Many times a new patient will come to the office and start filling out our medical questionnaire and half way through get angry and flustered. They then come to the front desk and ask: What do all these questions have to do with my teeth?
Well that is really a great question and the answer goes something like this.
Most people will never have a problem in the dental office but we in the dental office have to be prepared in case of emergency and we have to make sure that we don't do anything that will cause a medical emergency in the dental office. This starts with a thorough medical history of our patients. We want to know that our patients are not allergic to any antibiotic that we may need to give them, we want to know that they have not had a bad reaction to the local anaethetic that we need to put the tooth to sleep. We need to know that our patients are not allergic to our gloves etc. We want to know if our patients are taking any medications for an underlying condition as our anaethetics could react adversely with those medications or a medication that we may prescribe could act adversely with a medication that they are taking. We want to know if they have an underlying condition so that we can determine if they are suitable for treatment in a dental office or may require referral for treatment in a hospital setting. We would want to know regarding underlying conditions so that in case of emergency we are better suited to help them. The different possibilities are endless but knowing as much as possible about our patients medical history will help us avoid any unfortold medical emergencies and if they arise will help us better deal with them. In our office we take blood pressure readings for all new patients and at recall appointments for our existing patients. 15% of the population walks around with undiagnosed hypertension and we have literally come across a number of those patients. Incidentally we have had patients whose family phycicians have told them that their dentist saved their life. We also take blood glucose for our diabetic patients to see how controlled their diabetes is. The examples and their importance are endless. I hope you got the picture!
What do all these questions have to do with your teeth? They have so much to do with your teeth and your overall well being! Thit is a great question, thank you for asking so we could have the opportunity to explain this to you!
All the best
Dr. Ron Barzilay
having fun doing dentistry in Hamilton Ontario
follow my blog
www.rondentist.com
Showing posts with label Local anaesthetic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Local anaesthetic. Show all posts
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Post injection numbness
A patient recently came into the office and relayed the following story concerning a friend of hers.
She said that a friend of hers had been to the dentist recently and following the appointment had numbness in her jaw that was quite painful. The story she told and I now relay was that during the injection the patient felt a stinging pain. After the appointment the patient remained numb in her jaw and the feeling was a painful feeling. She went to speak to her dentist who said that perhaps the needle broke at the site of the injection and was now stuck inside or perhaps something else happenned. My patient asked me what do I think?
I first keep in mind that as usual, who knows what the actual story really is. Remember, we all played broken telephone when we were kids and we know how that turned out.
I told my patient that I did not beleive that there was a broken needle inside unless he specifically told her that there was. We know the lengths of the needles and if something breaks, we will know it. Besides, we can always take a radiograph that will show us right away any broken metal objects.
I told the patient that numbness after an injection can happen due to the injection or injection material. The injection could have actually hit the nerve or the local anaesthic could be somehow toxic to the nerve etc. In most cases this numbness is temporary but in a very small number of cases it can be permanent.
I asked her how long her friend had the numbness? She answered, "about 8 months." This was not good, I told her that temporary numbness does generally not last that long.
If this does happen let your dentist know and he can tell you what the prognosis is and if there is anything that can be done.
All the best
Dr. Ron Barzilay
Enjoying Dentistry in HAMILTON ONTARIO
www.rondentist.com
She said that a friend of hers had been to the dentist recently and following the appointment had numbness in her jaw that was quite painful. The story she told and I now relay was that during the injection the patient felt a stinging pain. After the appointment the patient remained numb in her jaw and the feeling was a painful feeling. She went to speak to her dentist who said that perhaps the needle broke at the site of the injection and was now stuck inside or perhaps something else happenned. My patient asked me what do I think?
I first keep in mind that as usual, who knows what the actual story really is. Remember, we all played broken telephone when we were kids and we know how that turned out.
I told my patient that I did not beleive that there was a broken needle inside unless he specifically told her that there was. We know the lengths of the needles and if something breaks, we will know it. Besides, we can always take a radiograph that will show us right away any broken metal objects.
I told the patient that numbness after an injection can happen due to the injection or injection material. The injection could have actually hit the nerve or the local anaesthic could be somehow toxic to the nerve etc. In most cases this numbness is temporary but in a very small number of cases it can be permanent.
I asked her how long her friend had the numbness? She answered, "about 8 months." This was not good, I told her that temporary numbness does generally not last that long.
If this does happen let your dentist know and he can tell you what the prognosis is and if there is anything that can be done.
All the best
Dr. Ron Barzilay
Enjoying Dentistry in HAMILTON ONTARIO
www.rondentist.com
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