How do you cope with anaesthetic at the dentists?

[starryeyedtiger]

I typically feel every little thing and my mouth is super sensitive, so they always give me gas in addition to the injections and they normally use a lot on me so i don't feel anything. My dentist is really nice though- i recently had to have a lot of dental work done, including a root canal- so i've probably been to the dentist and endodonist more times in the past few months than anyone would ever want to!

They always try to make it as painless and calm as possible (going to the dentist freaks me out!) I normally bring my ipod with me and listen to it to distract me if they have to do any kind of work. It helps a lot!

As far as the anesthetic wearing off- it normally wears off within a few hours, so it's not a big deal for me

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Recent research has identified that many redheads have this problem, then I've heard more recently it is in general, fair skinned people of northern European descent. We are highly tolerant to pain meds and anesthesia.

I linked to an article in a past migraine thread about this. Some people are tolerant to painkillers, beta blockers, and even anti depressants. If I recall correctly, it may have had to do with a particular liver enzyme?
I'm somewhat tolerant to painkillers. Lortab and darvocet do nothing for me, and sometimes even the tramadol doesn't...I'm sure I'll eventually find out what betas blocker do. I can also easily become tolerant to medication. I do have some North European decent - Danish to be exact.

Originally Posted by sarahp

So by the time I leave again, my face feels numb from my eye down to my neck

I don't think I can safely eat for a little while still

How many shots did the dentist use in total? It sounds like too much was used and too many nerves were numbed.


My first dental visit the dentist used 4 shots of local and used lidocaine with epi. I didn't know that was going to cause a problem then and had a bad reaction (sensitive type reaction, not allergic).
Next time the dentist was supposed to use carbocaine, but I'm not sure he did due to how long the local lasted. He used 5 shots for a front tooth. Again I felt horrible with tachycardia and pre-syncope symptoms.
The most recent dentist was better and more careful. He called my cardiologist, listened when I told him I was sensitive to epi and the local itself (locals and even narcotic painkillers cause vasodilation - something I do not need), he leaned the chair back flat, and did give me gas - though I don't think it did anything as I didn't feel different from it.
One shot of local in the front above the tooth and one behind just to numb the branch of the intra-orbital nerve (I think that's the correct name?) that goes to that tooth. (That innervates your front teeth, the side of your nose, and part of under your eye)
I had a little pain in the left front tooth, where I shouldn't have felt any - it was the front right being worked on. So maybe my nerves are a little odd. Having an official diagnosis to make the dentist actually listen and be more cautious helped, too.

 

[tara g]

The first time I had the novocaine, I was laughing at myself because of how numb the side of my face was.

They needed to give me more than the initial dose though, because I sure could feel them drilling still after the first injection!

 

[sarahp]

Reading all these stories, you can understand why people hate getting "just a filling"!

 

[cdubbie]

I need double or triple the usual amt to get numb.
It might have something to do with red hair - redheads are notoriously for requiring 20%+ more anestetia than other ppl. My eye surgen thinks this too (and done four surgeries on me now so he would know)

Also - if you are nervous - whether consciously or not - the numbing won't "take" as easily or at all. I have this problem too so I get a valium before a dentist visit. Now I get numb better and don't have that surprise jump anymore when they hit a spot not really numbed yet.

All dentists can write prescriptions. I highly suggest ppl look into this if they have "issues".

 

[yosemite]

I've only ever gotten "frozen" if it was a large filling (even as a kid I never had freezing for small fillings). But then again, I've been known to nod off while the dentist was working on my filling so I'm pretty relaxed anyway. We had one wonderful dentist that used gas but our newest guy doesn't use gas. I much preferred the gas to the freezing.

 

[russian blue]

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

So far as I know the dentists here don't give "gas", just local freezing.........So I think that might be a US thing.

Gas is an option at many dentists around the Toronto area.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

I have the same problem as you do. Until the dentist knew me well enough, it would take 4 or 5 shots to deaden me enough to work on my teeth, then half of my face would go numb.

I'm exactly the same! When I was having my wisdom teeth out, they asked me to start counting backwards....10....9....8 etc. I was at -10 when I suggested they give me more.

At the local dentist, they have to give me the anesthetic a good 20 minutes before she starts drilling because it takes awhile to get into my system.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

.....then I've heard more recently it is in general, fair skinned people of northern European descent. We are highly tolerant to pain meds and anesthesia.

That's so interesting! Considering I'm half Finnish, that could explain it!

 

[shopcat]

I never paid attention to how much Novocain they gave me-I was too busy white knuckling the chair with my eyes closed as soon as they brought out the needle. I'm one of those people who avoid the dentist for so long they have to numb me up just to clean my teeth. I hate it, absolutely hate it.
The strange thing about Novocaine is that it makes my face itch like crazy & try as I might, I can't scratch it because my face is numb. It bothers me so much I've even tried slapping myself in the face to make it stop.