Yesterday I had dental work with sedation (placement of two crowns on lower back molars on either side of my mouth, and a re-filling of another lower molar that had an old mercury filling). Man, oh man, did those tiny, little (was that redundant?)pills knock me for a LOOOOOP!!!
My instructions were to take 10mg of Valium the night before the procedure. In the morning I took 2 capsules of hydroxyzine (Tradename, Vistaril, class: antihistamine) and 2 sublingual tabs of triazolam (a.k.a. Halcion, a sleeping pill)an hour before my appt. The Valium didn't seem to affect me much, and as a matter of fact, I did not sleep as well as I usually do and woke up quite a few times the night before the procedure. I don't think I was particularly anxious, and I didn't seem to benefit from any "good" feeling from the stuff (DARN!- when I had intravenous Valium once in the past, it was a wonderful happy, peaceful, "I feel so calm and carefree" feeling.
The only reason I was having sedation is that the last couple of times I've had dental work, the Novocain has been totally ineffective. I asked the dentist how these sedatives work, since none of them are actually pain relievers. She said that somehow they affect the pain threshold, and in treating over 300 patients, no-one has ever reported feeling pain. I guess I was secretly wondering if I would be the first! I could just picture myself being totally "out of it", but in excruciating pain, but unable to communicate my agony (My imagination is way too vivid...)
Apparently, this type of sedation allows you to be awake enough to follow commands and communcate, and the Halcion also has an amnesic effect. The only things I vaguely remember are going out to the car from home, seeing two faces above me while hearing the dentist say "Open" several times, and the dental hygienist poking and jabbing(and HURTING) my gums with her sharp pointy instrument (I had a dental cleaning at the end). I was so sedated that I slept all day Friday and all night too, except for a few trips to the bathroom, my dear hubby waking me at about 4pm to take tylenol and ibuprofen, and (according to him) around midnight to make sure I was still breathing (i.e., NOT DEAD).
I woke up around 5 am this morning and still feel groggy after a short walk and several cups of tea and a couple of hours of watching Ellen and Oprah (which my hubby very thoughtfully taped for me). My jaw is very slightly sore when I open my mouth, but otherwise I have no pain. I have beautiful eye-dazzling WHITE temporary crowns, but I can't chew hard stuff yet, so maybe I'll eat less and lose some weight while waiting for the permanent crowns to arrive in about 3 weeks. These fake teeth are so white in comparison to the yellowish real teeth beside them, it really makes me want to have my teeth whitened. Of course, after paying through the teeth (OH NO - BAD PUN) for this work, it will be a zillion years before I can afford that; meanwhile, I'll ask my dentist if she will take me for a ride in her new yacht, or whatever she buys with what I paid her for just a couple of hours of work!
Seriously, though, I'm thankful to have a very pleasant, competent dentist whom I trust, and I'm very happy that everything went so well. I'd recommend her to anyone who needs sedation dentistry. (But I'd fire her hygienist in a heartbeat, or give her a remedial session where I poke and jab HER painfully in the gums many, many, times till she understands what the word, "gentle" means). Hopefully, I won't have to go back to the dentist for this kind of work for a very long time. I'm also extremely grateful to my dear hubby who chaffeured me, kept me from falling, and checked me on and off just to make sure I wasn't dead : ) Life is good, and so is being able to chew, i.e. EAT. Speaking of which, I think it's way past time for lunch!
