Is tooth numbing an all-or-nothing phenomenon or is it on a continuum?
Because I have felt something at some pointfor every filling I've ever had done, and I don't mean pressure. And one of them was pretty deep, too. From what I've read, however, if I weren't numb, that one would have sent me through the roof with pain. But while uncomfortable in moments, it was bearable. So I must have been numb, I guess?
So I have always wondered exactly what successful "numbing" is. Is it where you can still feel how it would hurt without the local anesthesia, but it's dulled out a lot? Is that what the goal is?
That's also how the numbing gel for the injections has always worked for me. I can feel a dulled ache when the needle goes in, but it's not nearly as sharp as it would otherwise be.
I just think with having different dentists doing different fillings and always getting the same result, it's more likely that I just have unrealistic expectations for how "painless" the procedure can be.
But then people tell me that, based on my description of the sensations I occasionally felt during the drilling (it's a cold, boaring, bone aching kind of thing), I must not have been "completely numb," whatever that means.
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