Introduction
Many patients associate the visit to the dentist with the fear of pain. Of course, dental procedures such as extractions or other surgical treatments would not be possible without pain. The fear is unfounded, as the dentist has possibilities to perform his treatment without pain. Depending on the type of treatment and localization, different methods of pain elimination (anesthesia) are used.
Surface anaesthesia
Anesthesia of the mucosal surface is performed either with cold spray or a surface anesthetic. Only the upper layers of the skin are made insensitive, so that the puncture of the syringe is not felt, or for the opening of a purulent abscess, if anaesthesia with a syringe is not possible, as this allows the spread of germs. The surface anaesthesia is only of short duration and subsides in a short time.
Infiltration anaesthesia
Infiltration or local anesthesia is administered with an anesthetic solution by means of a syringe under the mucous membrane directly to the jawbone. The anaesthetic results in local anaesthesia of the injected tooth and its surroundings. The application areas for this type of pain avoidance are: Due to the slow degradation of the anaesthetic, the anaesthesia lasts for several hours. The decay of the effect is further prolonged by the addition of vascular-contracting additives, which also reduce the tendency to bleed.
- Tooth extractions
- Periodontological interventions
- Grinding of teeth to receive a crown
- Painless cavity preparation
- Removal of inflammatory pulps (vital extirpation)
- Implants
Anaesthesia
Local anesthesia cannot be used to eliminate pain in the mandible for the posterior region because the bone is too compact to allow the anesthetic solution to pass through. Here a conduction anesthesia is necessary. To switch off the nerve it is necessary to hit it at its entry point into the lower jaw.
This opening lies in the ascending branch of the lower jaw behind the last molars. For the dentist this type of anesthesia is much more difficult to perform. Since the nerve supplying the lower jaw is anaesthetized at its point of entry, the entire lower jaw of the affected side is thus switched off. The patient notices a feeling of numbness on the lower lip, because the nerve emerges from the bone in the area of the small molars.
