How To Help Your Numbing Wear Off Faster After Dental Work

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One part of dentistry you might not care for a lot is the numbness you feel in your mouth after getting a dental procedure completed. This feeling can make it hard for you to talk, eat, or drink anything, and it just feels awkward. If you do not like this feeling at all, there might be some things you can do that will help this sensation wear off longer.

Why You Feel This

The first thing to understand is why you feel this numbness. Dental work can be painful and uncomfortable to go through, and that is why dentists use numbing medication prior to procedures. The most commonly used form of anesthesia for dental work in Novocaine, and dentists have been using this for a very long time to numb mouths of patients. When this is used, you do not feel the pain from the work the dentist does, and the numbness will often last for one to two hours after the procedure is complete.

The actual length of time the numbness lasts depends on the numerous factors, though, which include the type of anesthesia used, the location of the oral problem, and the severity of the problem. Fixing a minor problem with a tooth might not require as much medication as would be needed to fix a major problem, such as a root canal.

Rubbing the Area Can Help It Wear Off

If you want to help the numbness wear off faster, you could start massaging the area that is numb. When you do this, be very careful not to put too much pressure on the area, as you could disrupt the work the dentist just completed. Rubbing it, though, can help the medication leave the area and spread throughout the body. As this happens, the numbness can begin to wear off.

Walking Around May Also Help

Another option that can help is to get up and move around. When you move around, you can help the medication work out of the area it is in, and this helps it get into the bloodstream to travel to other parts of the body. This can also help it wear off faster.

Waiting Patiently Is the Best Solution

The best thing you can do after getting dental work is to just wait patiently. The numbing agent will slowly work its way out of your body, and you will eventually feel normal again. If you have questions about this or other dental-related issues, talk to a family dentist today.


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