How do you control pain? | Dental Treatment Guide


Research and surveys show that the main reason people avoid seeing the dentist is because of pain. Even people who see the dentist regularly say that pain is an issue. Throughout the years, dentists have developed several medications and techniques that are used to treat pain. These medications can reduce pain in most procedures

  • topical anaesthetics. These are applied using a Q-tip. These anaesthetics are used to numb an area prior to an injection
  • laser drills. They have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. They cause less pain than the mechanical methods and are used for fillings
  • electronic anaesthesia. This can be used as a substitute for uncomfortable injections of local anaesthetic. Dentists will put electrodes on your cheeks and a numbing electrical current is transmitted into the jaw. Some patients say that the electronic anaesthesia is more effective than the other anaesthesias
  • cranial electrotherapy stimulation. This is a form of electronic anaesthesia where electricity is passed through the brain in order to make you feel relaxed or heavy. You will control the current’s intensity in order to control the pain
  • nitrous oxide or laughing gas. This is one of the most common forms of controlling pain at the dentist’s office. The gas will make you feel relaxed and may even make you feel euphoric. When the gas is turned off, the effects wear off very quickly. Nitrous oxide is used as a supplement to other drugs and is not used as a total replacement to manage pain
  • electronic anaesthesia delivery systems. Several people are afraid of the injections of anaesthesia in dental treatments. The cause of pain is not the injection itself but the fluid that enters the body. Electronic delivery systems can manage the flow of the anaesthetic so that it finds the most comfortable way of injecting anaesthesia into the body
  • intravenous sedation. This technique is normally used for patients going through extensive dental procedures. Sometimes it can be used if patients who are anxious to go through dental treatment. A tranquilizer will be injected into your vein and you will end up deeply relaxed but still awake
  • general anaesthesia. This means that you will be asleep for the whole treatment. Sometimes, your dentist will have the equipment and the staff to perform general anaesthesia on you. This is often done at hospitals because some serious side effects may happen. Some of these are drops in blood pressure, heart irregularities, or arrhythmias. Due to these complications, general anaesthesia should only be used when other forms of pain control and sedation do not suffice

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