Tooth Trauma Guide

By: J. Shahangian, DDS, MS- San Diego Board Certified Pediatric Dentist Numbing Your Mouth I will use an anesthetic to numb your child’s mouth to pull out a tooth, or to take out a cavity. I will rub a cotton ball dipped in a “local anesthetic” on your child’s gums on the area where I

Medications

Some dental procedures, such as tooth extractions and oral surgery, may call for our office to prescribe medications before or after a procedure. These medications are used to prevent or fight an infection, or to relieve any post-operative discomfort and pain. For these reasons, it is extremely important that you share your entire medical history

Air Abrasion

Many people associate the high-pitched whirring of a dental drill with pain. Just the sound alone can make many people wince. A relatively new technique called air abrasion uses powerful particles of aluminum oxide to remove debris and decay. The most exciting thing for patients is that air abrasion is painless and, in some cases,

Anesthesia

Dentistry has advanced to the point in which pain is almost a thing of the past. Powerful pain-killing medications known as anesthetics not only help a patient avoid discomfort during a procedure, but post-operatively as well. Some patients, especially children, may require higher doses of anesthetic than others. Types of pain-killing medications include: Analgesics –

Managing Pain

There are many methods for relieving oral pain. They include: Ice packs on the affected area. Avoiding hard candy or ice. Avoiding sleeping on your stomach. Dentists use a wide array of pain management tools, including: Anesthetics such as Novocaine. Analgesics such as aspirin or ibuprofen. Sedatives, including a procedure known as “conscious sedation” or

Overview

Pain can occur in any number of places in your mouth: teeth, gums, roots, the palate, tongue and jaw. Cavities are a common culprit causing pain. Untreated cavities can impact nerves because of infections of the tooth and gums. Impacted and abscessed teeth and sore jaws from teeth grinding are other common causes of pain.

Numbing Your Mouth

The dentist uses special medicine called anesthetics to numb your mouth if you have a cavity taken out or a tooth pulled. The first thing the dentist does is place a small cotton swab dipped in medicine in your mouth, and rubs in the area he needs to operate on. This medicine is called a

Will It Hurt to Go to the Dentist?

Most of the time, it doesn’t hurt at all to go to the dentist. Visiting the dentist is not an unpleasant experience for most children. If you keep your teeth healthy by brushing and flossing every day, chances are better that you’ll only need to see the dentist to have them cleaned. Dentists today have