Dental Health Forum - Bad Dental Experience

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Q: Bad Dental Experience

asked by: Forum Girl on August 11th, 2004

Experienced User

Today I went in to have a cavity filled. Not a big deal because my teeth are very suseptible to cavities so i've had many done over the years. This time, however, something different happened. The dentist gave me the shots to numb me and then left the room for about 15 minutes. Within two minutes of having the shot, my heart started pounding, my fingernails turned white, the skin on my arms turned yellowish, my limbs and head felt super heavy and I felt like I was going to pass out. That has never happened before. It passed after maybe 10 minutes and I felt normal again but tired.

Then the dentist came back in and asked me to open my mouth and I couldn't even open it halfway. He and the nurse joked that I opened my mouth wide for the shot but now I wasn't letting him in to do the work. The problem was I couldn't. It was like the numbing shot went to my jaw joint and I could barely open my mouth. Its now almost 12 hours later and I still can't open my mouth any wider and it is very sore.

I don't know if I really have a question but I just wanted to describe my experience and see if anyone had any insight.

Replies(8)

toothclnr81

replied on August 11th, 2004

New User

It sounds like th dentist may have hit a nerve. You will be sore for a day or two, maybe 3. You will be able to open wider every day. The "novacaine" that the doctor gave you probably contained epinephrene, which can feel like you described. It can make your heart race.. Eveyone has their own reaction to this. Is the first time this happened?

Forum Girl

replied on August 12th, 2004

Experienced User

Yes. Normally when the doctor gives me the novacaine all I feel is the numbness. I've never felt or experienced anything like yesterday before. As you said, I am able to open my mouth a bit wider today but I still feel a lot of stiffness. I am hoping it will go away in the next few days like you said. And lucky me, I get to go do this all over again in three weeks. I've never been very nervous about going to the dentist before but i'm pretty sure next time I will be. Thanks for your advice!

toothclnr81

replied on August 12th, 2004

New User

No problem. Hey- how is the weather there in orlando? I have friends that are going there on saturday the 14th for their vacation. Has it been stormy b/c of the hurricane?

Forum Girl

replied on August 15th, 2004

Experienced User

The hurricane sucked. Lots of damage, lots of people without water and power. Luckily mine was only out for 8 hours but people just down the street still don't have power. Its crazy right now.

patriciataylor

replied on November 23rd, 2004

New User

Did you tell the dentist what happened? What did he say? Doesn't sound right at all!

Forum Girl

replied on November 29th, 2004

Experienced User

Update

My dentist appointment got postponed to today. I talked to my dentist when I got there and explained what happened and he said that he has two kinds of shots - one has a vasoconstrictor in it (i think thats what he called it) and the other one doesn't. He decided he would try to give me the one without the vasoconstrictor in it and see how I did with it. (the one with the vasoconstrictor in it causes your heart to race). But then after thinking about it he suggested I try it without a shot and see if I can tolerate it without being numbed. I was nervous about that but really liked the idea of not having to worry about hours of numbness. So I agreed to that and I was fine without it. It only hurt for may 3-4 seconds when he was just finishing drilling and other than that it didn't hurt at all. It is so nice now just an hour or so after getting back from the dentist and not being numb and miserable.

PattyV

replied on December 1st, 2004

Extremely eHealthy

Glad it worked out for you!!Some people are more apprehensive about the injection than a few seconds of pain,so that works for them.I'm just the opposite!Give me the injection-i do not want to feel anything!Glad you are better!Patty

jvega2345

replied on September 24th, 2009

New User

my mouth wouldn't open after the injection.

The same thing happened to me.I went to the dentist and she said i needed a new filling.I also explained to her that i've been having trouble with my jaw that it hurts when i open it wide.She said she'll give me a referral for a specialist.then she gave me the injection and i could not open my mouth all the way.
I would like to know if it is possible that the dentist knows what they have done and if there's something i can do about the numbness.Is this an unusual situation.Because the dentist was shocked and laughing with her assistant about it.i was just freaked out, because it never happened to me before.

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