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Anesthesia hurts worse than the drilling...

R

random_outlaw

Junior member
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
5
I'm 32 years old and had numerous bad experiences with dentistry as a child. I had 2 fillings and several teeth pulled over the course of a couple of years when I was 8-9 years old. I have sensory issues and apparently am hard to numb properly... I remember lots of pain and awful sensations, bad tastes and smells, the works. And it went on and on because they would only do one procedure per visit. So I was forced to go to the dentist for all that time (although my mother swears I didn't tell her it hurt ---- I can't speak to that, I do remember being anxious and reluctant to go, but what can you do as a kid?) with inadequate pain control. They were big on the nitrous but unfortunately nitrous doesn't do much for me.

I got braces when I was 21 and they took out my wisdom teeth, but they put me under using IV anesthesia, so that was not a big deal.

After I got my braces off (at 22) I immediately stopped going to the dentist, until last week, when I visited the dentist for the first time in 10 years. Unfortunately all that time without proper care had taken it's toll... I need several fillings and deep cleanings on both sides of my mouth.

Last Tuesday they did the right side of my mouth. I prepared myself (with this site!) and read that dentistry had come a long way in 20+ years, things are mostly painless now, etc. And so I took heart that it wouldn't be too bad.

Unfortunately the visit was awful :( . My top teeth numbed OK, they were able to clean and I couldn't feel anything. I could still feel her digging around on the bottom teeth, but it was bearable. When it came time for the drilling, I told the dentist I was worried because I still had a lot of sensation on the bottom. He gave me some more anesthetic in the outside of my bottom gum, then went to work drilling the cavities on the top teeth.

Once that was all done he started on the bottom teeth, but I could still feel the drilling. He stopped and said they were going to give me more anesthesia, and stuck the needle deep in the gum on the inside of my teeth, near my tongue. That's when I had my first panic attack. It was awful. The needle hurt SO much and I was just freaking out. Once that was done, he told me they were going to fill the top teeth while they let the anesthetic work on my bottom jaw. That probably took about 10 minutes. Then they started drilling again, and that spot was still hurting terribly. He offered more anesthetic but honestly that needle he'd done the previous time hurt worse than the drilling pain, so I just told him to finish it. I had two more panic attacks while they were finishing up. It was just awful.

They've given me Halcion for the next time, but I am still worried about pain control, because it seems I have a history of poorly controlled pain in my bottom jaw, going back to childhood (I remember that specific thing when I was a kid, too - they offered more anesthetic but it hurt worse than the actual procedure).

Any suggestions? I am freaking out, and I think I need to discuss this with the dentist in detail before they do the left side, which has several fillings needed AND and onlay AND a filling replacement on the bottom. :scared:

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Sorry to hear about your bad experience. This link will help explain what may have happened...anatomical variation maybe..?


Were the other local aneasthetic injections you received also painful, even if less so? If so then this can be avoided by good technique on the part of the dentist (numbing gel, slow delivery, acupressure etc etc ) or use of a computer controlled delivery system such as TheWand. Unfortunately many dentists still think pain during delivery of LA is an acceptable standard of care even though the technology to minimise/eliminate it has been around for several years.

It is good that the dentist kept trying to get you numb but it sounds like he was just trying to infiltrate all around the tooth rather than using the more advanced techniques available (I'm not a dentist so I am just guessing here from your description) - if you do have anatomical variation you need to find a dentist with knowledge of advanced numbing techniques.

Failing that, you may want to look at sedation dentistry. Having your teeth worked on when you are not numb is not a good idea and would be a major feeder of an ongoing 'justified rational phobia';).

If you do find yourself accepting treatment again when you are not numb enough, at least do yourself the favour of having a stop signal so that you have some control over the length and timing of bursts of unpleasantness...lack of control here makes it akin to torture. You have my sympathy..please find a solution which works and alas this may mean a different dentist.
I/V sedation would work better than oral sedation probably in overcoming this problem although finding someone who can identify exactly where your nerves are and numb them accordingly would be preferable.
:grouphug:

You have a right to painfree care and do not have to return to this dentist if you feel trust has been broken in any way or if you feel his injection technique is always quite cackhanded.
 
I have trouble getting my bottom teeth numb as well, the dentists started doing a block, where 1/2 your whole lower jaw goes numb and it worked for me. It's a lot less shots too. I would definetly discuss that with your dentist.

the oral sedation will definetly help relax you

rp
 
I have trouble getting my bottom teeth numb as well, the dentists started doing a block, where 1/2 your whole lower jaw goes numb and it worked for me. It's a lot less shots too. I would definetly discuss that with your dentist.

the oral sedation will definetly help relax you

rp
That's interesting since often the problem is, just that the right area for a block has been missed. Mandibular blocks have quite a high failure rate owing to dentist error, hence why many dentists seem to have moved to infiltration around the particular tooth. Whatever works best for you is the way to go..so a practitioner with an open mind who believes you have the right to confortable treatment is the way to go.
 
I recently finished a course of treatment.
This was for 7 fillings and two extractions.
I too had dreadful childhood memories by the way, so I was VERY nervous in attending the surgery never mind having treatment!

I had my treatments spread over a couple of months (why? I don't know)

I had told the dentist at the beginning of every session they needed to make me totally numb or we could not proceed. He was happy to accomodate me.


The upper extraction was fine.
The bottom extraction was more difficult.

It took several appointments to get my bottom gum to numb. In the end my dentist asked a colleague to have a look at me. She injected in a slighty different place, and this time it worked.

So, 'experience' seems to be relavent here!

Anyway, all was well in the end.

No one should feel severe pain these days.
 
I have an appointment on Thursday (for a cleaning) so I will ask then about more advanced numbing techniques (maybe another dentist in the office knows them... they have several).

My mom thinks I should not pass go, and just jump directly to IV sedation. I haven't decided if I can affored the extra cost yet.
 
I have an appointment on Thursday (for a cleaning) so I will ask then about more advanced numbing techniques (maybe another dentist in the office knows them... they have several).

My mom thinks I should not pass go, and just jump directly to IV sedation. I haven't decided if I can affored the extra cost yet.

Oral surgeons are maybe more likely to know them? One of the advanced ones is called Cow Gates Block, and PDL injections can also work sometimes.
Good luck - please don't suffer in silence.
 
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