I'm getting all four wisdom teeth out, all at once, at a local oral surgeon's office. When I made the appointment, I was given the option of local or general anesthesia and the only difference the person on the phone gave me was that with one I'm awake and the other I'm asleep. Instead of deciding right there and then I opted for the general under the reasoning that I could switch to local at the last minute, but not vice versa.
I can deal with a bit of pain, although the way the lady on the phone said "12 shots or you get put to sleep and then 12 shots" makes me shy away from the local option a bit. What really bothers me is the thought of things being pulled from my mouth than the actual pulling, and I've heard stories about being able to hear your teeth cracking as they are extracted. I don't like it when they dental hygenist uses the little scrapy thing to clean my teeth!
I've also heard horror stories about too much anesthesia, including one from my mother about a friend who actually died in the dentist's office because they mistook her bad reaction to the drugs as pain and kept giving her more drugs.
So here's my question: How much squick is involved with a local anesthetic? Under the local anesthesia, are you aware of what they're doing in there? Can you hear it? Is what they describe as pressure a deep pressure like something is pushing from inside, or squeezing from outside? (Yeah, that's what she said, ha ha, get over it.)
Like I said, pain isn't much of an issue although of course I'd prefer as little as possible. Recovery time isn't either, since I am currently an unproductive student on summer vacation. But... what has less cringiness?
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I got mine out with local, with local you are knocked out but still awake. This is so the doctors can talk to you and tell you to move you tongue, head, etc.
As a side note, don't let those damn stories bother you, it's like when people worry about a plane crashing, but in reality car crashes happen more than plane crashes, so basically their is like a slim chance of anything going wrong. Also, You will never be awake enough to feel it, if you are you will only be for about a second because then the give you more and you forget all about it (happened to me today actually)
When your under general, the surgery will take longer since you won't be able to move your head, tongue, etc. when they tell you. This may also cause complications because the doctor may not be able to see what he is doing. Also, it's a longer recovery time when you wake up.
Today when I got all 4 of mine removed I was under local and felt no pain during (and I woke up once in the middle but they gave me more and I feel right back asleep). It only took about 45min and as soon as I woke up they switched the gauze in my mouth and I went home.
So all in all, I recommend local because it helps the doctor, the procedure is short and you get to go home like as soon as you wake up. (Just remember this, even if you do wake up during local you don't feel anything, your mouth is extremely numb and they will put you back to sleep as soon as their is a sign that you are awake, mainly your heart rate increases)
Hope this helps you out man!
Edited note, all these people think your actually awake when they do local, it's like when someone is sleeping but sleep walks and talks without knowing whilst they are still knocked out. (For gods sake people you not ACTUALLY AWAKE!)
Well, sedation is much different than general anesthesia. I work at an Oral Surgery clinic and we don't offer general anesthesia. I actually have never heard of general anesthesia for wisdom teeth removal except for a patient who needs to be hospitalized for dental procedures. I would be interested in knowing who your dentist is and if they have a website!
I had all 4 pulled when I was 17. I opted for local and also got nitrous oxide. I fell asleep! I felt the first 4 injections in the 4 quadrants, just a quick sting before it kicks in, then it was off to la-la land for me :) A nurse woke me up after the dental surgeons left, I was all gauzed up, sat for 15 mins and drank water they provided, then got pain meds and went home. The healing process was sh*tty at first, only being able to drink soups and applesauce for the first few days. The pain meds help and before no-time, you'll be good to go. Here's a site with pros and cons of all anesthetic options ;)
definitely do the one where they put you to sleep. ha ha i got my wisdom teeth out & did that, it was awesome. woke up at home & in bed. lol & you'll be out of commission for about a week anyway just because of the swelling & pain (depending on how grown out your teeth were), the anesthesia just makes the day of the surgery easier. i liked the just going to sleep because like you, i don't like the idea of all of those shots in my mouth. & plus, i figured that if i was awake i'd be thinking of how they're ripping my mouth apart & didn't wanna know about that. ;) good luck!