Freezing does not work

[enigma2]

All of my life I have had dental problems due to a lack of enamel on my teeth. Over the years I have seen the dentist more times than I care to count, but every time I have to get work done, the freezing does not work. my face will go numb but not the inside of my mouth. My dentist has tried every different LA available and nothing works. I can handle the pain for minor fillings but I am getting full dentures soon. I don't think that I can handle getting my teeth extracted without pain relief. I My dentist has tried IV sedation twice, but it does not help with the pain, it just stops me from jumping out of the chair. Any suggestions as to why this is happening or what to try nest would be greatly appreciated.

[Gordon]

This comes up over a lot on here. Do a search and see how other people have got around it.

[carole]

Do you have red hair?

[enigma2]

Yes I do have naturally red hair, but could that really be the cause?

[littlestar88]

Red haired people do seem to have a lower pain threshold and more trouble with LA. (I'm a red-head too!) But this doesn't mean you need to suffer. As long as the dentist takes their time with the LA and stops to top you up if you start feeling pain it will be fine. IV and nitrous tend to help if its the adrenaline thats washing the LA out of the site though. Have you tried the wand? Or a different dentist to see if its the technique? Good luck

[Pianimo]

Hi enigma2.

We have a page about problems getting numb here: http://www.dentalfearcentral.org/fears/not-numb/ . Hopefully there might be something to help you on there. Also, as Gordon says, there have also been a number of DFCers in the past with the same problem - so, if you type (for example) "Can't get numb" in the little search box at the top left of the page (just underneath the DFC dinosaur logo), you should be able to find some older threads on the subject, and maybe glean some more tips from them, too.

Hope you're able to find a solution that works for you.

[carole]

There is a link between having red hair and not getting numb, I read something on her about it, but for the time being this link might help

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://...3f613TwwR9lDvA

I hope this helps