Categories: Sedation Dentist

Dental Operations That Require Numbing

Having a fairly invasive dental procedure done at the dentist can be a nerve-racking experience, but it may help calm your nerves to know which dental operations require numbing. While a minor procedure, such as a teeth cleaning or cavity filling, may not necessarily require any use of anesthetics, a more serious dental operation almost always requires numbing.

Dental operations that require numbing

While there are certainly more dental operations that require numbing, the following four procedures are the most common dental operations that require numbing. Therefore, if you plan to have one of these operations in the near future, you can sleep well knowing that you likely are not going to experience any pain at all during the procedure.

Dental implants

A dental implant - which involves a surgical component to the process - most certainly requires the use of numbing. Since anesthetics are used for the surgery, dental implant patients do not feel anything during the procedure.

However, there may be some pain in the aftermath of dental implant surgery due to the removal of the tooth and incision to the gums. With that said, the pain after surgery typically is not as serious as many patients expect it to be, and it is completely manageable with the use of painkillers and rest.

Root canals

A root canal - which is also known as endodontic therapy - involves drilling into an infected tooth, removing the harmful pulp inside and filling the tooth. Without the use of anesthetics, root canals would certainly be an unbearable experience for the patient.

Knowing this, root canals are another dental operation that require numbing in every instance, which means the patient does not feel anything at all during the procedure. While the pain in the aftermath is not as serious as it may be with a dental implant surgery, there may be some slight pain, and the patient may have to wait until the permanent crown is placed to begin eating certain foods.

Wisdom tooth removal

Having a tooth extracted is, for many, the most stressful reason to visit the dentist, especially when the tooth being extracted is a wisdom tooth, or in many cases multiple wisdom teeth. Fortunately, however, wisdom tooth removal is a dental operation that requires numbing, which is the case for almost any tooth extraction. This means that the patient does not feel a thing as they are given an anesthetic before the procedure begins.

With that said, patients who undergo the removal of a wisdom tooth often experience pain after the surgery.

Emergency dentistry

Lastly, any event that requires emergency dentistry, such as having a tooth knocked out during a sporting event or severe, sudden pain to a tooth that requires an immediate trip to the dentist almost always requires numbing.

In most cases, emergency dentistry requires a dental implant, dental bridge or the extraction of a tooth, which are all dental operations that require numbing, so the patient does not feel anything during emergency dentistry.