How does this work? If you need a drill & fill, and they use nitrous oxide, is an injection of novacaine unnecessary? (Obviously, I’ve never had any dental work done).
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. When I was a kid I hated needles and would get fillings on just nitrous. However it doesn’t really kill the pain, just tends to make you relax and “go with the flow.” Lately the only time I’ve used nitrous was when I was very anxious going into a root canal. Modern needles are much finer, and the modern anasthetic solution (I think it’s actually somethingelse-caine) doesn’t sting as much, so I’ve gotten pretty good about the shots. I am very sensistive to pain, and have needed as many as three shots for a back molar.
I had good dental habits instilled in me, it’s just that I am very phobic of the dentist (try to imagine how you’d feel if every time you went, you needed a filling). I once went more than 5 years between check ups, which is not a Good Idea for someone with my history. The cleaning alone took 2 visits… they took “before” and “after” pictures!
Actually, I’m pretty sure that nitrous is indeed an anaesthetic, in addition to its psychoactive relaxing properties. I know that I’ve certainly felt a certain degree of numbing from it (before being given the shot. In the past I’ve usually gotten both).
No doubt that some dentists use it primarily for the relaxing effects. When I had my wisdom teeth removed (a somewhat major operation since I had an extra tooth growing sorta sideways under the gums; looked pretty cool in the x-ray) I was put out for the actually operation but given nitrous to ease my way to total sedation. It was really unnecessary, but I quite enjoyed it.
At first I thought that said “total seduction,” and I wondered what the hell kind of dentist you were going to!
I said in another thread how my dentist puts numbing topical solution on the spot where he’s going to inject the novocaine, AND I get nitrous. I am a baby and make no bones about it, and he and his assistant don’t mind at all. I think I’m like an extra kid to my dentist, lol.
After all these years, I still don’t floss. I own floss, but I can’t make myself use it.
Nitrous makes me not care, but I still can feel what’s going on. The beauty of the nitrous is that I don’t care about the anesthetic, which is the part of the process that scares me the most. Once I’m numb, I’m not great, but I’m okay. It’s the needles that scare me. I’m also not fond of the pointy things they use during a cleaning when they’re looking for cavities.
I’d get it looked at somehow ASAP if I were you, though. Pain is a marvelous motivator.