Dentist couldn't take tooth out -dental question

bluenose1

Hopefully someone can advise me. I have had gum infections/tooth ache on and off for a while now, but despite xrays my dentist wasn't sure what the cause was. I went to see my dentist again yesterday as I was in quite a bit if pain and my mouth felt swollen. He advised me to have one of my back teeth out as he felt the pain would just re-occur, which I was fine with.

He then gave me a couple of injections and tried to remove the tooth, I was a gibbering wreck in agony and screamed that loud he had to stop. He then gave me a further injection and told me it wouldn't hurt this time. The pain was exactly the same. He has referred me to another dentist. I think he thinks i was just nervous and not in terrible pain, well I was nervous but also in agony, he has also put me on antibiotics.

Was wondering if I should give this new dentist a go at getting it out with just an injection or whether to pay the £100 extra to have "controlled sedation"
Could it just be that cos my gums were inflamed it was so painful? will spend the extra £100 if necessary but not sure what to do.

Toothsmith

It is certainly possible that an active infection around a tooth, or even sometimes a dying nerve, can make a tooth really hard to numb up properly. So often a course of antibiotics or even just waiting for a couple of weeks, and the next attempt can be totally different.

But it is also true that a really apprehensive patient can turn every nudge, jolt and bit of pressure into a pain experience.

Which one was the case with you and your dentist is impossible for anyone else here to guess. Antibiotics and sedation would cover all the bases - but whether or not that's necessary is your call on advice from your dentist(s).

bluenose1

Thanks Toothsmith, will see what the dentist says on Friday, hopefully by then the antibiotics may have reduced the infection. I do get nervous but surely I should not have been in excrutiating pain.
There again I certainly got the impression from my dentist he thought I was just a wimp and not in pain, I am wondering now if was my nervousness, but I have been nervous having fillings etc and although slightly painful nothing like this.
Feel quite embarrased over the whole thing.

welshdent

I think we have all had our fair share of "wont go numb" patients. As ts said, its hard to tell what is causing it. If your dentist was frustrated it was more to do with the situation than with you dont worry. See what they say and be led by that advice.

bluenose1

Thanks Welshdent, will try to go in as calm as I can on Friday. Just worried that I will start screaming again with pain. I have manged to get through 3 caesarians with one resulting in a nasty infection without all this palaver. Will definitely take some Bachs herbal remedy as that normally calms me down for nervous situations.
Thanks again.

jugglebug

It is a hard situation to be in both for patient and dentist.
To Echo what the others have said your state of mind can have an effect, which varies from person to person.
Once I had a chap who jump at every touch, even to things that I felt couldn't possibly hurt. I then took a small step back, and asked "does it hurt when I do this?" After a moment of "arrgh" he noticed where I was standing, ie 2 feet away. The upshot was his elevated anxiety was registering as pain. To him It was pain and that is all that matters. It is irrelevant that it was largely in his head the experience is just as real. OK he was at the extreme end of the scale but it is still relevant.
Of course the other factors are relevant too, inflammation / infection etc.
I often ask my patients to take an anti inflammatory before attending, such as Ibuprofen but please ask your dentist about this first as they know far more about their plans and your own personal circumstances than any of us possibly could.

bluenose1

Thanks Jugglebug, I am convinced the anaesthetic didn't work as the pain was excruciating. I was expecting a tugging feeling etc but not such intense pain. 100% certain thinking about it that it was not in my mind.

My gums are still sore so just hoping the antibiotics take effect before I go on Friday.

It must be difficult for dentists to know if a patient is just very nervous or if the anaesthetic has not worked. All my family think I have a high pain threshold and are convinced that it is not in my mind. Looking at the Internet there are loads of examples of people saying the anaesthetic hasn't worked if they have had gum infections.

I keep doubting myself but then I remember the pain.

Armchair23

It's so hard to compare and contrast isn't it. I had a dentist out of the dark ages as a child (sorry to all you lovely current dentists) and was VERY apprehensive as a young adult.
I found a lovely dentist who thought there was no virtue in suffering if pain relief was available, played old Beach Boys hits and was generally perfect.
My kids would sit on the chair play 'water pistols' a more idyllic thing you could not imagine (well maybe)
Then I had a raging toothache, antibiotics and root canal work. And despite everything he tried I was in agony . I wasn't frightened of treatment, the odd filling I'd had I usually had without anaesthetic.
So who knows why one particular problem and treatment was so traumatic.
All the work this dentist did afterward reverted to the same easygoing and painfree routine. So please don't let this bad experience colour everything going forward.
Best of Luck

Toothsmith

This stuff about pain being 'In the mind'.

People can have quite nasty things one to them - from wisdom teeth to ceasarian childbirth with only hypnsis blocking the pain.

Therefore it can be logically argued that ALL pain is 'in the mind'.

The mind is a very powerful thing, and it's the only thing that tells us what is 'real' anyway. So if you felt pain, then your pain was real. But maiking the pain not happen anymore can sometimes be a more complicated than just attacking one particular factor. It sounds to me like the people looking after yu are covering the bases.

ellies_angel

I had a dentist who was giving me a filling and I was about through the roof in pain. She kept giving me another injection till finally she told me she had never had to give to many. I said I don't care this is really painful.
Move on a year and I had to have root canal work. Same dental practice different dentist. 1 injection and I practically slept through it. No bother at all. I recently had a back molar out which went from a simple extraction to a surgical one. 1 injection, 30 mins of pulling, sawing and losing a bit of bone (large twisted roots) it was out, painfree. I could feel the sensation but there was no pain.
I remember discussing it with my husband who mentioned it to his dentist who told him that it is an art and skill to "hit the right spot" my current dentist is an artist!

Toothsmith

ellies_angel wrote: »

I remember discussing it with my husband who mentioned it to his dentist who told him that it is an art and skill to "hit the right spot" my current dentist is an artist!

If only it were that straightforward!

Most of us just try to get it right most of the time. Promising anyone anything more than that just sets yourself up for a fall!