I have severe anxiety towards sedation. My dentist recommended that I do IV conscious sedation and I want to hear your thoughts. What is it like afterwards? What should I expect?

I’m going to start with saying this isn’t my first attempt at getting my wisdom teeth removed. The first time was months ago and the dentist wanted me to do general anesthesia and didn’t consider my apprehension. The day of the procedure I had a panic attack in the waiting room and I decided to go to a different dentist instead.

My current dentist listened to me and said that he’d be fine with doing any kind of sedation I wanted. Including just local anesthetic without any sedation at all. It was when he asked about my gag reflex that he hesitated and recommended that I do IV conscious sedation. My gag reflex isn’t even that strong and he didn’t give me enough time for me to explain myself. As long as stuff is not literally touching the back of my throat my gag reflex is not really activated. I even tested it by sticking my fingers back further than where my wisdom teeth would be.

My fear of sedation is mostly stemmed to me not wanting to be in a vulnerable or debilitating state. In other words, my biggest fear is getting out of surgery and being completely out of it. Not able to walk, talk, or think straight.

I know that I should expect some of that right after getting out of sedation but as long as it dissipates quickly that should be fine, and by quickly I’m hoping within 20 minutes. Definitely not something I want to last for an hour or more.

My dentist told me that after the surgery I should feel fine and coherent quickly without any of the loopiness that comes from general anesthesia. That gives me some reassurance.

My biggest fear is that he said I’d likely feel drowsy afterwards. How drowsy is that exactly? I’ve pulled all nighters so I can understand it to an extent, but if the feeling is so strong that I can’t even keep my own eyes open or keep my head up that bothers me immensely.

It also doesn’t help that he mentioned I will be taken by wheel chair to my car. Will I really be that messed up that I can’t even walk down a short hallway?

I’d also like to clarify that the surgery itself doesn’t bother me in the least. I’ve had to pull the teeth of several deer and haven’t even flinched. Drills, needles, and the like don’t bother me either. It’s just the sedation I’m afraid of.

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from https://www.reddit.com/r/Dentistry/comments/ecnz8p/i_have_severe_anxiety_towards_sedation_my_dentist/