Novocaine doesent work?

You mean MS Contin and Hydromorphone? And Opioid tolerance has no relation to topical/subcu. anesthetics....although long term Opioid use can cause hyperalgesia (aka INCREASED pain) but hyperalgesia usually doesn't occur unless the dose of the opioid is stopped or reduced (similar to withdrawal). Some people don't respond to novocaine, procaine or lidocaine....wouldn't expect anyone but a clinical pharmacologist to know this since most docs other than PM docs don't look past the pharmaceutical label...drugs like Adderall and other amphetamines can render it less effective too and some people's bodies just don't respond. I know my dentist either has to load me up on the stuff or not at all. I usually don't need an anesthetic at the dentist though.

I'm not a doctor but I do have personal experience with all of the above. Seeing another dentist is advisable if your uncomfortable though. There are some dentists who will do twilight or even full sedation with a CRNA for even minor procedures, my friends dad is an oral surgeon and does everyones teeth haha.

That's still odd....I know people who are on extraordinary amounts of opioids a day fro Chronic pain have have no troubles with something like this. If possible see another Dentist if not then you need to tell him that makes no sense. Doctors do not know everything and sometimes like to "fill in" areas where they lack expertise with BS like this.

should I be concerned about them putting me out to pull the tooth? Like a drug reaction? when it comes to people who take a lot of pain meds most Dr's are clueless.

Iv been asking around and no one has heard of pain meds interfering with the way Novocaine works

Post Edited (IRON MAN) : 4/4/2012 1:53:28 PM (GMT-6)

Calling the new dentist a quack may be a bit unfair. It may have a lot to do with him being uncomfortable administering pain medication to people who are on narcotics.

If this is the case I think he should have said so, but doctors in any field are often taught not to show "weakness" in front of a patient.

As a final thought. MD's do not get a lot of training in med school when it comes to pain medications. How much training do you think a DDS probably gets?