need some advice about dentists?

Question

I am epileptic and every time I have a local anachehtic I have seizures a few hours after.

I was told by my dentist to get refured to a dentist that provides a general anashetic but when I went to doctors I was told dentist needs to refure me. I need quite a bit of dental work done and realy don't know what to do about it is there any clinics I could go to with out referal to be knocked out I am NHS

the reason it causes seizures is due to I feel very ill and am in alot of pain after the l a it is not an alergy i always have seizures when i am under the weather

Answer 1

Hi there

This makes me angry as it sounds like doctor and dentist passing the buck. Either or both could refer you.

Phone your local hospital and ask to speak to someone in the dental, or Maxillo - facial unit and explain they should be able to help.

Answer 2

I can't see any direct link between the LA and the seizure when it happens a few hours later. LA is not contra-indicated for epileptics. In fact the opposite is probably true, because the use of LA reduces the pain and hence the stress of the treatment. In fact, IV LAs can be used as anticonvulsants in grand mal seizures.
Only severe overdosages cause tonic-clonic convulsions in patients (of any health). And the half-life of lidocaine is 90 mins, so after 3 hours it has dropped to 25%.
Are you normally well-controlled? Are you eating properly before and after the dental treatment? Hypoglycaemia can also trigger seizures, and I am wondering if you are forgetting to eat before (due to nervousness) or afterwards (because of the numbness).

Answer 3

Now why would your dentist "tell" you that you "need to be referred to a dentist that provides GA," when he should be the one doing the referring? I think you may have misunderstood the dentist so my suggestion would be to call his office and ask for a referral to "whom ever" your dentist recommends which, by the way is "how it works." The dentist who "provides you with GA" will work with "your regular dentist" on what should be done according to your treatment plan and "they will communicate with each other on your behalf." So don't waste time making unnecessary calls, just call the dentist who said this and let him tell you who to see. Perhaps he or his staff can make a call so you'll be seen faster as well. Hope I've been of some help with this and good luck.

Answer 4

Either see your original dentist and get treatment without local(it can be done) or ask your dentist to refer you to your local Health Board's Special Needs Dentist.

But I must admit to never having heard of this problem before and have a fair amount of experience of treating epiletic patients under LA.

It may well be that a GA is not suitable either.

Answer 5

No family dentist does general anaesthetic these days except in a hospital setting. Go back to your original dentist and ask him to refer you to the hospital dental service.

Answer 6

take you medication for seizure and make sure you get dental work slowly rather than all at one time. If you need to get it all at once you might need to seek admission to a private hospital where they do dental procedure and might be able to perform general or IV sedation for you.

Answer 7

have you explained your problem to your dentist? i'm sure under the circumstances he would have no problem refering you! and if you need so much work done, surely a general anaesthetic would be the best option for you!

Answer 8

No