How long does the needle stay in for?

[bethanyxx]

Hi im 15 and im having 4 fillings and a tooth out tomorrow. I'm so scared, i cant stop crying and i just really dont want to go I dont like needles so i cant have IV or anything, that scares me more than anything. I'm having local anesthetic, i know its a needle but id rather have it in my mouth than my hand, i was just wondering how long will the needle be in for and where abouts in my mouth will it be and how many will i have to have?

 

[bethanyxx]

oh and also how long does the drill take im really scared about it

 

[coolin]

I'm not a dentist but from my own experience the needle stays in for about 10 - 15 seconds i think. The drill varies - again from my own experience - I hesitate to put a time on it though - a few minutes maybe in short burts until the dentist can remove the decayed bits. Hope this helps - I have replied to your thread in the support section too

 

[brit]

It varies depending on the dentist's injection technique. Dental injections can be totally painfree though. If topical gel is used it seems it can be painfree with a quickish delivery. If the dentist injects really really slowly however (much longer than 30 secs) it can be painfree even without topical.

How many injections you need depends on where the fillings are in your mouth. If they are all on the same side, you could be fully numb with just a single block injection.

The drill is just a noise and a vibration so long as you are fully numb, the dentist can stop anytime you want, just agree a raised hand stop signal with them and that will make you feel in more control. if you feel any pain stop them immediately as that means they haven't numbed you properly.
A decent dentist is not trying to cause you pain during treatment, quite the reverse.
I am sure it will not be anywhere near as bad as you expect.
Let us know how it goes.


Dental injections are totally different from vaccinations into your arm. Vaccinations are done quickly to minimise inevitable discomfort/sting, dental ones are done slowly to eliminate pain completely.

 

[bethanyxx]

Do you have to ask for the gel stuff or do they just use it anyway? The fillings are one on the top left hand side of my mouth, one on the top right, one in the bottom left and one on the bottom right which is next to the one that's being taken out . So scared

 

[decan]

Most offices use topical anesthetic normally so you shouldn't have to ask for it.

 

[brit]

Do you have to ask for the gel stuff or do they just use it anyway? The fillings are one on the top left hand side of my mouth, one on the top right, one in the bottom left and one on the bottom right which is next to the one that's being taken out . So scared

I'm probably too late but that is all 4 parts of your mouth involved so I would request maybe two appointments and only doing one side at once maybe? Some people understandably do not like being numb in every quadrant all at once and it isn't necessary to do this if you split the treatment. Maybe your dentist is planning to do less today than you think.