Hey Pandas, Can You Give Me Advice On How Not To Panic During Surgery? (Closed)
Context: I have a lot of dental problems because many of my teeth erupted late and they’re not aligned properly. My canine teeth didn’t erupt at all until I got braces and I had surgery last year to pull them down. I thought things would be going fine until last week when my dentist took an x-ray and told me that chances are high that I’ll need a tooth extraction and surgery to pull down a molar that hasn’t erupted on Saturday. I’m very nervous as I will be awake for it and I don’t know how I’ll be able to go through the surgery without panicking and crying. Any tips on how to not panic and cry during the whole thing?
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I always say they went to school for years took on 100k+ of debt to learn how to do this. They are pros
I've had multiple surgeries starting from when I was 3, but they've all been general anaesthetic not local... All I can really say is that I got through with exaggerated humour. I get like that when anxious/worried. Chill out as much as you can before hand, do things that you enjoy and try not to think about it. Maybe consider how much better it will be once it's over...
In any case, good luck!
Talk to your doctor ahead of time about getting some calming medication before the surgery
Distract yourself. You'll have painkillers for it, so if you just look away and think about something else that interests you, you might be able to sort of dissociate from the whole experience
You have to be awake? I can understand why you're nervous. While I've had surgery, I've never been awake, but my brother has for a similar procedure as yours. You won't be able to feel anything. But I'd still be nervous too. Maybe before you go, you should try meditation. Practice before your surgery. Maybe it'll help you zone out during your surgery. I'm not sure if that's helpful, but you'll be OK.
for during the surgery i would reccomend just thinking about stuff thats not related like thinking about how you like me (im sorry i had a chance and i had to take it) but anyway normally not thinking about it should help but for before the surgery then i reccomend making a music playlist with songs that you like so you can listen to it to calm your nerves
why downvoted. this is actually pretty smart. Distracting with other things can make you less nervous.
Think about it this way, the worst that can happen is what? Maybe some pain? Pain is temporary. That’s why I can handle large amounts of pain. Basically, just ask yourself what the worst that can happen is, and there’s probably not gonna be anything extreme.
Eh. I think examining unlikely possibilities can sometimes increase anxiety. "The worst that can happen" is quite a rabbit hole. But the worst that will happen is, yeah, probably some pain and all the irritation of local anesthetic. I had to have several teeth extracted as a kid and they all turned out okay, even if I now positively HATE the taste of lidocaine (yes it has a taste). Edit: it's worth noting that dentistry has gotten a lot better since I had teeth extracted, so it will certainly be even more okay now than then.
Knock urself out. /j But seriously, just distract yourself with other things. Books, hobbies, music, etc.
Update: I had 2 of my teeth (one milk, one permanent) on my upper jaw on both sides extracted. I panicked a bit but otherwise it went well. I’m currently on painkillers to reduce the pain and the anaesthesia hasn’t worn off yet so I can’t eat anything. The dentist said that by next Saturday, if things go well then he will have to operate on me and pull down a tooth else he will have to extract it from the inside
Update: I had 2 of my teeth (one milk, one permanent) on my upper jaw on both sides extracted. I panicked a bit but otherwise it went well. I’m currently on painkillers to reduce the pain and the anaesthesia hasn’t worn off yet so I can’t eat anything. The dentist said that by next Saturday, if things go well then he will have to operate on me and pull down a tooth else he will have to extract it from the inside
