Re: Response to article on Pain-Free Dentistry - Parshas
Truma
Like Rina Feld, my childhood experiences at the dentist were
less than pleasant. Like her, I want pain-free dentistry. I
have found a dentist who fulfils this promise: Dr. Solly
Bergman in Herzliya Pituach, and this is where I go even
though it involves two bus rides.
There are just a few details I would like to add to the
article because the knowledge that I gained during these last
few months can help everyone. The simple fact is that the
only difference between a painful treatment and a painless
one is the judicious application by the dentist of that
commodity called patience.
All my previous dental appointments involved the following
procedures. First there was a numbing gel, then a painful
injection, then painful drilling and finally, for hours after
leaving the dentist, total annoying numbness, making speech
an embarrassing performance.
Now the procedure involves the same materials, the same gel,
the same injections. The difference is in the timing of the
dentist, in the patience he applies, waiting for the correct
time to commence each step.
The gel is the first step, but, this dentist waits for about
four minutes, giving the gel optimum time to work. Four
minutes is a long time to sit and wait when there is a
crowded waiting room, but he sits and talks and waits. Then
he injects a small amount of the novocaine injection, with a
fine needle and because that area is already numb from the
gel this is hardly more than a slight prick. Then he waits
again, asking after about five minutes if the area feels
numb. Then he injects a larger dose of novocaine into an area
now so well numbed that the injection is not felt at all.
Another wait ensues to make sure that the last injection has
taken effect and only then does the drilling begin. Because I
had been too afraid to visit a dentist for some time, there
was a lot of this to do and through all the drilling and the
root canal treatments I felt no pain.
While lying back and letting him work, I realized that he had
spent an extra ten minutes at the beginning, waiting for each
stage, and this had led to my being free of pain. Afterwards
I discussed this with him. He was surprised. He thought that
everyone followed the procedure he used. There was nothing
unknown or revolutionary about it.
However, the article I read in Yated and my
discussions with a wide variety of people of all ages lead me
to think that the standard procedure is quite different.
My memories are of the gel being rubbed on and immediately
after this, a large painful injection. This is then followed
by immediate painful drilling and after that, as soon as the
outside world emerges again, the injection begins to take
effect.
The other scenario is an instruction to wait outside while
another patient is seen. "Please wait to allow the injection
to take effect," you are told. By the time the patient leaves
and you enter, the anaesthesia has totally worn off and the
pain of the drilling makes the added pain of the earlier
injections an ordeal that is long remembered.
So the answer is really quite simple. Take control on your
next visit to the dentist. Tell him right at the beginning
that you don't want him to use the injection until you tell
him that the numbing gel has taken effect. Tell him that you
want the first injection to be a small amount given with a
fine needle and that the full amount can be given once you
tell him that your mouth feels numb. Allow him to start
drilling only when you are satisfied that the last injection
has taken effect.
After all, the only difference between painful and painless
dentistry is a few minutes, so why suffer unnecessarily?
The author replies:
Thanks for showing this to me. It's always nice when an
article draws a response. This one is well written, too. I
understand what this writer means, because I also had a
dentist years ago who worked "patiently." However, for people
who are more sensitive, there is no comparison between
"patient" dentistry and "pain-free" dentistry. Why not open
up the subject to readers? Let's find out what the public
experience is.
