Six tries and my dentist couldn’t numb my tooth. What should I do?

When I was in elementary school, I took a baseball to the front of my mouth, and it killed some of the nerves in my front teeth. Now, years later, I have an infection in my upper front tooth (the one next to my right eye tooth). My dentist has tried to treat it six times now by numbing me with novocain so she can give me a root canal.

No matter what we do, she can’t seem to get me numb enough to finish the work. Even after multiple novocain shots at once and a numbing gel, I can’t stand it once she starts drilling. Meanwhile, I am living every day with a really painful, infected tooth, and I don’t know what to do.

Neha from Mesa

Dear Neha,

I think you’ll be relieved to hear that there is a solution to this problem, which is not an uncommon one. In fact, there are many patients who can’t get numb from novocain alone, and the culprit is almost always dental anxiety.

Dental anxiety works against novocain, blocking it from fully numbing you. In general, anxiety increases pain, and pain increases anxiety. How do we overcome this? We treat the anxiety with a medication to make you feel calmer. When you are calmer, the novocain works better. That’s the principal behind sedation dentistry.

It’s typical to feel some amount of anxiety at the dentist. In your situation, where you’ve tried six times to have this tooth treated, I’d expect any patient to feel quite anxious.

There are a few ways to sedate you for gentle root canal treatment. One option is nitrous oxide, a gas you can breathe in through a small mask over your nose. Another option is conscious sedation, which is administered through an IV line by a certified anesthesiologist. A third choice is sedation via a small pill, such as Valium or Halcion. The pill should be taken 30 to 60 minutes before your appointment. For any sedation other than nitrous oxide, you’ll need a responsible adult to drive you home after your appointment for safety.

This blog brought to you by Mountain View Family Dentistry, a fear-free dentist in Mesa, AZ.