Very bad experience with injection, not sure what to do now

[Kburris]

Hey. So I went to the dentist yesterday, first time going in like 9 years. I've always had bad dental hygiene and after noticing lower gum erosion I decided it's time to really take care of them. Got my teeth checked out, only cavities and one potential root canal. I was going to have work done on 9 cavities while I was there.

They injected me with Novocain/w eph and antibiotics. They gave me something like 10 shots, 5 on each side on the top right side of my mouth. Each shot lasted about 3-6 seconds.

The shots on the side of my teeth facing the gums weren't too bad, still painful but only about a 4/10, comparable to when I broke my foot. The shots on the other side, facing the roof of my mouth, hurt more than anything I can remember feeling in life. The pain was easily an 8/10 in pain maybe as high as a 9 or a 9.5 out of 10 in pain.

I'm a very pain tolerance person, I practice flips and fall a lot in the process, this pain was completely insane, I was gripping the seat, squeezing the sides in immense pain. As a result of being in so much pain I swallowed some of the infection, was in too much pain to control my body.

All of the shots were finally done, my heart was racing from the intense pain that I had to endure, and the waiting game for the Novocain to kick in began. I was already sweating a lot from having to endure such intense pain, and i was wearing a sweater and pants.

I took my sweater off but it wasn't enough, I was being overwhelmed in heat and sweat, obviously not allowed to take my shirt or pants off. About 3 minutes after all of the shots were finished I started feeling drowsy and my vision started to blur.

At this point I almost blacked out as my vision became very blurred, drenched in sweat and starting to look a little pale. It feel exactly the same as training way too hard, but under those conditions I can normally take off more clothes to cool down.

After drinking a cup of water and relaxing for a few minutes, everything subsided and about 6 minutes after the blurred vision originally set in I was completely fine. The entire process from getting really hot in the beginning to feeling completely fine at the end lasted about 12 minutes total and started almost immediately after the injections.

What I think happened was the immense pain caused me to overheat and the combination of not being able to take off enough clothes and swallowing some of the infection caused the drowsiness and blurred vision. Like I said before, it felt like what happens when I overtrain and push myself too hard, nothing unfamiliar, Just a lot more intense.

Now I really don't even want to go back to the dentist at all, the experience was very traumatic, and they won't even see me again until I get checked out by a doctor because they think it was an allergic reaction. I've had dental work done before with injections, never had any issues. I kind-of have a policy of never going to doctors unless it's life threatening, part of my religious belief, so I would very much rather not have to go to the doctor especially when I don't believe it was an allergic reaction but instead a consequence of having to endure such intense pain.

So what do you all think I should do now? Should I try a different dentist and make a point in saying I have sensitive gums and trying one more time letting them know they need to be gentle when giving me the infection? I really need help here deciding how to proceed, any advice anyone can give would be highly appreciated! Thank you.

 

[gentledental]

Mmmmh.... That's a lot of shots for a filling. I think it would help you get used to the process if you have one filling at a time. Were all the injections given to fill several teeth or was this just for one filling?

 

[Kburris]

Mmmmh.... That's a lot of shots for a filling. I think it would help you get used to the process if you have one filling at a time. Were all the injections given to fill several teeth or was this just for one filling?

I was getting 9 cavities filled at the time

 

[comfortdentist]

a single injection by me takes about 1 minute not 4-6 seconds

 

[carole]

These injections hurting so much was down to the dentists bad injection technique. You should only have at the most felt a slight sting and maybe a bit of pressure from the first injection but the others should have been totally painless.

I would go to another dentist. I would also not ever have nine fillings in one go. If you decide to see another dentist explain that you are very nervous and have a fear of the injections. Injections can and should be pain free, they have a gel called topical that they can rub on your gums before injecting this numbs the gums so you don't feel anything. If the dentist does an injection slowly you won't feel it anyway. The slower they do it the better. The pain you got was the numbing stuff being given too quickly.

 

[Kburris]

These injections hurting so much was down to the dentists bad injection technique. You should only have at the most felt a slight sting and maybe a bit of pressure from the first injection but the others should have been totally painless.

I would go to another dentist. I would also not ever have nine fillings in one go. If you decide to see another dentist explain that you are very nervous and have a fear of the injections. Injections can and should be pain free, they have a gel called topical that they can rub on your gums before injecting this numbs the gums so you don't feel anything. If the dentist does an injection slowly you won't feel it anyway. The slower they do it the better. The pain you got was the numbing stuff being given too quickly.

Thank you very much for the information! In time I will consider having work done again on my fillings, at a different dentist! In the meantime, if they'll still take me without seeing a doctor, would it be possible for be to have a deep cleaning without any injections and just the stuff they rub on your gums?

 

[carole]

It is possible but it might still hurt, it is best to have injections really for a deep cleaning. You don't need to be as numb as you were before so won't need as much of the numbing stuff for cleaning.

Ask to see the practice manager and explain what happened and ask her/him to help you with this. They are there to help patients. You would be amazed how much they can help. Or ring them up and ask to speak to the manager about this.

If there are other dentists at the practice you could ask to see one of them. Or you could explain to your dentist that you are afraid of the injections and ask her/him to do it slowly.

All the best to you