What to Know About Dental Needles

To ensure their teeth and gums remain healthy, people need to keep up with regular trips to the dentist twice a year. However, there are cases where anxiety, specifically regarding dental injections, deters individuals from making that necessary appointment.

Whether it’s from bad past experiences or a general fear of all needles, dental phobia is a real concern for many people, and it may not be one with one simple solution. Luckily, if a dentist is made aware of his or her patient's anxiety regarding dental injections, then he or she can take extra precautions to pacify the patient, keeping potential uneasiness to a minimum.

Fear of Dental Injections

There are procedures – root canals, tooth extractions, and fillings – where, if the dentist didn’t numb the area through one or two injections of a local anesthetic, individuals would be in a lot of pain, thanks to nerves within the gums and teeth sending pain signals into the brain.

Regardless of the pain one would experience without an injection, it’s the possible discomfort or pain caused by dental needles themselves that patients remember, and the fear they experience as a result drives their concerns regarding dental visits. Injections can sometimes hurt, but it's often not the dental needle patients feel.

Dentists will often dry an injection site before applying a numbing gel and injecting the needle into the patient’s gum. While the anesthetic is being injected, there is a stinging sensation, which is likely what patients with dental phobia fear about injections.

Effects of Dental Injections

Dental injections are designed to numb entire sections in the mouth, such as the right upper jaw or something smaller, for several hours afterward. Patients might be unable to feel anything in the affected area or even smile until the anesthetic wears off, and dentists typically advise their patients to drink using a straw until then.

Preparing for Dental Injections

For patients who are feeling anxious about a dental injection, the best preparation for them is to let their dentist know, as he or she can clarify the available options and help patients feel they are in control. Some prefer not knowing the specifics of what will happen whereas others prefer knowing what they should expect for each stage. Patients can also choose a hand sign for when they need their dentist to stop briefly due to their discomfort level.

When dentists are aware of their patient’s anxiety, they can reduce the likelihood of an injection hurting, such as by chilling the anesthetic, which can make an injection slightly less painful. As well, if the vial with the anesthetic is warmed to body temperature, patients should feel no pain upon receiving the injection. Dentists can also do the following:

·Wait one or two minutes while the numbing gel takes effect before injecting.

·Use a narrower diameter needle—25, 27, or 30 gauge.

·Make sure the needle and holder are out of the patient’s line of sight.

·Slowly push in the needle.

·Inject a minor amount of anesthetic while pushing in the needle to start numbing the area it travels through.

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