Too many novocain shots - now I can barely open my mouth at all.

[Nighthaven]

So I went into the dentist to have a temporary crown placed onto my second molar on the lower right. The dentist poked me at least four times initially to numb me up and waited the short time while I got numbed up. When he started to work I noticed that there was still some pain so he poked me another four times to numb me further. This is now at least EIGHT pokes with a needle.

He did the drilling, etc. and placed the temporary crown and finished up. Later that night as the novocain faded there was still residual pain on the tooth, etc., but there was something different this time. This same dentist did another crown for me about 8 weeks ago on the opposite side of my lower jaw (first molar) and I definitely didn't feel like this.

So the next day I find that both my inside gums are absolutely killing me and I also can no longer open my mouth enough to fit two fingertips vertically between my incisors. I later found that the gums issue resulted from the scraping of an X-ray screen that had to be positioned. The dental assistant basically pushed that hard plastic frame down so close to my gums that it sheared off the top layer completely. It took WEEKS for that pain to stop and for it to heal. However, what did NOT get better was my inability to open my mouth.

I called my dentist's office and one of the women answering the phone said to give it another few days and call back if it is still an issue. So I waited. Nothing got better.

It has been THREE WEEKS now since I had that work done and I am scheduled to have the permanent crown placed in a few days but there's no way in hell I'll be able to open wide enough for the dentist to fit his fingers in there to place it and I'll be damned if I'm going to allow him to numb me up again to bypass the pain that would most certainly be caused if he forced open my jaw.

This is ridiculous! I have heard the same horror stories about this sort of thing becoming permanent and I am terrified that I will never be able to open up properly anymore.

As it stands now, I can no longer eat "normal" food because I can't open up enough without having to chop everything into tiny pieces, I can't yawn properly and the pain that I get is not dissimilar to a cramped muscle. I've tried to use "opening" exercises but every time it feels like I take a step back instead of a step forward as the pain lingers more and more.

I called my dentist yet again yesterday and when they heard about my condition they were all ready to cancel my appointment Thursday since I said I can't have the work done which I replied "the hell you will" and was then put on hold for a few minutes and when she came back she said "yeah, they still want to see you."

Since the dentist did the first crown correctly I know that he's competent but this locked jaw of mine is a catastrophic blow to my every day life.

What options do I have and what the heck am I suffering from? Too much novocain? Did a muscle get jabbed by the needle? I have no idea.
Sorry for the length of the posting.

 

[carole]

Hi to the forum.

I don't think you had too much numbing stuff although you did have rather a lot you could have had more. You do need to see the dentist so that he can examine your jaw and see what the problem is as this needs treating before anymore is done regarding the crown.

I think all you can do at this point is to see the dentist and see what he says, also explain about the rough treatment that hurt your gum when the x ray was taken, hopefully this won't happen again.

All the best to you, let us know how you get on please

 

[zombiegroupie]

I don't know how much is too much but, in my personal experience (as a patient, I'm not a dr)

Every time I've had work especially lower jaw work...I am very, very sore from the shots. Much more than the average person. I have really sensitive gums and also problems with my TMJ which acts up after any kind of dental appt.

I have been prescribed Peridex rinse and that helps with the gum soreness (I used it after my 2 recent extractions) however I was pretty uncomfortable for a few days and my gums felt terrible and raw where the shots went in.

I hope you feel better soon. not being able to eat is like torture

 

[Ihatedentistss]

I had too much numbing once, too...so much that my ears were even numb...

I don't think your problem is related to the Novicane shots, however. Hopefully it resolves itself or your dentist offers some sort of explanation or what have you and can fix the problem. Please let us know what happens.

 

[rob wain]

your limited jaw opening could be due to muscle bruisinfg from certain types of injection but that bruising would have worn off by now. It's more likely that the problem is from keeping your mouth open for a long time. This is particularly likely if you had a clicky jaw joint beforehand or if you tend to clench/grind your teeth.
The good news is that you should be able to resolve it with some jaw exercises and maybe some heat/cold packs. Possibly you'll need a niteguard or splint of some sort.
You should tell the dental office so that they can see you and help resolve the problem