I’ve had 7 teeth pulled, and they ain’t no thang.

Okay, well 4 were wisdom teeth and 3 were baby teeth (I had fucked up teeth as a kid). I was awake for the three, and I didn’t think they were a big deal. They put numbing cream on my gums, then gave me a numbing shot in my gums, which is hardly felt at all. I didn’t feel them pull my teeth at all. It hurt a lot afterwards, but it was manageable with mild painkillers. The pain didn’t last long. When I had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled, I was eating a burrito and helping my sister move just a couple days later.

I’ve always had anxiety issues, and got to the point of panic attacks before I got help. my psychiatrist says that breakthrough anxiety is normal, when there’s something especially stressful. it’s not something to beat or get past.

since it seems like part of what is causing (perfectly natural) anxiety is that you don’t know what to expect, why don’t you reach out to the dentist to ask what to expect? maybe do a little research, if that won’t send you panicking about the worst case scenarios you come across?

anxiety helps us look and plan for all sorts of future scenarios. if you can’t eliminate it, try to direct it into things you can plan and prepare for. and if it’s still interfering a lot with your life, talk to your Dr about changing the meds.

extraction. I’ve had a few root canals and they always go bad after a decade. get it pulled sooner, before the infection kicks in.

I can describe one of my extractions - the one where I didnt get put under for. it was so rough that I happily paid for anesthesia the next time I needed an extraction. so I had a failed root canal, and it got infected, like my jaw started swelling up in just a few days. went to the dentist, xrays to see how to go about it. the roots on that molar were branched and hooked & there was a cyst in/under that (the infection), the dentist had to use a dremel saw (or whatever it was) to cut the tooth in half, vertically, then break it apart with pliers (special dentist tool but it looks like pliers to me) so she could get down to the roots and then used the pliers to sort of yank/twist the roots out. it was not a pleasant experience.

not being able to eat anything that wasnt blended to a paste for a few weeks was even less fun - you get to a point where you CRAVE texture. meds were pretty good though, killed the infection off fast and the 5x strength narcotic of some sort absolutely erased the pain for the week the prescription lasted for. once I could eat real food again I gorged on raw broccoli.

anyway, I eventually had a bone graft put where the tooth was and then a titanium post installed. havent gone back to get a fake tooth installed on there, it’s super expensive and I’ve learned how to live without a tooth in that spot.