Dental Anesthesia - not working?

Question

I went to the dentist yesterday to get set up for a crown, however, could not get anything done because the anesthetics did not work... he gave me 2 blocks, 5-6 shots in the area, and even drilled into the bone and placed some there... my entire right side of my mouth got numb, however, i could still feel every move he made with the drill on the tooth. I was just wondering what could have caused that? I am not a heavy caffeine drinker, I am not anxious about the dentist... I never have had problems in the past,... the only thing different about yesterday was that I was feeling under the weather with a sore throat and sinus issues... could that have any effect on it????

It was a lower tooth. I have been to this dentist to have work done before and he has not had any problems getting me numb at all...

The reason for the crown is that part of the tooth broke off... it is tooth number 30, 31 was extracted previously.... i've been unable to have dental work done in the past due to lack of insurance and now i'm paying for it....

Answer 1

i had the same problem once my tooth was abscessed the dentist gave me so much dedner the muscles on the right side of my face relaxed and my eye would not blink but my tooth was still not numb cause of the absessed

Answer 2

I’m going to assume that you have a crack in this lower molar tooth that is the reason for the "need" for the "crown work?" If not, then it’s quite possible that you do now. If this is the case, it may be very difficult for the anesthetic to give you the profound numbness that is normally achieved. Every vibration from the dental drill is causing the tooth to separate slightly causing excessive stimulation to the nerve of this tooth. You're dentist will probably attempt the prep again, possibly while applying a slight pressure on the opposite side of the tooth while attempting to cut into the enamel on it. If you still have the hypersensitivity, or inability for profound numbness with this anesthetic or using a different one, he may suggest that you have a root canal therapy on this tooth to resolve this problem. The crack may have spread too deep for the tooth to simply be crowned now. This happens occasionally, especially when a large restoration is already present in the tooth. Hope I’ve been of some help and good luck with your procedure.

Additional information: I doubt seriously that you're being under the weather had anything to do with the anesthesia not working well. But when severe sinus problems or congestion is present, you should alway postpone an appointment of this type or take a decongestant or antihistamine such as Benadryl or Sudafed prior to your appointment. We need your mouth open, not coughing from sinus drainage.

I can assure you that the anesthetic used could not possibly be expired as suggested above. Also, a periapical x ray is taken prior to a crown procedure, so any abscess would have been present on this, necessitating a root canal therapy prior to the crown procedure.

Additional info to last question addition: Yes, as I presumed it was "cracked" if part of the tooth broke off. So I would be led to think that there is still an underlying crack involved that may be very close to the pulp chamber or nerve of this tooth. If this is the case, which I'm 99.9% sure it is then you will be looking at having a “root canal therapy” preformed first to restore this vital tooth. There will be a minimum amount of pain that you should be able to handle if you’re prepared for it. This will only take a few minutes for the tooth to be opened from the top or the occlusal surface. The crack will be visible once the old restoration and some of the tooth structure are removed. Once the pulp chamber is exposed the anesthetic can be administered "directly" into the chamber giving you the profound anesthesia needed to complete this or any procedure needed on this tooth. With this being a second molar you are absolutely correct to try to save it, although some expense will be incurred, your insurance should cover the majority of this cost. I’m sure your dentist will discuss everything that I’ve mentioned here, with you at your next appointment. I hope that I’ve been of some help with this question and also given you some insight as to why the anesthetic didn’t work for you with this particular dental problem. Take care and good luck with you’re upcoming procedures.

Answer 3

I am going to go out and say this was a lower tooth?

Well it's a blessing you didn't get work done with a sore throat.
Being he's dealing in your mouth with bacteria you could get "really" sick. So don't go and have major work (cleanings)
with a sore throat. If you are talking of an upper tooth the sinus's can go deep down to the top of teeth.

Perhaps it's not you - it's the dds. They have an idea on feeling where the nerve is to block you - perhaps you could suggest gas - or go back when you feel better - now if this was an upper tooth I think you may have a sinus infection (go call your MD).

Every mouth is different - perhaps the anesthetic he used was expired? Just a few various things -