Numbing tooth in lower jaw problems

[Chrissie76]

I have problems with numbing tooth in lower jaw and am waiting for an extraction on the NHS under GA When I saw a consultant he said it was always possible to get numb with a local anasthetic but I am not imagining this,  it is really painful. He has put me to the bottom of the list as he feels my dentist could have removed the tooth under a local. Is it because I have some complicated nerve pathway ? My daughter just went to the same dentist and had a small filling on her upper molar but even after 4 injections he could not numb her lower tooth to file it for filling with sealant. I have now been waiting for 5 months with no end in sight and dentist advised to wait as he didn't think there was any point in trying again as I was traumatised by the original experience.Could it be hereditary ?
,

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

That's a tough question to answer.  I would say that the dentist should have quite a few techniques and different types of anesthetics that they could attempt to use to "numb" the area.  But I can't specifically say what he/she has since I'm not there to observe.  

That's unfortunate you're not able to switch dentists.  There's no process to find another dentist at all within the NHS system?  I'm assuming the NHS system is based in Great Britain?  Sorry, I'm a US based dentist and not as familiar with the health care systems elsewhere.

[Chrissie76]

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. I cannot change dentist under NHS but can go privately but cannot afford this at present.
I did take a course of ameobic anitbiotics the strong ones before treatment in case it was infection under this tooth but it didn't make any difference. Before I was never afraid at a dentist but I have had trouble with this tooth in my lower jaw since I had a deep filling before the crown. I have read on these forums that some people have the lower nerve sitting near the bone and it can be difficult to numb it unless the dentist can use an advanced technique to inject anasthetic where the jaw meets. But would my dentist not be aware of this ??

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

There are three elements that contribute to each other for your stress of dental treatment.  Its anxiety, fear and pain.  Any increase of one will increase the other.  It could be you are overly anxious or have great fear that it increases your sensitivity to pain.  

Sometimes you can have what we term a "hot" tooth.  It is a tooth that can't get numb but that's usually due to severe infection.  Usually a course of anti-inflammatories and antibiotics will calm it down and the procedure can be performed at a later date.

Since your original dentist can't get you numb, have you considered possibly going to another dentist?