What kind of anesthesia is used when pulling a badly broken abcessed tooth?

Question

im a 21yr old female in the usa

Answer 1

Novocaine...same local anesthesia thats used for fillings etc. I have had this done...not fun...just

Make sure your doc puts you on a course of antibiotics for a week prior to the extraction. It will help clear up the infection. Otherwise you may have trouble getting frozen with the infection in there.

Take Care.

Answer 2

THIS IS MOST PROBABLY LIDOCAINE OR MEPIVACAINE. NOVOCAINE (AKA PROCAINE) IS NO LONGER USED FOR DENTISTRY

Answer 3

Hi,

Just had this done - (well two months ago to be exact) with three seperate molar teeth that were fractured, decayed and badly abscessed.

As it was an emergency appointment in my case (the abscess had spread into the facial tissue, and I had huge swelling in both cheek gum and was starting to move to the neck area), I only had time for one day of Antibiotic treatment (so when people say you must have a full course of antibiotics- not exactly true!). Depending on the severity of the abscess, your dentist may PREFER to have you take the antibiotics for a few days prior to extraction (pulling of the tooth), if it's not going to cause an issue. But in severe cases (like mine unfortunatley was- where it could've lead to blocking my airway and/or blood posioning within a matter of days) he decided to do it as soon as possible.

When i went in, I was given LOCAL anesthetic - which doesn't send you to sleep. It only blocks the nerves around the tooth/gum area in which they're going to extract the tooth. For me, it took 7 shots and on the 7th shot (as it wasn't working at all due to the swelling- the local anesthetic couldn't get through to the nerves- from the swelling and pus surrounding the tooth) he had to inject it at the very back of my throat (on the wall of the back of my throat, near tonsil area) for it to travel down. That worked fine within a minute.

I also had nitrous oxide (laughing gas/happy gas), which worked like a dream. Remember nitrous Oxide is NOT a pain reliever, it's used to 'relax' or calm a patient down if they're nervous. So, if you're at all anxious, (like i was!) I'd advise to ask the dentist for Nitrous Oxide as well as the local anesthetic.

You wont feel a thing during the extraction if it is working properly. If you're unsure if it's working or not, ASK!!!!!

(if it's along the bottom jaw- the abscessed tooth) the local anesthetic should start working in a matter of minutes. You'll feel a tingling sensation along your bottom lip, and your tongue (or the side of hte lip and tongue that the abscessed tooth is on). Your tongue may feel as though it's ten times the size it should be- but don't worry. With the bottom jaw, the central nerve runs all the way down the half of the bottom jaw they're injecting. So, the entire side should feel numb. The top jaw is a different matter. You wont feel the lip tingle, or the tongue swell, but your dentist will test the surrounding gum/tooth area to make sure it's numb.

If you think it's numb, and they begin the extraction and you happen to feel something sharp, or painful- raise your hand!!

They will stop, inject some more and then wait for it to work, and test it again before continuing.

Make sure you let them know by raising your hand if it does hurt! Don't let it be a painful experience. I had 7 shots of the local anesthetic, and he told me if it still hurt during the procedure I could have more, so I don't think there's a 'over-dose' amount to pain relief while under supervision of the dentist! hehe

Best of luck for the extraction, you'll feel so much better when it's gone! I did! No more swelling, No more pain (not that i had pain to begin with, with teh abscessed tooth anyhow- but that's less common for an abscessed tooth). If you wish, taking a pain killer or two just before the anesthetic is due to wear off (2-3 hours after the procedure), do so. That means you wont suffer any pain during the time of the anesthetic wearing off, and the 'socket' starting to hurt.

(Advice: Don't eat anything or drink anything hot until the anesthetic has worn off. You tend to bite your cheek, or tongue and not realise it. The numbness is really .... numb. hehe).

Personally, I didn't have to take ANY pain killers after all three of my extractions (on seperate days) which were all abscessed teeth.

Some people have to, but I didn't.. And i'm not one to like pain. hehe.

Make sure you follow after-care instructions carefully, and you'll be fine!

Best of luck!