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Dentist, wisdom tooth, and scared to go alone

Owlie

Hi,

I have an appointment for dentist about my wisdom tooth, but im scared to go alone. I've always had someone come with me to appointments.

I'm in a uni in Wales, family is in England, spoke to 111 about it and they said they could get someone to phone me tomorrow morning, which I've been crying about for the past 5 hours now. The phone call is one thing, going to the dentist alone about wisdom tooth pain is another.

I didn't tell them I was autistic on the 111 line because you know what people are like, but the pains getting worse and I can't eat nothing, I dunno what to do.

They obviously couldn't squeeze me in earlier because I phoned at around 5, they got back to me at quarter to 6. I'm js sobbing and I don't know what else I can do besides wait till 9am tomorrow morning.

The anticipation is kinda killing me.

So sorry if this is in the wrong thread, most of my friends have gone to bed, so I can't ask them for comfort or advice.

  • in reply to Owlie

    Congrats on getting through the visit. I hope it wasn't too distressing once they started. I often find the anticipation can be the worst bit.

    You may find it helpful to journal your experiences with this so when you are next faced with something scary you can look back, remember the lessons and remind yourself how you are able to cope when you have to.

    Sounds to me like you earned a reward - or a good excuse for something nice at the very least!

  • in reply to Iain

    Thank you so much, it kinda helped doing this, minus the shutdown I had earlier, but yeah it worked

  • Owlie said:
    I have an appointment for dentist about my wisdom tooth, but im scared to go alone. I've always had someone come with me to appointments.

    I know exactly what you're going through. I've got an upcoming dentist appointment set for next week where I need to have a filling done, but the procedure involves them numbing my gum with injection.. and I have a Crippling Needle Phobia ScreamFearfulCold sweat My mum said she'd come with me for support but she can't come into the room with me and I've been having anxiety fuelled nightmares about it as it draws nearer Sob

    I feel awful I haven't got any advice for you but I thought it was best to let you know the you weren't alone in this topic, that you're not the only one

  • I understand completely how you feel - I'm the same regarding dentists. I've had problems with wisdom teeth trying to come through in the past and usually it's an infection and they just give you antibiotics, although sometimes other treatment or extraction is required, but if it's infected they usually can't carry out treatment until the infection has cleared. 

    Iain has given some good advice which I agree with. Try to have some soup as soon as you can - but let it cool a bit first so the heat doesn't make the pain worse - as not eating anything may make you feel worse. Ask the dentist to explain everything so that if you need to return for treatment you know what to expect. Remember that this is just transitory - it will soon be over and then you will feel better.

  • Owlie said:
    The anticipation is kinda killing me.

    Personally I would focus on pain management in the short term (using over the counter painkillers but not exceeding the dosage amounts. If you have some of the over-the-counter pain meds then contact the helpline and ask for advice on dosages.

    -I tried adding some advice here but this site keeps deleting the post.

    Owlie said:
    I have an appointment for dentist about my wisdom tooth, but im scared to go alone.

    It sounds like you won't have much of a chance to do anything about this so try re-framing the thought that you are growing up and this is a chance for you to stand on your own two feet and handle a scary situation on your own.

    Tell everyone involved in the treatment that you are autistic and tell them what scares you, whether it is the noise, needles, bright light, not knowing what is going on etc. Write it down to take with you as you will probably forget when in the thick of it - show the note to them.

    It may sound like a scary thing that is going to happen but you can do it. Take something comforting with you (although you will have to sit it aside when the procedure happens) and make sure to ask the dentist to give you a running commentary about what is going to happen next and agree a sign to make (raising your hand for example) for when you need to get a break for a second.

    Hopefully it will be a breeze and you will get some serious medication afterwards to ease the transition back to healing. Just make sure you have plenty of soup in the house to last a few days of soft eating, plus ice cream :)

    You got this!