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Drake & Wallace Dentistry

Archives for December 2023

Sensitivity to Novocain

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I am about to have porcelain veneers placed. However, I’m worried about the numbing medication. I’m sensitive to any type of drug that can make my heart race. Last week, a friend of mine said that when they did the medicine for her porcelain veneers that her heart raced like crazy and her hands shook after they applied a topical agent with epinephrine in it. I am quite concerned about this and wonder if there is a way to avoid this.

Callie

Dear Callie,

Woman with nose piece for nitrous oxide

What your friend experienced was much more likely due to a form of dental anxiety. Not all mixtures of Novocain contains epinephrine, but even if hers did I do not think that is what caused her to shake. The epinephrine in the medication would be less than what her body would produce if she was anxious. Dental fear can not only ramp up your body’s response, but increases your metabolism which weakens the effectiveness of the numbing medication.

My suggestion would be for you to have your cosmetic dentist give you some nitrous oxide before your porcelain veneers procedure. This is a very mild form of sedative that will relax you enough to keep your body’s epinephrine response in check as well as lessen your sensitivity. You simply breathe in the nitrous oxide through a small nosepiece.

The benefit of this type of dental sedation is that you are able to get on with your day as normal. Once your procedure is completed, the dentist simply switches your nitrous to oxygen and in just a couple of minutes you are completely back to normal.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.

I Still Have Baby Teeth at 16

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Hi,

I was online looking for some imformation on do it yourself teeth whitening because a bunch of girls at school are doing it when I came across your blog. I learned a lot! I wonder if you can help me figure out something else? I have baby teeth still in my mouth and then adult teeth came in behind them. Those parts of my teeth look freaky. I had tried to pull one out myself, but it hurt like mad. Is there any way to fix this?

Danuta

Dear Danuta,

Girl smiling with braces

First, let me say I’m impressed that you are taking initiative to look these things up. I am curious as to whether or not your parents have been bringing you to a pediatric dentist. I realize that is hard for some families, especially in today’s economy. If you have been under the care of a dentist, you really need to switch dentists because he or she has caused very preventable problems for you.

The short answer is, yes, this can be fixed. Though, how that is accomplished depends on the specifics of the case. I don’t know which teeth specifically you are talking about. If you want to write again giving more details I can help with that. In the meantime, I’ll provide some general advice.

If all of your teeth are in, then it will be a matter of having those baby teeth extracted. After that, you will probably probably need some orthodontics. There are traditional braces that can help straighten those teeth, but there is also Invisalign which will allow you to straighten your teeth without anyone knowing you are wearing braces.

If you are missing some adult teeth, then the orthodontics will have to be planned in a way that makes space for a tooth replacement. There are many options for replacing teeth. I’d recommend you use a temporary replacement until your jaw is finished growing and developing and then you could get something more permanent, such as dental implants.

The key for you at this point is to get with a dentist who can help you.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.