Dental Implant Anesthetics

Video Transcript

"Patients are always concerned, "Is it going to hurt?" Bottom line is once your numb it wont hurt. But then how do we numb the patient. We don't do IV sedation, we don't do general anesthetic, we don't even do block where we numb all the nerves. And then we basically do local anesthetics. Where we numb only the area that we're going to be working on and that's it. And so the hardest part is really getting numb because you know the pinching of the needle and then surely that little pressure, is by far I think is the most difficult part for the patient. But there after the procedure itself is pretty straight forward and then the patient doesn't really don't think too much about that. But its the initial cringe of the numbing. We don't do a block. We don't do a general. And the whole reason is that I want the main nerve to be awake and alive. I always tell my patients this is team work. And the whole reason is, I can measure exactly to where it's supposed to be. Look at the x-ray; look at the skin, so I know where the nerves are. But you know something, those pictures, that information can never be one hundred percent. With the hundred percent is the patient's own ability to judge if we're close to the nerve or not. And that's why the main nerve is never numb, and then when we do go through the drilling sequence. We do it slowly, we do it where it's supposed to be and then we look at the patient's response. Because if you come close to the nerve, you don't have to hit the nerve, you just have to come close to the nerve a certain amount of millimeters, the patient will feel something different. And that's what we base upon, using the patients to tell us. And once we do a complete block or the patient's under IV sedation, they're not going to be able to know where we're at. And basically even though we measured correctly you're still kind of guessing going in there. So, we don't like guessing, we like to be exact. So everything is done under local anesthetic, not a block. It's strictly numbing the area where we're going to be working on and that's it. And the patient basically knows what we're doing. They're wide awake. And you know when you place a single implant, it basically should be about five to ten minutes and you're done. So it's a very fast procedure, not difficult unless you're placing molar poles or your doing some type of augmentation in those areas. But, otherwise it's a straight forward technique. And this technique, allowing the patient to be part of the surgery, I think is critical in the success of placing the implants."