Dental surgery concerns
Hello all,
First of all, I'm getting all my teeth removed tomorrow and the anticipation has been manageable but the closer it gets, the more the anxiety is creeping up on me. I'm terrified of dying, generally, not specifically related to SA but it doesn't help.
Anyway, the oral surgeon is aware of the SA and is still recommending deep IV sedation. I don't disagree, because I'm all but immune to every local anesthetic that multiple dentists have tried, and my teeth/the bone underneath are (according to my dentist, who was relieved the surgery was being outsourced) "absurdly strong" with very long roots, making extractions very painful and very frustrating and time consuming for the Drs. Every dentist I have ever been to has sworn up and down they had the magic concoction and 30 years experience extracting difficult teeth, promising lightning fast extractions, only to be wiping sweat and struggling sometimes 30+ minutes on a single tooth while I'm muffling screams of agony. So for removing all teeth, including 4 impacted and unrevealed wisdom teeth, no one sees any other option. Even my insurance decided to cover sedation, to the shock of literally everyone.
So I have SA and a cpap. I've had both general anesthesia for a 6 hour surgery and either moderate or deep sedation for a Endo/colonoscopy that I have no memory of, with no issues, only a few months prior to SA diagnosis. Moderate SA, with more OSA and only a little Central, but Central Apnea goes up to moderate as well when I lie on my back. I'm imagining they're going to be having me more or less flat on my back during this operation, and it has me a little worried about impending death. To my knowledge, there will be no anesthesiologist and the oral surgeon will be administering the drugs along with his assistant. There won't be an opportunity for a tube to go down my throat, given the will be operating inside my mouth, for about an hour (probably longer, don't think this surgeon is prepared for how truly difficult my teeth are).
I don't have a good reason to panic and the surgeon is aware of everything, and if it weren't this specific concern it would be something else. But I figured you guys might be able chime in and help me manage this difficult moment.
Posted Feb 26, 2026, 3:29 AM UTC