Dentist in Dallas

November 22, 2007 11:23 PM

Dallas dentist referral? Need my wisdom teeth removed!

Can anyone recommend a great oral surgeon in the Dallas area? I need to have two of my wisdom teeth removed; I'm absolutely terrified and I want this to go as smoothly as possible. I'd like to be put completely under, preferably using an IV but gas would be acceptable.

I do not have insurance. As long as I can work out a payment plan cost isn't an issue.

Thanks in advance guys!

posted by Sufi to health & fitness (5 comments total)

I LOVE my dentist, Kristen Seely (she's at Forest and Preston, close to the High 5); she performed a root canal on me that was a total breeze. However, I'm not sure she does wisdom teeth removal. Her staff might be able to help you with a referral, though. She is into sedation dentistry, so I'm sure she would be familiar with oral surgeons who are, too.
posted by korres at 5:31 AM on November 23, 2007

I don't have a Dallas recommendation, but I can tell you that you are absolutely right to go with an oral surgeon rather than a dentist. I had my wisdom teeth out and heard from everyone that it was a total nightmare, but they had all had it done by regular dentists. My oral surgeon put me under "twilight sleep," which I think involves a drug related to Valium. It causes no hangover like regular anesthesia, except an absolutely lovely feeling when you wake up. I was talking in my chair, the IV was started, and next thing I knew, I woke up feeling fantastic despite my mouth being stuffed with cotton - the whole thing was over. The euphoria unfortunately only lasted about 10 minutes, but I had ZERO pain or discomfort post-surgery. I mean, I did not take any of the codeine that was prescribed to me or even so much as an aspirin. It was amazing. My boyfriend later went with a regular dentist and was in terrible pain for two weeks.

YMMV, but by going with an oral surgeon, you're definitely decreasing the chances this will be hellish experience.
posted by walla at 6:52 AM on November 23, 2007

I cannot recommend David Roberts highly enough.

He took all four of mine out two years ago. Dr. Roberts was a referral from my family dentist, and in fact he and his team came to me -- I had the surgery at my regular dentist's office, where I already knew the staff.

I didn't have the IV; we did twilight sedation instead. I was nervous beforehand, but it went absolutely perfectly -- exactly like walla's description: "I was talking in my chair, the IV was started, and next thing I knew, I woke up feeling fantastic despite my mouth being stuffed with cotton - the whole thing was over." Took about 15 minutes once I got in the chair.

I went home that afternoon, took one dose of the codeine, slept through the night and was back at work the next day in zero pain. I had another three days' worth of good drugs but never took any additional medication; simply didn't need it. In fact, I didn't realize how good I had had it until I went into work and ten people said, "Did you cancel your surgery yesterday? No? But... your cheeks aren't puffy... you aren't talking funny or wincing... you aren't groggy on pain meds... omg give me that guy's number!"

Now, YMMV related to the condition of your wisdoms -- I was a late extraction at age 31, so my uppers had fully erupted and my lowers were 90% through, and none of the four were impacted or otherwise had positioning problems.

But even if they had, knowing what I know now, I wouldn't think twice about using Dr. Roberts. He was really fantastic.
posted by pineapple at 9:08 AM on November 23, 2007

Dr. Roy over on MacArthur in Irving. I love that man.

Note: he IS a dentist - not an oral surgeon. So feel free to ignore.

He tried to take two of my wisdom teeth out while I was on Halcyon, but I eventually had to be put on IV sedation because I was too sensitive and kept waking up. The IV experience was fabulous. Minimal pain afterwards - and that's coming from someone who HATES going to the dentist. I had a bunch of shitty experiences as a child, and had heard tons of horror stories about wisdom teeth. I've never had a horrible experience with him or anyone in his office. I never thought I would say this, but I LOVE my dentist. He's seriously awesome and because of him, I don't freak out at the idea of a teeth cleaning.

I remember seeing a form regarding payment plans (I don't have insurance myself), but this was two years ago when I originally started going.
posted by damnjezebel at 12:32 AM on November 24, 2007

Thanks for all the responses guys! I ended up going with Dr. Roberts and came out with a fantastic experience. Much like pineapple's, I had almost no pain the first day, 10 minutes max (my own fault for trying to eat chunky ice cream with my front teeth), and absolutely no pain or swelling the second day. I went with the I.V. and remember nothing past the needle going in my arm. The procedure took about 5-10 minutes.

Thanks again guys!
posted by Sufi at 6:51 AM on December 4, 2007