My sister was saying about 40 years ago that her gums/teeth hurt for days after having teeth cleaned. I commented that sometimes mine did, too. However, I thought I had found the reason.
During PMS if I had my teeth cleaned, it hurt, and continued to hurt for a couple of days. Okay, maybe it went from pain to sensitivity. At any other time of the month, I had minimal or no problems. This had been my observation, but she said she would get appointments with this in mind.
After using the same dentist for about twenty years and dreading the throb-inducing pain shot to numb my gums, I found out what caused the pain. My new dentist gave me the shots for pain and I did not feel anything beyond the initial needle stick.
When I commented about the lack of pain, he explained it to me. When the person administering the injection pushes the med quickly into gum or skin, there is pain. This new dentist has never caused me a bit of pain.
I am not talking about the speed of pushing the needle into the skin. Fast is best there. Pushing the med into gum or skin slowly is what I am talking about.
Your turn
Have you ever noticed a correlation between how fast the med is pushed into the skin and how bad it hurts? Have you noticed the correlation between PMS and having teeth cleaned?
No, but I always need an extra shot of it or I can still feel the pain when they start work. Some never wanted to believe me when I'd tell them beforehand, but my last dentist was good about it and I never had any problems.
ReplyDeleteMy last two dentists listened to me when I told them up front that it took a lot to numb me. Of course, I have only had two dentists since 1977. Thank goodness for that!
DeleteYou have hit a nerve here. MS is giving me issues with my mouth at the moment. I have severe toothache in two teeth. Two trips to the dentist - and there is nothing wrong. It is misfiring synapses and I just have to wait for it to stop.
ReplyDeleteAnd dental anaesthesia doesn't seem to work for me. After three shots when I could still feel pain last time I had work done we just agreed that I should 'grit my teeth and bear it'. Our dentist rubs a numbing gel on the gum before she does the injection - which my partner tells me works.
EC,
DeleteSo, there is no cause for the tooth pain? No cavities? You poor thing! A toothache is just the worse ache! Would putting you to sleep be okay. I never knew MS could cause these kinds of problems. Hopefully, you can get some relief. Thanks for sharing that.
There is no cause for the pain. She has checked, rechecked and x-rayed. Sometimes I would love to be put to sleep. Permanently.
DeleteEC,
DeleteI was referred to a dentist for a root canal. He pecked on the tooth and it hurt. He pecked on the one next to it and it did not hurt. He really thought the pain was from the one that did not hurt. ???
He did the root canal on the one I said hurt when he pecked. Well, it kept hurting and it still hurts 25 years afterward! I hear you on the sleep.
"Grit your teeth and bear it???!!!" That's barbaric. I can't believe a dentist would suggest that. That's how bad patients are made. They should have other things they can give you. Mine even has laughing gas.
DeleteThat said, I dislike going to the dentist.
The thing I dislike the most is the sound and feel of getting my teeth cleaned. Novacaine shots don't bother me, but I always require more shots than they predict.
Meg,
DeleteYes, give me something to stop the pain. Actually, I did tell the dentist to fill a tooth and I would just bear it. I had to have filling applied to the outside of a tooth where there was no cavity. I was just brushing it away and it was going to break off.
I have never head of a correlation between PMS and dental pain, but this makes sense viz. most matters are heightened during PMS times, so why not dental sensitivity?
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I made the connection, but it was real. Once I figured that out, I never had pain from tooth cleaning. I have passed this information along to many women friends who agree that sometimes the pain is intolerable and other times there is no pain.
Delete