What type of needles are used for dental anesthesia or numbing gums?
One of the big misconceptions is that dental anesthesia needles are really big and scary. I get that a lot of people are scared of needles. I have to say, I work with them every day, and I don't super love them either. They are, of course, a necessary part of dentistry. What we do is try to make it as comfortable and not scary as possible.
The reality is that they are very tiny and very thin, and honestly as thin and as small as possible in order to deliver the anesthesia to the parts of your mouth that need it. In reality, they're usually about an inch, a little over an inch long, and extremely thin. Sometimes, if you hold it a certain way, you can barely see it. They are basically very, very thin and much thinner than, for example, the needles that are used to draw blood or even to give you vaccinations at the hospital.
How big are dental implants, are they all one size?
A lot of people are talking about, hearing about, and actually getting dental implants nowadays. It's an amazing new technology that's really taken off over the last couple of years. What it involves is essentially putting an implant, which is kind of like a small screw, into your jawbone in order to replace a tooth. The misconception is that these implants are gigantic and that they're going to take over your whole jaw or mouth. The reality is they're actually relatively little.
Usually, they range in size depending on the tooth that's being replaced. Some of them that replace teeth in the front of your mouth, because the teeth in the front of your mouth are smaller than the teeth in the back of your mouth, are maybe as narrow as like a third of an inch in diameter. And they're maybe, I know I'm sorry I'm switching to the metric system here, anywhere between 6 and 12 to 13 millimeters long, which is about maybe like a half an inch, but sometimes even less than that. As you get toward the back of the mouth, the implants do increase in size a little bit, but nothing more than the largest ones are maybe 6 to 7 millimeters, and that's going to be about, like I said, maybe like a third of an inch in diameter. These are not very big. Again, they have to be about the same size as what your tooth would be. It can't really be that big, otherwise it wouldn't really fit in your mouth.
Do dental injections and anesthesia hurt?
A lot of times people are scared of getting dental injections and anesthesia because they think it will hurt. The reality is that if they aren't done properly, it sometimes can be a little uncomfortable. At Crown Dentistry, we do our best to do everything to make them as comfortable as possible.
One of the things that we do is use a topical gel first in your mouth that kind of numbs the surface of your gums and even a little bit underneath so that when the injection goes into your skin, underneath your skin, you don't feel as much. We also try to use different kinds of anesthesia because there's not just one kind. The anesthesia that I usually use first is a lot closer to basically the pH level, the acidity level, of your body. The whole point of doing that is that there's less shock when the anesthesia enters your body and hopefully less sensitivity and discomfort.
I will sometimes also use techniques for distraction to try and get people's minds off the injection itself. I usually try to talk to our patients as we're doing it. Sometimes I'll also just gently shake or move their lips to help them think about something else. It sounds kind of funny, but it usually does tend to work. Just something as simple as distraction or getting people's minds off the actual injection does tend to make it a little more comfortable. We use all of these things kind of in conjunction to try and make them as comfortable as possible.
Will my mouth be forced open wide during treatment?
Something else that a lot of times people are nervous or scared about is that they don't want to have their mouth forced open really wide or cranked open and then held open so that they won't be able to close their mouth. The reality is that everybody has a different-sized mouth. Some people are able to open really wide, and some people aren't able to open very wide at all. We always try to do what we can to make it so that people are able to open their mouths to a comfortable position to start off with.
Sometimes people have tight jaws. Sometimes I will prescribe different medications to either help patients relax their jaws using different kinds of muscle relaxants and/or Advil or ibuprofen, just to kind of make it so their jaw isn't so tight. That seems to help for some patients. We also have various devices to help people keep their mouths open. A lot of times, people don't like holding their mouths open on their own, and so we have different blocks and just different pieces of equipment that will help patients keep their mouths open so they don't have to use their own muscles and energy just to keep their mouths open on their own.
We also give people breaks, and we try to check in with our patients during the procedures just to see how they're doing. I always tell our patients, if you ever need a break or you just need to stop or you need to tell me something, I usually just tell them to raise their hand and we'll grab everything and get it out of their mouth and allow them to communicate with us as to what's going on. I feel like all of these things, used together, usually mean we're able to take care of people so they don't have to worry about holding their mouths open in an uncomfortable way or for an uncomfortable amount of time.
Will it hurt when you work on my teeth?
One of the biggest reasons why people don't like coming to the dentist is that they think it's going to hurt. I usually tell our patients our goal is that we want to get you into a place where we can do what needs to be done and take care of you in a way that's not uncomfortable for you. Usually, that starts with using good anesthesia and putting the anesthesia where it needs to be and using the proper kinds of anesthesia. We don't ever work on our patients until they're comfortable and basically properly anesthetized.
I always tell our patients, okay, after they're anesthetized initially, of course, we're going to start taking care of your tooth and/or teeth. If there's anything that bothers you or if you need to stop or anything hurts, please let us know right away and we'll stop and we'll try to figure out exactly what needs to be done in order to make it so that you're comfortable, so that your teeth are properly put to sleep, and that the anesthesia is working the way that it's supposed to, because the reality is if you're properly anesthetized, then it really shouldn't bother you that much.
Now, I don't ever tell people you're not going to feel anything because when we're working on you, even if you are properly anesthetized, you will still feel some things. For example, you might feel some movement or some vibration or maybe some pressure moving your teeth or your face one way or the other, but it shouldn't be uncomfortable. Also, sometimes people will still feel the spray of the water because we do use a lot of water when we're working on teeth because it helps keep your teeth cool and the nerves happy and healthy. Sometimes people will still feel the water. It might feel a little bit cold, but if that's too sensitive for you, then we can also do things to try and either make the water warmer or protect those teeth that are maybe a little more sensitive. Basically, all these things work together to make it as comfortable for you as possible.
How could there be something wrong if nothing hurts?
In our body, there are a lot of things that basically don't give off pain signals, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing wrong. A lot of times, problems in your mouth and the rest of your body don't immediately cause pain or give off a pain signal until they get really bad. Sometimes people are confused when I tell them that I'm recommending a specific treatment for them because a lot of times what they'll tell me is, "Oh, nothing hurts." That's especially true inside your mouth.
For example, a lot of times I'll tell people, or honestly we like to use photos and dental X-rays a lot because it gives you a sense of what I'm looking at when I'm taking a look in your mouth. I'll show people that, oh, there's a cavity here that needs to be fixed, for example. One of the responses that I'll hear sometimes is, wow, how is that cavity there? Or why do I need to do anything about it because my tooth doesn't bother me? But the reality is that some cavities don't bother you, and they don't bother people. There's definitely a range of sensitivities between people.
The same cavity on three different people may have three different responses in all of those people. But the thing is, if a cavity is there, it's not going away, and it's only going to get worse, not better. A lot of times, if a cavity, for example, does get really bad and it's deep and wide and it's into the nerve, which is in the middle of your tooth, it will hurt, and a lot of times you may not realize it until it gets to that point. By then, it can hopefully still be treated, but it's much more difficult. It takes longer, it costs more. A lot of times, if we see a problem and it's not that big, we want to take care of it because it can prevent bigger, larger, more uncomfortable problems later.
Want to learn more? Call Crown Dentistry at (916) 848-2145 or email [email protected]. Our team is happy to answer your questions and help schedule your visit.