My Mom needs a couple of teeth removed. Her communication is severely limited, Novocaine, or Anesthesia?

A dentist and dental hygienist are taught to ask for a thorough medical history and list of medications to know if a medical consult is needed with the person's doctor. We are taught to handle all types of patients. And yes, certain patients are not candidates for nitrous oxide. This was just an option I mentioned. Oral surgeons receive lots of training in IV sedation. This is not the same as general anesthesia which is done by an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist. IV sedation has been done for a very long time by O. surgeons. . It was used on me when I was 23 for wisdom teeth extractions 40 years ago. The dentist who does the extractions should be able to determine from meeting the patient and doing a medical review how best to treat the patient. Be there when they discuss the treatment so you can have questions and concerns answered. For those that said nitrous didn't work on them, that can be true. It is not always going to work and there's a whole list of reasons for that, but I won't go into because that's not the persons question. I hope this is helpful and relieves any anxiety. Once again IV sedation is not a general anesthetic. Also we are taught not to wave the needle around in front of your face. :)

Thanks to all you. It is very helpful to get advice from folks who work in the field and the folks who are the caretakers.

In response to a previous comment about using an oral surgeon rather than a general dentist... I'd have to say that depends on the particular dentist and/or the prior relationship of the patient to that dentist or the caregiver. I had my own dentist extract a number of teeth, and due to previous experiences, trust him more than "specialist" oral surgeons... He is knowledgeable in a number of modern procedures and has a more "personal" and compassionate approach than some of the very busy and sometimes disconnected specialists can be. JMO...

Disregard the general. A good oral surgeon will evaluate the patient's condition, and use a good local, as suggested by Harpcat. Stay away from Versed, which was used as an anti-anxiety pre-op. No need for meds that will affect memory.

All of the above are good answers. Do you know your mom's general pain tolerance? I have an extremely low tolerance. A number of years ago while attempting to get a root canal, they used nitrous oxide gas (my 1st experience with it) and likely local anesthetic but I can't say for sure. The gas did NOTHING whatsoever even though it was supposedly at the highest allowable dosage. I literally grabbed the dentist (he was more than that, but I cant remember the title). Turns out the whole thing was a wash and had to be surgically removed while putting me under. Perhaps the pain level was due to the fact it was beyond a root canal. In contrast, my mom had a kidney stone we didn't know about until it became abscessed which then became septic because she didn't indicate she was in pain. How crazy is that? I've never had one but I hear they are extremely painful.

My point is, please be mindful of your mom's pain tolerance and convey that to all doctors, etc. involved to make it a good experience.

Hobbesmom...when a tooth has an abscess it is often impossible for local anesthesia to numb it due to the infection. Hence why we should try not to let it get to that point. Sometimes fear and anxiety prevents people from breathing the nitrous oxygen mixture deeply enough. Too shallow breathing coupled with mouth open for the procedure prevents good sedation.

Hi Harpcat, thanks for the info! It's not just a tooth issue for me, however. Every few years I get a severe muscle spasm in my middle back. Vicodin doesn't even touch it. A shot of dilaudid (sp?) is required as well as flexeril. My overall point was that some people have higher or lower tolerances for pain and that should be considered.