When you visit the dentist to get a tooth extracted or even get a cavity drilled, the dentist may inject your gums or the inside of your cheek with some local anesthetic. He does this to numb any pain or discomfort that you may feel during the procedure.
Dentists usually use Lidocaine as an anesthetic. Novocain used to be the drug that was used to numb pain originally, when dentists first began to use local anesthetics. But it is no longer used as there are more effective drugs now available in the market. These new drugs also cause less number of side effects in the patient.
The injection that your dentist gives you contains more than the drug usually. It will also contain a kind of drug that causes the blood vessels to become narrower. This helps the numbness to last for a much longer time. This drug is called the vasoconstrictor or vasopressor.
The injection liquid also contains a chemical that prevents the vasopressor from breaking down. It also contains sodium hydroxide to activate the drug, and sodium chloride to help the drug to enter the blood.
There are two ways in which the drug may be injected into the tissues of your mouth. The dentist may apply a block injection that will numb an entire area of your mouth such as a side of your upper jaw. If he thinks you don’t need such a wide anesthesia coverage, he may simply use an infiltration injection. This will numb a smaller area of your mouth near the area in which the injection is given.
Before applying local anesthesia, your dentist will make a part of your mouth dry by rubbing it with a swab of cotton or use a jet of air to dry that part of your mouth. Dentists also rub the area with a special gel to make the skin numb to sensations.
The syringe will then be inserted and the injection given. Most patients don’t feel the sting of the needle but simply the movement of the anesthesia moving into the tissue of their mouth. The numbness from the injection can last for many hours. It may cause some amount of difficulty in eating, drinking and talking even after you have left the dentist’s clinic.
Side effects from local anesthesia is very rare. It is also rare to have an allergic reaction to the drug, However if you find yourself experiencing any allergic reactions, contact your dentist. Morris Plains also has a number of dental clinics where you can get advise on what to do if the anesthetic drug reacts with any other medicine that you may be taking. Don’t hesitate in letting your dentist know about your reaction no matter how minor.
Dentist Morris Plains – If you are looking for a dentist, Morris Plains residents will direct you to Parsippany Family Dental for your dental health care needs. You can receive any kind of treatment here ranging from cosmetic implants to root canal and emergency treatments.
