Own sedation for dental work 29 August 2020 at 9:57AM in Health & beauty MoneySaving 15 replies 721 views

dancing_star

I've to have a wisdom tooth removed as it is growing sideways. The NHS waiting list isn't even open due to covid, and I'm getting some pain, so I'm having it done privately. Thing is, it will cost an extra £180 or so to be sedated, which I can't really afford right now. I've had a wisdom tooth ripped out without sedation before, and it wasn't too horrific,  but that wasn't a tricky sideways wonky one.

Now, I have prescribed sedatives for anxiety, would it be really so terrible if I gobbled one or even a half before the extraction (and got a friend to drive me home, obvs)? Anyone done this and either had success or got intro trouble?

brook2jack2

If you are intending to self medicate please discuss with your dentist beforehand . It is important they know what you are intending to take, how much and when, as it may interact with drugs they give , cause problems if they need consent or payment etc 
Bear in mind what you can take as a tablet will not bear any relation with what they would give you IV , so discuss with them beforehand so you know what to expect. IV sedation sedates you and also you do not remember anything of what happened during the procedure , it is very different to tablets. 

dancing_star

thank you - I'll do that. I wouldn't want to cark it in the chair due to a negative interaction. If they say no go I'll just have to put on my big girl pants and get on with it!

I had liquid sedative before a procedure years ago, and remember sliding down the wall as I tried to get to the surgery from the waiting room!

MoneySeeker1

On that point - can anyone clarify exactly what is meant by "sedation"?

Does it mean:
a. there is pain - but you don't remember it afterwards
OR
b. there isn't pain and you don't remember it afterwards

I've often wondered if people DO actually feel pain right bang at the time - but don't know it (ie because they don't remember it afterwards).

I wouldnt see the point of "sedation" unless I never/ever felt pain - whether I remembered that fact afterwards or no.

unforeseen

I've often wondered if people DO actually feel pain right bang at the time - but don't know it (ie because they don't remember it afterwards).

That's the way ketamine works. 

MalMonroe

I don't understand why you can't make an appointment with your own dentist? Ours has been open since the end of June and is doing this kind of extraction without patients having to go on a 'waiting list'. 

With something as important as health, though, I'd have to pay the extra £180. It's worth it. And if anything did go wrong, then you'd be able to sue, sue, sue! (Although I'm sure it won't.) 

But try your own NHS dentist first, mine would remove a wisdom tooth during this time, no problem at all.

aminchom

Sedation is not pain relief. Some sedatives are pain relieving (specifically ketamine) some are amnesic (benzodiazepines like diazepam or midazolam). Conscious sedation as used by dentists is to reduce anxiety (and because of the choice of drugs) is usually amnesic. The pain relief that you get is from the local anaesthetic. As an anaesthetist who works with oral surgeons, I can tell you my colleagues are extremely good at this. I have to give very little (if any) pain relief. 

MoneySeeker1

MalMonroe said:

I don't understand why you can't make an appointment with your own dentist? Ours has been open since the end of June and is doing this kind of extraction without patients having to go on a 'waiting list'. 

With something as important as health, though, I'd have to pay the extra £180. It's worth it. And if anything did go wrong, then you'd be able to sue, sue, sue! (Although I'm sure it won't.) 

But try your own NHS dentist first, mine would remove a wisdom tooth during this time, no problem at all.

In fairness - many people assume that the way things are in their own part of the country is the way things are everywhere else in the country (yep....I've made that assumption myself before now) and it's only if one lives in another part of the country where some people have a different set of assumptions about how things are throughout the country that you realise how different things can be within the same country!! That applies to healthcare as well - so it may well be there's no problem in your part of the country - but others are doubtless experiencing problems.

I'd pay the extra £180 too - if that was what I wanted - but that's because I can manage to find the money (even though I can't afford the money iyswim). I prioritise health extremely highly personally - hence still wincing visibly at the thought of the £450 recently taken from me for a dental bill (an already expensive dentist plus non-standard work plus Lockdown surcharge for that "gear they wear in Lockdown").

But the thing is I'm on low income (darn it!) but it's not "on the dole level" and there are many on dole level money (some of them thrown onto it since March completely unexpectedly) and, having been on the dole before now - then I know just how low dole money is and it doesnt even cover basic necessities for some (eg if they're childless and/or in rented accommodation they have to still part-pay for etc). OP might very well be on the dole and therefore £180 some of us would "grit our teeth/not be able to afford - but we'd pay it if we had to" - but others literally couldn't find the money no matter how hard they tried to.

dancing_star

MalMonroe said:

I don't understand why you can't make an appointment with your own dentist? Ours has been open since the end of June and is doing this kind of extraction without patients having to go on a 'waiting list'. 

With something as important as health, though, I'd have to pay the extra £180. It's worth it. And if anything did go wrong, then you'd be able to sue, sue, sue! (Although I'm sure it won't.) 

But try your own NHS dentist first, mine would remove a wisdom tooth during this time, no problem at all.

I am sure I replied to this yesterday but it has disappeared.

It's not an NHS dentist, I'm a private patient. THe problem would qualify for NHS treatment at the hospital, but the waiting list is frozen due to covid.

The £100 is for the procedure with my regular dentist (private, on a plan similar to Denplan)

The £180 isn't for health, I'll be having the procedure done regardless. It's just I don't want to fork out £180 for sedation. I could afford it, but I'd rather not, having just had to pay out for expensive car repairs. These things always seem to come at once!

ripplyuk

I’ve had one molar extracted using i.v. sedation (midazolam) and another molar extracted after taking a 10mg diazepam pill. The latter procedure was much more comfortable. 

Although the i.v. sedation has a stronger amnesiac effect, it’s not reliable. With me, I was aware of everything during and for a day after the procedure. Then I forgot most of it but within a few weeks, all the memories returned. The dentist said he’d given me the maximum dose he’s legally allowed to use so even at a high dose, I didn’t find it very useful. 

silvercar

To the patient it doesn’t really matter which way the tooth is facing. It’s coming out through your gum line.
to save £180 I would ask the dentist for something to relax you. For the price of an NHS prescription he would probably be happy to give you diazepam or similar.