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DD dental surgery...


OneStepAtATime
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DD16 has to have 4 wisdom teeth removed tomorrow.  She, like me, has a small area for teeth and she has fairly wide teeth and all 4 wisdom teeth at least partly impacted.  They are moving.  I had the same surgery years ago.  For the same reasons.  Unlike me, however, DD tends to process anesthesia very rapidly.  She has had a few medical procedures where she was put under and she woke up during the procedures.  Therefore, she is very, very nervous.  The dentist is aware of this and feels they have prepared well for that possibility.  She is still really stressed out.  I'm trying to think of things to help her feel better.  Any suggestions?

 

And what might be good for her to eat in the days that follow?

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Have you asked the dentist how he is prepared?  What are the procedures he follows, does use topical anesthesia as well, so that if she begins to wake up she won't feel pain immediately?  (I don't really know how that works at all, just tossing out random questions).  How can he tell if she is starting to wake?  Maybe monitors begin to show this before she actually is awake, so that he can adjust accordingly before she even realizes anything.  If this is true, who is watching the monitors while he is performing the surgery?  Etc.

 

I would think that having a thorough understanding of his procedures and the steps he takes, which you could then relay to your daughter, would help to settle her nerves. 

Edited by J-rap
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Have you asked the dentist how he is prepared?  What are the procedures he follows, does use topical anesthesia as well, so that if she begins to wake up she won't feel pain immediately?  (I don't really know how that works at all, just tossing out random questions).  How can he tell if she is starting to wake?  Maybe monitors begin to show this before she actually is awake, so that he can adjust accordingly before she even realizes anything.  If this is true, who is watching the monitors while he is performing the surgery?  Etc.

 

I would think that having a thorough understanding of his procedures and the steps he takes, which you could then relay to your daughter, would help to settle her nerves. 

Good questions and a good point.  We have had several conversations this morning.  

 

Dentist has an anesthesiologist working with him.  They are using a General Anesthetic, not Twilight.  Twilight doesn't work well on DD.  They will have her on a monitor but I don't know the specifics of how the monitoring works.  She will be in a room specifically designed for dental surgery, not the normal dental cleaning rooms.  This dentist has known her since she was about 6, maybe, so they have a good relationship and history.  He knows her issue with anesthesia.   

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She just explained that she is also afraid of choking.  She did choke once during a dental procedure as a young child.  It still has an impact on her.  I was not aware that this was one of her fears.  I assured her that they would be suctioning and keeping her air passage clear.  

 

We were supposed to eat lunch with my mother today and she has a writing class that I teach out of my home this afternoon.  She does not want to do either.  She says she needs some space to prepare.   

 

I'm wondering if I should be encouraging her to eat specific types of foods?  She doesn't seem to want to eat much of anything but I think she'd be better off eating some healthy foods today in preparation for tomorrow.  Any suggestions?

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Has she tried the gas?  I had the gas on top of being knocked out.  That helped a lot!  It calmed me down.  I had similar fears. That I'd choke, wake up in pain, etc. 

 

I can't think of any particular foods that would help. 

 

I wish I had better advice.  I really hope it goes smoothly because damn that whole business is stressful enough without something not going quite right.

 

 

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Would it help her to know plenty of people have their wisdom teeth removed with just regional anesthesia, and aren't asleep at all? That's how my siblings, my husband and I all did it, and all of us had all four teeth impacted. Mine were way down in there, with roots wrapped around a nerve and had to be broken in pieces to take them out, and I still didn't find the surgery bad at all. No pain or discomfort during. Recovery was unpleasant, but that would have been the same if I'd been asleep for surgery.

 

:iagree: My son just had his 4 wisdom teeth removed on Thursday, two of which were impacted.  I don't know what specifically they gave him during the procedure, but I do know that he did not have general anesthesia.

 

Good luck to your daughter!

 

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My dc had his removed Thursday.

Surgery day : yogurt - Noosa had some new to him flavors

Next day: scrambled egg, yogurt, jello, chicken breast, mashed potatoes, mashed peas

Sat: hamburger, milkshake, yogurt, ham, cheese

Sun: similar to Sat, cooked veg not mashed but cant open jaw wide

Today: almost normal, but not wanting raw veg

 

Keep hydrated and make sure you have an ice pack for ride home

Edited by Heigh Ho
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Oh, I hadn't thought about an ice pack.  Thanks for the rec.  And the food rundown.

 

DD has her clothes picked out for tomorrow and is trying to get some sleep tonight.  She is so nervous she is afraid she won't be able to sleep but has some soothing music playing to try and help.  

 

Thanks everyone.   Wish us luck!

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I picked up the pain pills from the drug store while the kids were having their wisdom teeth pulled. Be sure and get her started as soon as you get home before she has pain. Some people are doing well in a couple of days but others can take a week and more. The not so obvious food my ds liked was refried beans with cheese. He said it tasted like real food.  :grouphug:

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Ask for a calmative like temazapam when you get there. Or if possible give her one before you go. Or any type of natural calmative thing. This will reduce anxiety. For future, if she is on Vit c, take her off it before surgeries or dental work, as this speeds up the removal of toxins (anaesthetic) and means the anaesthetic is not as effective for as long.

 

My extremely anxious daughter just had wisdom teeth surgery a few months ago, and she did better than we hoped with temazapam prior to it.

 

I'd only stress to the Drs to keep an eye on her signs of awakening and act quickly.

 

As far as eating after, jelly, icecream, yoghurt, soups, mashed veges, pasta that she can swallow if necessary. Watch out for seeds etc that may get stuck in holes.

 

Good luck and strength for you and her! It's hard being the onlooker/carer. I cried when my DD was wheeled away. She's 23!! I'm a baby, but her stress and usual reactions to stress (fainting and seizures) really worry me.

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Thanks so much for all the suggestions and support. DD is under. She did well although she nearly threw up several times before we left the house and once we got here. They sat is in a room just to talk through everything again and then gave her something very mild for anxiety. They were very supportive although the anesthesiologist did go into a bit too much detail about nausea with a child that was already nauseous IYKWIM.

 

I had a bad moment as they were putting her under. The sedation was kicking in and they asked me to step out. As I turned to leave DD suddenly clutched my hand, eyes wide, and frantically tried to say something but her voice was a whisper. I couldn't hear her. She tried to repeat it but was fading out. She couldn't get any sound to come out. She seemed so desperate to say whatever it was and I couldn't hear her. She seemed so frustrated and upset that I couldn't hear her. And then she was under. I teared up.

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