Everything You Need to Know about Dental Local Anesthesia
Your dentist might need to apply dental local anesthesia to numb an area of your mouth while performing certain procedures. We do this by injecting medicine – known as a local anesthetic – into your inner cheek or gum.
Nowadays, the most common anesthetic dentists use is Lidocaine. Novocain used to be the more common option a few decades ago, professionals now use other anesthetics that work better and longer. The one thing all these anesthetics have in common is their names ending with "cain."
Modern anesthetics are also less likely to cause allergic reactions compared to Novocain. The numbing agents in these anesthetics are only a fraction of what is injected into your mouth at the dentist's office. Other medicines in the solution include:
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A vasoconstrictor that makes the numbness last for a longer period by constricting your blood vessels
Something to prevent the breakdown of the vasoconstrictor
Sodium chloride to help with absorption of the drugs into your bloodstream
Sodium hydroxide to aid with the numbing effect
The two types of numbing injections that are commonly used by dentists are:
1. Block injections – These cover an entire region in your mouth like one side of your top jaw for example.
2. Infiltration injections – These numb a much smaller area, only the area surrounding where the injection was applied.
When you undergo a procedure that requires dental local anesthesia, your dentist will prepare your mouth by drying a part of it with cotton or air. Your dentist might also decide to numb the area he/she plans to inject with a gel to numb the skin. This can be helpful if you are afraid of injections.
Your dentist will then inject the anesthetic into the area he/she wants numb. You will rarely ever feel the needle. The only sensation most people feel is the sting of the medicine moving into your tissues.
These anesthetics can last as long as several hours. That means you might find it difficult to speak clearly or eat for up to seven hours after receiving anesthesia. Also, avoid eating with the side of your mouth closest to the area that was numbed until you regain feeling there since it's possible to hurt yourself and not realize it.
Common side effects of dental local anesthesia
Anesthetics are the most used drugs in dental offices and it's very rare for patients to have negative reactions to them. The rare side effects associated with anesthetics include:
A hematoma developing if the injection hits a blood vessel.
Increased heart rate due to the vasoconstrictor
Numbness outside the area that was targeted. This can affect the way your face looks for a few hours. It can prevent you from blinking properly and other facial movements.
Nerve injury due to the injection striking a nerve. This can lead to pain and numbness that lasts several months until the nerve heals.
To find out more about dental local anesthesia…
For more dental local anesthesia information or to schedule an appointment with Brimhall Dental Group, request an appointment in our Bakersfield dental office here: https://brimhalldentalgroup.com. Or call us at (661) 249-1122.
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The California Department of public health has provided guidance for resuming deferred and preventive Dental care. We will be resuming all dental care starting May 18, 2020.
To our patients, we hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety.
Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.
Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of those agencies so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued. We do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to each agencies’ recommendations.
You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:
Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You will be asked those same questions again when you arrive to the office.
We ask that all patients wear a mask to the office.
We ask that patients call the office upon arrival.
All patients will have their temperature taken prior to entering the office.
We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed.
You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines or a coffee bar, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you are offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.
We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at (661)323-7337 or visit our website at www.brimhalldentalgroup.com
Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.