Dentist cannot numb one particular tooth. Please help

[carl sob]

Hello

I have a lower molar which my dentist identified as requiring a root filling. My dentist is very good and I have never feared dentists. This particular tooth would not numb for some reason. After 4 attempts we agreed I would probably be better having an extraction. Today she attempted this and I have to say, that having had numerous amounts of needles I was climbing the ceiling in the most excruciating pain imaginable. This tooth just won't numb.I am in so much pain now as my tooth feels semi pulled. My face is on fire and I don't think my dentist believes me anymore that it hurts. She has now given another course of antibiotics and told me to try again in a week. I then went to reception to be told I'd have to wait 3 weeks! I cannot bear 3 weeks if pain with the prospect that it still won't numb. Can anybody advise? Would a doctor refer me to a dental hospital and would conscious sedation help? Im not a nervous or anxious patient but this tooth is having none of it. Please help

 

[AsaGohan]

Laughing gas may help (that would be a question for your dentist or any other dentists on this board). Your dentist any also refer you to an oral surgeon. When I had a tooth that needed to be pulled, my dentist referred me to an oral surgeon and I had it taken out under general anesthesia, and 6 months later had an implant put in. I was and am currently still phobic, so I wonder if that had something to do with it, or if the tooth was that bad. Ask your dentist if that's a possibility too... There are quite a few success stories about general anesthesia.

 

[Tink]

Hi carl -

Sorry to hear about your experience, it's awful isn't it? I've had trouble with the anaesthetic failing on particular teeth too.

There are a few possibilities as to why it can happen, but one of them is what's called a 'hot tooth' - if the tooth is infected then sometimes this can cause the anaesthetic not to work. If you've not had trouble like this before and the dentist has given you another course of antibiotics, then this sounds like a possibility. If that is the case, then there's a good chance that when you go back having taken more antibiotics to try and clear the infection that it will work this time around.


If that doesn't work, then yes, asking about a referral to the dental hospital might be a good idea - there are more advanced things that can be done with local anaesthetics for teeth like these that just won't numb, and the dental hospital will have people with the right equipment and knowledge if your own dentist doesn't have these. I'm not sure where you are, but in the UK I think you'd need to get your dentist to make the referral.

Don't give up! It's not impossible. It took me years - literally years - and 5 or 6 different dentists trying before I found one that could get certain teeth of mine numb - he proved that it *is* possible with the right anaesthetics and the right type of injection. The dental hospital can often be your best bet for finding somebody with those skills.

Conscious sedation can help in the sense that you won't care so much(!) and likely won't even remember it, but it won't make the local anaesthetics more effective. Sedation can be great if you really *had* to go through something like this, but getting it numb should also be possible, avoiding the need for sedation.

It's worth noting that if you're in the UK then a general anaesthetic probably isn't an option for this, but conscious sedation would be.

 

[snapper]

Hi Carl, Sorry to here about you local aneasthetic probs. I had similar problems in the lower jaw. I haven't been to a dentist for some time, I seem to fall out with them, theres always some kind of conflict. In my experience, the're Ok if you numb up well and jump in and out of the chair without too much difficulty, but if there are difficulties then just dont bother.

I think there are some good caring people in the world, but finding one that happens to be dentists isn't easy. I don't numb up well in the lower jaw, thats the way it is for me. After being shouted at by one particluar dentist and told the procedure was taking far to long and causing him stress, well I lost my temper and things got complicated. I still have the tooth which is painful on ocassions and I think has pus leaking out near it ocassionally. I just have to be particulary good about my oral hygiene!

I here about all this sedation stuff, but that isn't for me, don't trust dentists not to do something they shouldn't. Iv'e even tried 'mindfulness' to develop a more positive experience. Iv'e settled with the fact I'm untreatable.

I'm sorry if my rant is off putting. I'm pobably a lost cause, the worst case scenario. If you read this and feel that your situation isn't so bad then my work is done. Good luck.

 

[Tink]

snapper, you're not a lost cause! You need to find the right dentist, one who will provide what you need and who you can build up trust with.

As I said to carl, it took me literally *years* to find the dentist with the right skills but it can be done.

 

[snapper]

Hi Tink, thanks for the encouragement.

Did you find a dentist at the dental hospital that would help, which dental hospital was that? I've been to the dental hospital near me, I was told there were lots of specialist dentists that could help, thing is they were all standing around doing very little with students doing the job. scary!! Patients waiting hours to be seen in packed waiting rooms, then when they did get seen it was for minutes with most treatments being extractions from what I could tell listeningto the tales.

I get the impression theres only budget for the routine stuff, not for difficult b........ like me. NHS dentistry can't cope with anxious/phobic people, they get cut loose. the non-treated, get discharged back to their GDP for what ever dental care can be fit in. Mostly us guys get upset, argue maybe then get declined further treatment cause current legislaton allows dentists to refuse treatment if their isn't a course of treatment in progress. it's all a bit blurry round the edges as i see it, basically there isn't quality, evidence based NHS dentistry out their for alot of fearful patients.

Private, maybe, but thats a whole difffferent ball game.

Soz Carl, I've highjacked your post, we all gain from each other on here.

 

[Tink]

Ah, sorry to hear that snapper.

I hear what you're saying about the NHS, funding can be an issue for the more complex cases. So frustrating. I was lucky enough to be able to go private, which is how I found the answer.

I know my local dental hospital has a dedicated clinic for phobic patients, although there is a waiting list, and my dentist tells me that they do also have the specialist equipment and people trained to do advanced things with the local anaesthetic. Have you tried your local one already and had no luck? Is there any way that going private would be an option for you?

Regardless of how some dentists might respond, it's *not* your fault if the anaesthetics aren't working for you. You're not just being difficult for the sake of it!

 

[snapper]

Hi Tink,
Ive been referred on a couple of occassions to my local dental hospital. I havn't got a lot of confidence in these guys. The students are polite and smile a lot but i wouldn't let them near my mouth. The specialists in the restorative department seem aloof and patronising. There may be a dedicated clinic for phobic people, it hasn't been mentioned.

I got fobbed off and told there's nothing wrong with my tooth, but they will take my tooth out for me anyway!!! What...No way..

On that particular ocassion I insisted they look at this tooth again. A broken file was found in on of the tooth roots causing the problem. You just got to question them. They're take all your teeth out if it meets the learning needs of their student dentists. Noooooo... I feel ill just thinking about going back there. Dreadful place.

I'll look into the private option when the tooth gets to be an issue.

 

[Tink]

Sorry to hear that snapper, not a great experience.

I always try to recommend the NHS options first as of course not everybody can afford to go private, so it feels a bit wrong to suggest things that are out of reach to so many people - but if you can, then it sounds like in your position and your area it would be well worth a try. There are some really excellent private dentists out there if you hunt around for the right one, and very often they are in a better position to give you the time and attention you need.

I would suggest, if you feel up to it, looking into it sooner rather than later. You could wait until you are in pain and need emergency treatment, but if you go looking for a dentist now, when it is *not* so urgent, it gives you time to shop around and build up a relationship and some trust with your dentist. It takes some of the pressure off you.

I realise that's easier said than done though!

 

[Tink]

Meanwhile: Carl - sorry about the derail! How are you getting on? Did you make any progress?

 

[AsaGohan]

I should probably mention that I live in the US, so some of the things that I was able to have done may not exactly apply. Also I had dental insurance by the time I had to get an extraction done.