Dental implants can make a smile look fabulous – I know I have them. However, if you are just thinking about getting them, you may have a lot of questions. You may be wondering how smoking affects implants, whether or not wine will stain them, if they can be whitened or other concerns. I also know from experience that it can be intimidating to ask some of these questions to your dentist. In my dental implant blog, I am going to answer the questions that can be hard to ask. I hope you find the info you need in this blog and that it guides you to the right decision about dental implants. Thanks for reading!
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3 Common Questions About Dental Anesthesia
Isobel Berry
The use of dental anesthesia has been part of conventional dental practice for a long time. Dental anesthetics are administered to patients before commencement of the dental procedure. Administration of anesthetics is done with the aim of making anxious patients relax.
Patients who have never had an experience with dental anesthesia are bound to have a myriad of questions about this dental practice. Below are answers to three among the many questions for the benefit of first-time patients.
What Is The Difference Between Local And General Anesthesia?
There are two main types of dental anesthesia that are often confusing for a large number of patients. These are general anesthesia and local anesthesia.
Under local anesthesia, the drugs administered numb the mouth area that is to be worked on such that the patient is able to enjoy a painless dental procedure. Local anesthesia allows a patient the opportunity to remain conscious throughout the dental procedure.
On the other side of the coin, drugs used for general anesthesia have a sedative effect on the patient and patients often lose their consciousness until the dental procedure is complete. Consequently, general anesthesia is the preferred choice for patients with a serious case of dental anxiety.
What Are Topical Anesthetics?
Topical anesthetics are used for local anesthesia. The objective for using topical anesthetics is that they help to reduce the discomfort caused by injections during a dental procedure. Topical anesthetics are used to make the surface of the gum numb in preparation for the injection of the local anesthetic. The main difference between topical anesthetics and other local anesthetics is that these anesthetics are applied on the surface of the gum as opposed to being injected into the gum.
As a result, topical anesthetics don't provide anesthesia for adjacent teeth and other bony structures.
What Are The Possible Negative Side Effects Of Dental Anesthesia?
As is to be expected, the use of dental anesthesia is associated with a number of possible negative side effects. It is important to point out that a large number of these side effects are not common. However, this does not rule out the possibility of their occurrence.
The inability to blink one eye after the anesthetics wear off is a common side effect. Dentists will shut the affected eye by taping it until it stops being numb.
Patients may also suffer hematoma, which is the occurrence of a blood-filled swelling should the needle used for injection strike one of their blood vessels.
Patients may also experience a steady increase in their heartbeat after the dental procedure. This happens as a result of the chemical composition of drugs used for anesthesia. In a large number of cases, this should not be a reason to worry. However, if the problem persists, patients should not hesitate to visit the dental practitioner for follow up.
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