Are self-installable dental electric nerve blocks on the horizon, at all?

November 13, 2008 2:39 PM

Would it be very plausible to hope that a consumer-good electric(al) nerve block be developed for dental/oral surgery pain management? Soon?

I will likely be having lots of dental work in my future, unless I can somehow discover a drastically inexpensive way to skip right to dentures.

In the meantime and less pricey time, I'd ideally like a consumer-implementable electric(al) nerve block that I could install myself when needed, because getting the chem-shot is almost as bad as the toothache itself, so much that I've had my last umpteen fillings bored and filled without any shots and going purely off nitrous and goa-trance.

The pain-to-the-point-of-insanity I feel when injected with whatsit-caine nerve block meds into the gum is absurdly fearsome, but I'll overlikely be needing a number of root canals later in my years -- and it seems like an electric/electrical nerve block would be the answer, but to get a dentist to buy one and use it would take decades rather than me just bringing one in and using it myself.

Would you suppose the installation of electric(al) nerve block is too delicate or sensitive (pun, yes) of a procedure for standard consumers to implement, or could a rudimental version be contrived that essentially accomplishes the goal without needing to know advanced bio-science?

posted by Quarter Pincher to health & fitness (6 comments total)

Not to change the subject, but have you considered a general anesthetic?
posted by jon1270 at 2:50 PM on November 13, 2008

To perhaps give you better advice than simply telling you that, no, it's not very likely that an electrical nerve block could be developed, refined and deployed with that level of sensitivity any time before your upcoming surgeries, I can tell you a couple of things that may help.

First off, you can be put under for root canals. I chose not to because I hate the IV burn, but my dentist offered it as an option.

Second off, a good dentist can first rub a topical anesthetic, then inject the Novocaine (or equivalent) near to the nerve without you feeling it. I realize that this isn't necessarily a common experience, but my old dentist, Dr. Donaldson in Ann Arbor, was great at it. If you're regularly feeling that much pain, you may need a new dentist. I'm certainly contemplating it after the most recent crown experience with the hacks at LA Dental Group.

Third, you can always ask for more anesthetic. I'm a big guy, and have a high tolerance for pain killers (seriously, I regularly had to get triple doses just to numb up). If it still hurts, tell your dentist. Generally, it doesn't personally cost them anything to give you more shots, and there's no reason for you to suffer.

Fourth, it sounds like you're someone who has been putting off going to the dentist for a while. I know exactly how you feel—that's what got me my root canal. I find that being pretty frank about my feelings ("I hate getting my teeth worked on. I gag a lot, I hurt, and I bleed. Dope me the fuck up before you even start thinking about going in.") helps a lot, because a lot of dentists go with the (rational) belief that most people would prefer to be doped as little as possible, due to medical risks and dental stoicism. As I subscribe to a different philosophy, generally, I let them know.
posted by klangklangston at 2:52 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

Getting put under with an IV and such is, for my area, generally too expensive to consider -- in the $1k-per visit range, for oral surgery. I had to have a tooth pulled in high shool (~15 years ago) via this method and although I didn't mind the physical repercussions it was in the neighborhood of $1200, and I haven't given it a second though since then (although perhaps prices may have changed since then)..

My current dentist, Dr. Baird in Wichita Falls TX is an all-around awesome dentist and has a vastly superior chair-side manner than any I've been to -- but doesn't offer conk-out options, pretty much just needles and nitrous. I've talked to a few other dentists about why they don't more often investigate newer, alternate nerve-blocker methods and they've said that having to go through sales reps who are more interested in selling than offering real evidence, insurance costs that are obscenely high for new technology that may not even be good ideas in the first place, and such are very prohibitive than simply riding the tried-and-true needles/nitrous options that are plainly available.

I'm not at all timid about getting an IV (as I'd donated platelets for over a year and became fairly used to the process), but it's largely uninsured cost issues that make it very unlikely =/
posted by Quarter Pincher at 3:50 PM on November 13, 2008

Are you saying that the injection of the anesthetic itself is painful? That's a bit unusual; it's supposed to hurt a bit, but not tremendously. Seconding a request for topical anesthetic before the injection, or perhaps the dentist can give you the Novocaine after you're already on the nitrous?
posted by greatgefilte at 8:03 PM on November 13, 2008

A topical would eliminate the sensation of the initial pinprick, but the OP would still feel the sensation of the anesthetic liquid compressing the tissue under his skin and squeezing the very nerve it's trying to get to. (Which, for me, is what actually hurts.)

Nerve structure in the mouth varies from patient to patient to the extent that it's common for a procedure that works for one person doesn't work for you. Unfortunately, I don't think there's any way you can get around a shot. I wonder if it would be possible for your dentist to make the injection more slowly, though? If you're kicking off on a long series of dental treatments, then it is absolutely in your best interest that he fine-tune his procedures specifically for you.
posted by greenland at 8:35 PM on November 13, 2008

I think last remark there pretty much answers my question as "no" on the basis that mouth structure varies so greatly as to differ widely between individual patients, making the suggestion rather unfeasible to pursue without a lot of study done on varieties of mouth structures and such ^_^

The root canal in question that was projected in the original query was instead simply extracted under general -- being cheaper to simply remove it than to go RC and then require getting a crown, and possibly dealing with future situations on the same tooth again later down the line all over again. I'd rather have fewer teeth and augment my chewing methods than to have to deal with yet another troublesome tooth some years later. I suppose root canals therefore being a good example of a pyrrhic victory for me, then?
posted by Quarter Pincher at 8:04 AM on January 16