Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Hopeful

Well, after yesterday afternoon's advil wore off, there hasn't been any additional pain. Hopefully it was just the whole fitting process bugging that nerve a little. The fact that I got through 2, 75-minute classes without pain is a good sign. The gum is a little sore where I took the Novocaine shot, but that's ALWAYS the case after dental work for me.

And a weird thing - I said to the dentist that after the novocaine shots, my soft palate felt numb, almost like I couldn't swallow right, and when I was tipped back I'd get the sort of panicky feeling like it was closing off (maybe that's like what people with sleep apnea experience?). He said that 'wasn't normal' but didn't seem to want to discuss any further.

I wonder how they "set" the novocaine doses. Is it the same for everyone, or do they kind of size someone up and go, well, she's 5' 7" and weighs 160 if she weighs an ounce, so we better give her more? I'm so sensitive to so many medications that I wonder if maybe I'm getting a bigger dose of the crap than I need. But I tend to be too compliant and too apprehensive to want to approach my dentist about it. I'm just fearful that if I had to have prolonged work, I really would get like sleep apneac and have a hard time breathing....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Novocaine is a local, so I don't think it should be dependent on weight or body size. But some people are very sensitive even to locals.