not in pain. Just a bit achey and slightly swollen. Such a relief to have the first part over and done with.

Well done! Hope the healing goes well, I'm sure it will