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Today, I would like to write about a revolutionary technique in dentistry called STA (single tooth anesthesia) It is quite simply the best technique to "numb" a tooth without the prolonged profound/annoying collateral numbness of the tongue and lips. Majority of the patients who have the experience with this technique report feeling 0.5 or 2 on a scale of 1(no discomfort) to 10(horrible pain)
The technology is brilliant: One, it is delivered via a pen-like device rather than those old bulky and large metallic dental syringes(definitely less threatening!) Two, the anesthetic is delivered much like dripping liquid with an eyedropper.
You may ask why is that important, doctor!
My response is, "Well, I am glad you asked!"
Here is the simple explanation:
What hurts is NOT the needle, let me repeat IT'S NOT THE NEEDLE! With proper technique and use of topical anesthetics most patients don't even notice the needle. But, it has all to do with how fast the anesthetic liquid enters the site where it is administered. The faster it is given the more liquid builds up inside the tissues and the pressure causes pain and yes, it hurts hence feeling like a "SHOT"! If I had a dime for every time a patient or even Doctors used that awful word "SHOT"... I'd be a millionaire and I would donate it all to a society to help make patients more comfortable! back to the explanation: the STA drips the anesthetic onto the site at such a slow rate that it goes below the radar, below the threshold at which patients feel pain. Also , it is administered directly onto the side of the tooth needing treatment(close to where floss usually goes in between the teeth) so just that tooth is anesthetized and the onset is almost instantaneous which means no waiting for it to work and more importantly no droopy lip.
Now, this technique may not be suitable for patients who require treatments on multiple teeth and require much longer appointments since the anesthesia with STA lasts about an hour but it is a wonderful adjunct in cases where the conventional technique is used and profound anesthesia is still not achieved ( in cases of very painful teeth with deep cavities, etc.)
Also, in a very small percentage of cases the duration of anesthesia is less and that is purely dependent on the individual since after all w are administering a drug... and drugs affect different people differently.
Local anesthetics are not the tastiest materials in dentistry so once in a while if a drop or two of this anesthetics gets on the tongue it can be annoying but the benefits always outweigh the minor nuisance, looking at the big picture!
I hope this has been informative. You may check out our Youtube channel to hear from one of our wonderful patients who had some work done recently using this technique. Needless to say that she was happy and smiling after wards. And, I can say that truly seeing that smile made our day!
"We're not just creating smiles, we're building friendships WITH a smile!" TM
