How many people here have had cavities filled without anesthetic?

[slycat]

i have never had anes for filling...only time was when i had wisdom tooth extraction...
i absolutely HATE those damn injections ...the discomfort from them far outweighs that from
the filling procedure.

 

[BatmanNate]

I wonder if I could just go to the dentist and put a tank of that happy gas on my insurance.

 

[Rogue9]

I've gotten a cavity filled once without anesthetic. Not much pain, just a few moments' worth. Better than having a numb mouth for hours, IMO.

 

[Sluggo]

One time I was getting my shot before the drilling and I would swear to this day that somebody hit me on the jaw with a baseball bat. Absolutely the strangest sensation ever.

When the dentist saw my reaction, he says casually, " Hmmmmm, maybe I hit the nerve with the needle."

 

[Mookow]

Originally posted by: 4Lclovergirl
I feel your pain. I get my wisdom teeth out weds morning. Getting bother sedated and then long acting novicane. But all 4 are bony impacted, so they have towork pretty hard to get them out.

Not looking forward to it... totally scared of being "put to sleep" more then anything. I have had other surgeries before (hand and foot) but this terrorfies me.

I got put to sleep for my wisdom teeth romoval. It was kinda funny... the dentist puts in a needle with a short tube and an attachment to enable him to inject three different needles full of stuff through the attachment. First drug goes in while I'm sorta leaning foreward, watching it. Second goes in, and I'm still not feeling anything from it. The third is a needle with a payload the size of my middle finger (my fingers arent stubby and my ring size is 13). He injects about 10% of it, pauses, looks at me, and tells me I might want to put my head back. I dont remember putting my head back, I dont remember anything till I woke up. The surgery went well. The painkillers they gave me, OTOH, didnt do crap. Seriously, I went to sleep 3 hours after taking the things in the highest recommended dose, it hurt like hell. Never felt any reduction in pain. 8 hours later, when I woke up, pain felt exactly the same. So, the day after surgery, I hopped a ride down to Columbus that night (had to do some BS related to my lease), and I'm looking at my friends drinking beer, and I'm about to take some painkillers, when I decide, hey, I know beer works, whereas the pills arent doing crap. I found the trick was to use my tongue to channel the beer straight back to my throat without letting it get on the stitches (stitches + carbonated beverage = pain). The funny thing about the pills is that my uncle is a dentist, called me after the surgery, asked about which drugs I got, and told me "oh, you'll love these things... unless you sleep through it all. either way, you wont feel a thing". Yeah, three hours later when the drugs from the surgery wore off, the painkillers certainly didnt kick in. I usually respond well to painkillers, too. In hindsight, if they give you painkillers that dont work, ask for a new 'script. Drinking beer didnt help my mouth out. It didnt seem to screw anything up, either, but I'm pretty sure it didnt do any good (aside from the pain suppression aspect).

 

[0roo0roo]

i asked for no needles once. it was reasonably shallow so the dentist said ok. was painful.

 

[Calin]

Is there anesthesic used when drilling/filling cavities? That sounds very new to me

Calin

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

I will have to get lots of dental work done fairly soon... they WILL gas me. I suppose I could just do whatever odd perscription pain killers I can find beforehand... may be cheaper

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: nater
it's all about the gas...I think they've used local anasthetics on mine, but I really couldn't tell because of the gas...ahh yes..the gas..

I had 4 teeth pulled a few years ago before I got braces - there just wasn't room for all the teeth. I remember they gave me some gas before knocking me out completely. I felt a bit dopey, and my vision got a bit poor, but dammit, that needle still hurt just the same as it normally would have. And now I think I may need to have 4 MORE teeth removed - my wisdom teeth are coming in. I'm not a shark for cryin out loud! I don't have room for hundreds of teeth!
Oh, the anesthetic thing - if there's a way to get out of some serious pain, like from dental work, sure, I'll take it. Knock me out completely; that's what I prefer - then I don't get to hear/feel/smell anything that's being done to me. I had a wart lasered out of my foot - they used two shots of novicaine. That was all the pain I felt - foot was totally numb. But I didn't like the fact that the burning flesh I smelled was my own foot. Glad I didn't pass out from that.

 

[tcsenter]

Never, not even the most superficial cavity, sends me straight up the walls.

 

[Aquaman]

I did it once with no drugs or gas............. never again.

Also for the wisdom teeth get a local because if they put you uunder they are going to treat your mouth a lot rougher then if you have a local.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[B00ne]

I have had holes filled without anesthetic. I only take one when I expect it to be necessary - it is better for the dentist too, better feedback then just drilling into a "dead" tooth.

Anyway u can always wait with the anesthetic, when u feel it's getting to much for ya, just get the shot and have the dentist continue afterwards, but usually the pain involved in filling a normal small hole is negligible and it is only momentarily and mostly it seems like most of the pain comes from the water of the highspeed drill or the airflow of the suction thingy...

 

[Electrode]

I've had 3 cavities filled. I only got the topical anasthetic and injection, never tried (or even knew of until now) gas.

 

[bigalt]

Originally posted by: Electrode
I've had 3 cavities filled. I only got the topical anasthetic and injection, never tried (or even knew of until now) gas.

haven't you ever seen little shop of horrors?

 

[AndrewR]

It's strange. Maybe my cavities weren't bad or something, but I never had any anesthetic and really didn't have any pain when they were being filled. It was uncomfortable but not really in a painful way.

 

[ohtwell]

Almost everyone I have was done without novocaine.


: ) Amanda

 

[tcsenter]

Anyone else out there have an apparently hardcore dentist growing up?

Believe me, its has nothing to do with either you or your dentist being 'hardcore'. The accepted principle is to use the least amount of anesthetic which is effective, including no anesthetic if it is not required.

There is a fair amount of variability in nerve sensitivity of teeth from one person to the next. My father has had several superficial cavities drilled without anesthetic. He can also bite straight into the coldest of ice cream and hold his teeth against it for several seconds without batting an eye. No discomfort. Despite having virtually no dental care for the first 20 years of his life and poor oral hygiene by today's standards, he still has every one of his natural teeth at age 69 and they're in reasonably good condition. I think he has had a total of two root canals with crowns and around six small cavities in his 69 years.

By comparison, I've had good dental care and significantly better oral hygiene since childhood, and my teeth are crap. I had two root canals before the age of 16, four more since. They chip easily, crack easily, and are prone to cavities. I recently had two pulled. I couldn't bite into ice cream for the most brief of time without significant discomfort. Unfortunately, I got my teeth from my mother, her's are equally problematic.

Genetic differences in tooth composition, density, and the microscopic porosity of the teeth account for these differences including nerve sensitivity. My teeth are much more porous than my father's, which provides a direct pathway to the nerve for everything from bacteria to temperature changes. You can drill on the surface of my tooth for about five seconds with only minor discomfort, but any more and I'll be leaping off the chair about three feet.

 

[Spooner]

I'm getting 2 wisdom teeth removed soon. I'm DEFINITELY being knocked out for it. I can take 1,000 shots in a doctors chair, but put me in a dentists chair and I teeter on fainting the entire time. I don't know why. I thought when they "put you to sleep" it's just a gas. You're saying they inject you with a needle to knock you out? Crap

 

[Turkey22]

had over 25 without about 4 or so with and then wisdom teeth I was totally out. Last time I got the needle I accidentally sliced off a piece of my tongue. I've also noticed I have no problems until right after a cleaning, then my mouth hurts. Stopped going cus last time they doubled my charge because it was a "difficult" cleaning, it was also a new assistant who didnt know what the hell she was doing. been about 2 or 3 years now and no problems.

 

[mpitts]

Nuts to that. I get the needle every time.

 

[yllus]

Originally posted by: Carbonyl

Originally posted by: yllus
I had a root canal without anasthetic. Um yeah, that was a blast!

Sort of puts pain in perspective for you though.

:Q

Are you american? Sounds like some Gulag Prison camp.

No, just a moronic dentist...

 

[Woodie]

Full anesthesia for wisdom teeth (some time ago), no chair-work for me.
Local anesthetic sometimes, though I prefer to go without.
Never tried/had gas.

Percocet after major dental work seems to do the trick for me. Codeine is a waste for me.

 

[Feanor727]

Both fillings I've had were drilled without novocaine. The first wasn't deep enough to go anywhere near the nerve so it didn't hurt at all. As for the second one, the dentist was all set to give me the shot when he said, "Ya know, I bet we can do this without novocaine!" Then without waiting for my response proceeded to begin drilling. It was one of the more painful experiences I've had.

 

[4Lclovergirl]

Originally posted by: Spooner
I'm getting 2 wisdom teeth removed soon. I'm DEFINITELY being knocked out for it. I can take 1,000 shots in a doctors chair, but put me in a dentists chair and I teeter on fainting the entire time. I don't know why. I thought when they "put you to sleep" it's just a gas. You're saying they inject you with a needle to knock you out? Crap

Yeah, for my wisdom teeth, i am having a sedative (different from local anestesia b/c I can breath on my own etc) which is injected into my arm. After I am knocked out I will also then get a local of long acting novicane (lasts several hours) and then pain pills for after. Not looking forward to it. It's tomorrow at 9am, so less then 24 hours till I get in the chair.

I actually had nighmares last night about the sedative not working. I kept figting it, I would be almost out, and then wake myself up. Creeped me out, and now I have this totally weird feeling about it. I have a feeling I am not going to be able to sleep tonight

For all of you going through it soon, good luck! I know I need it! I need it just to make it into the chair tomorrow!

 

[Beattie]

Never had a cavity... but I had all 4 wisdom teeth out last week. Had Nitrous and Novacaine for that. I didnt feel a thing.