How long does it take for novacaine to kick in?

I just had 3 wisdom teeth taken out and the dr injected it and within 2-3 mins (if that long) started ripping out my teeth. I screamed for him to wait for it to start working and he just said "its impossible for you to be feeling pain, you are just feeling pressure" when i have had other dental work done and novacaine has worked like a charm...after waiting about 20 mins for it to kick in of course....so am i crazy or did he just torture me on purpose?

How long does it take for novacaine to kick in?
In all honesty... It varies, around the mouth. On a norm though, about 5 minutes. If it hasnt kicked in by then, then your doctor should have given you more. As standard 'numbing' care, our doctors always give 2 injections, with a 5-10 minute waiting period in between the 2 injections. *If your still not numb, they can give you more..and they usually do, if you tell them your still feeling it.





And frankly, i cant believe he only gave you one inject to remove wisdom teeth, of all teeth!!! I believe ya girl... i think you felt it, theres no doubt about it! I've never seen a doctor, remove wisdom teeth with only one injection, sheesh!!!





I'm so sorry, for your bad experience. It's reasons like that, Dental Offices are ranked so badly in patients eyes. Your visit should NOT have been that unpleasant.





*On another note... We dont use 'Novocaine' anymore. The reason being, it didnt have a long lasting effect. Most offices nowadays use 'Lidocaine'.... and tons others (depends on the procedure, and how long they need you numb in order to do that procedure). Either way, i doubt they used 'Novo'...
Reply:Usually 2-3 minutes.
Reply:my doc usually waits at least five to ten minutes. it does work pretty quick usually though
Reply:It takes about 3 minutes. I have found if you think about they are doing then you might think you feel the pain.
Reply:If it take 20 minutes for novocaine to take effect for you then they need to inject more novocaine. You need to warn the dentist next time you need work done that novocaine does not work well for you so they can look at other options like giving you more novocaine or scheduling your appointment different to allow time for the novocaine to take effect. The dentist obviously didn't believe that you are one of those people that novocaine doesn't work well for.
Reply:If you had different reactions with Novocaine than with that current doctor you had, I'd question it. You shouldn't feel anything at all (not even pressure) with Novocaine. Most dental offices water down Novocaine for whatever the reason. If that's the case, I'd question the department that runs the dental office because the office has no right to be watering down medication.





Good luck!
Reply:he thought the stuff was working =he should have stuck the needle in a wee bit and asked you if you could feel it=most people only take 2or 3 minutes for the freezing to work =you must be the 10 % of people who take awhile longer=you are not crazy and he is not mean=there was a lack of communication there
Reply:it really should start working withing 2-3 mins...5 mins max, so he was justified in starting the extractions when he did. You need to make sure you're not mistaking pressure for pain, but if you have a history of the anaesthetic taking a longer time to have its effect then you need to inform your dentist before starting any other dental procedures
Reply:99.98% of the time,novacaine starts to work within about 2-3 minutes if not sooner.


If you were able to sit while the Dr pulled 3 widom teeth,you WERE only feeling the pressure.(Meep is wrong and apparently has never had any serious dental work.)


Not only would you feel the pressure,you would hear things that sound foreign to you that tends to make you think you are feeling pain.


Had the novacaine not worked,you could not have stood the pain! !


If a previous dentist gave you novacaine and waited 20 minutes then I would think that the dentist worked you in on a particular day and while he was finishing up another patient he let you sit and absorb the novacaine longer.


As you well know,novacaine lasts a while so to let you sit for 20 minutes while he finished up with someone else,he knew you would still be anesthestised even after 20 minutes.
Reply:It really depends on where the tooth is in the mouth. For a "lower 3rd molar" it would require a block which would take "at least five minutes" to take effect well. The "upper 3rd molars" are different, "only the tooth" and tissue there need to be injected and it takes effect immediately. Usually before the injection is finished the patient is numb. So it's not a matter of "time," but "location" as to how long anesthetic takes to work. It's also not Novocaine anymore, hasn't been used in years. There are many others but you probably had marcaine, septocaine or lidocaine. Hope I've been of some help and good luck with the healing, be sure to follow the post op instructions. Good luck!





He wasn't torturing you, he just knew how long it took for the anesthetic to take effect, and you were shocked by him not waiting "your" appropriate amount of time. The pressure and noise is a normal sensation. You will always feel pressure even with waiting 30 minutes after an injection.








Additional information: When your dentist removed three of the 3rd molars he most likely started numbing the upper first and then moving to the lower, allowing the upper sufficient time to become anesthetized and proceeded with the procedure. During the time it took to remove the upper 3rd molars, the lower had more than sufficient time to exhibit the profound numbness that is required prior to a procedure. I'm sure your dentist checked you thoroughly before starting this or any procedure. Usually a wait of more than the time for anesthetic to become effective is so that we may do a hygiene check or finish or begin work on another patient while “you” are waiting on "the anesthetic to take effect." This gives us time to work on more than one patient at a time and fully utilize our time and operatories. It really depends on the condition of the tooth, as well as location in regard to nerves as to how much anesthetic would be needed, and which anesthetic is administered. It's never necessary to “administer more anesthetic than necessary" to complete any procedure, although you probably had more than one carpule with each tooth, and didn't realize it since you were already numb from the first injection. It’s a shame that you had a "bad experience" as so many patient claim to have, however you should have discussed this with your dentist so that he could explain the procedure thoroughly to you. Then perhaps you would have understood and not had so much "pain" caused by your fear from the noise and pressure. I am sure he didn’t just yank them out without the effects of anesthetic.



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