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Can not get NUMBED from Novocain!!

R

retrogurl

Junior member
Joined
Oct 17, 2007
Messages
3
Hi All,

I'm new to this forum and hope that you guys can help me answer some questions that I'm worried about! Last Saturday I went to my dentist (he is great!) and it was time to work on my lower left molar (cavities). He gave me 1 shot of novocain in the back (suppose to block/numb everything on the left lower jaw) and I just felt numbness on my left side of the tongue and lips but my gums and teeth were still not numb. He gave me another shot and still didn't work, so he gave me a total of 6 novocain shots that day and while he was giving me shots I had "sparks" like static shocking me on my tongue!!! I've never had that, he explained that in order to bypass to get to the nerve you'll pass the nerve for the tongue and that's why there's shocking feeling. It wasn't painful but it was weird, nothing like I've felt before. After 6 unsuccessful shots, he told me that I am a rare case that can not get numbed through LA and will need to get a shot directly on that exact tooth that needs work (something like thru the bones of the tooth?). That sounded so scary. Then I told him that I had extraction of an impacted wisdom tooth earlier this year (all 4 were removed with surgery) and the lower left side was so close to the lip nerve that it left my left lower side numb for a few months (luckily it all came back at the end), he told me that it may be the nerves repaired and branched out in different ways (I had no problem getting numb when my oral surgeon performed surgery for wisdom tooth extraction) and the anatomy of the nerves is not the same as before. I'm not sure what is going on but he fixed my upper cavities w/o a problem.

Then yesterday I went back to get my right lower side fixed (cavitiest), hoping that I can get numb, but after 3 shots I didn't get numb. This time the shots were more pronounced, it hurted real bad, the last time when he gave me a shot my right side of my tongue felt like it was being burned! I was so scared! I guess it was from the wisdom tooth extraction as well? Like I said I was able to get numbed befored wisdom tooth extraction, if not the oral surgeon wouldn't of been able to perform surgery!

Now my whole tongue is still a bit numbed, feels like you drank hot soup quick and burned it (the aftermath). I'm hoping its not permanent damage?

My question is this common? Do you guys know which technique of numbing he's trying to perform (I've emailed and asked him today, but haven't heard back yet)? Is it going to be really painful for the shot? Thanks for all the help, I'm a bit traumatized, but my dentist is really nice and I really like how he performs!

Looking forward to hearing comments and answers, thanks! :confused:

Best,
Wendy
 
He sounds like he's about to try using a Stabident or X-tip, this is used to perform intra-osseous anaesthesia, if you want to Google it.

I know it sounds a bit scary, but it's actually quite a straightforward technique. It can be very effective for people who are difficult to get numb. In my hands it's slightly less painful than conventional anaesthesia, but I don't use it routinely for a couple of different reasons.

Of course, if your dentist is actually using Novacain then that's your problem, right there. The stuff hasn't been made for about 80 yrs so it's well out of date by now ;D
(Sorry, one of my pet hates that is!).
 
thanks, don't you get LA with novocain? confused a bit at your last two sentences...

also, what do you mean by, "In my hands it's slightly less painful than conventional anaesthesia, but I don't use it routinely for a couple of different reasons.", How come?

is this not being able to get numbed common?

Gordon said:
He sounds like he's about to try using a Stabident or X-tip, this is used to perform intra-osseous anaesthesia, if you want to Google it.

I know it sounds a bit scary, but it's actually quite a straightforward technique. It can be very effective for people who are difficult to get numb. In my hands it's slightly less painful than conventional anaesthesia, but I don't use it routinely for a couple of different reasons.

Of course, if your dentist is actually using Novacain then that's your problem, right there. The stuff hasn't been made for about 80 yrs so it's well out of date by now  ;D
(Sorry, one of my pet hates that is!).
 
retrogurl said:
thanks, don't you get LA with novocain? confused a bit at your last two sentences...

Novocain was the name for an old-style ester-based local anaesthetic. These are no longer used nowadays because they wore off too quickly and many people were allergic to them. All the -caines used for local anaesthesia these days are amides rather than esters. The most common LA nowadays is lidocaine/lignocaine (others include mepivacaine, prilocaine, articaine, and bupivacaine).
 
Sorry, you blundered into one of my pet hates areas.

Novacaine has been out of production for decades, there was a big discussion on a dental mailing list about exactly when it was stopped being made, we think it was still made for spinal anaesthesia only until the early 1950s. For dental use it went out before WW2... but nobody can agree exactly when.
For some reason it's become sort of a general purpose brand name like "hoover" in the USA, but not the rest of the world.

Anyway, failure to get numb is not that rare, everybody is different as the saying goes and some folks are more difficult to get numb than others, for a variety of reasons, sometimes it's anatomical differences, sometimes it's a pharmacological sensitivity and sometimes it's just sheer terror...

As to why I don't use intra-osseous anaesthetic, most of my patients have learning difficulties or are physically disabled, the intra-osseous stuff is just a bit too fiddly to use for my kind of patients. I'm also lucky enough to have a Wand LA delivery system, which can get me around most problems with hard to numb cases.

Hope that's a bit clearer!
 
Gordon said:
I'm also lucky enough to have a Wand LA delivery system, which can get me around most problems with hard to numb cases.

Is that so...good to hear :p.....is that likely to be the case for all dentists using the Wand or just the 'Dental Superstars' like you Gordon?
 
Anyone using a Wand can get good results from it, I ain't no dental superstar. :redface:
 
Gordon said:
Anyone using a Wand can get good results from it, I ain't no dental superstar.  :redface:

Modesty becomes you Gordon....
 
is it possible to stay on topic, this topic is not really about the WAND? i just need some answers if someone can please provide some?
 
oh but you are gordon :XXLhug:
 
retrogurl said:
is it possible to stay on topic, this topic is not really about the WAND? i just need some answers if someone can please provide some?

Sorry but Gordon has already answered you if you look back in the thread. Our general thread on the reasons for not getting numb is:


Anyway if the Wand is good at dealing with these situations, that might be a way forward for you in future.
 
I'm sorry, do you have any further questions or require further clarification of anything I've said?
 
retrogurl said:
is it possible to stay on topic, this topic is not really about the WAND? i just need some answers if someone can please provide some?

I thought the dentists did answer this question, but I can maybe provide some insight from a person in your position. I'm very very hard to numb. I was actually sent home the time before last and had to make a new appointment so they would have enough time to keep trying to numb me.

I never did completely numb out, frankly. But it was bearable. It was the first stage of a root canal, so I'm sure if I were really feeling it, I'd have been jumping out of the chair! So obviously a good degree of numbness was achieved in the end. My dentist had to do three different series of shots. He wanted me to numb more before he "shot" deeper so it would be more comfortable. He didn't seem to think it was all that weird at all. Both he and the dental assistant told me it was nothing, they were willing and able to take the time and that I wasn't the only one who seemed to have this trouble.

Hopefully that helps a little.
 
In your shoes, I would have been demanding nitrous to make it 'easier to bear' if you see what I mean. A good idea when choosing a new dentist to ensure all the weapons are in the armoury just in case.
I would have been out the door I think, so bravo for braveness. Brit your phrase about weapons are in the armoury a few months ago would have made me think of a battle zone, but I know what you mean now. :)
 
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