The best approach to optimal dental or medical care is to be preemptive or preventative and not wait for a crisis to erupt. Unfortunately, many people wait for the crisis to come before making a dental appointment.
Certain chemicals like prostaglandin, given off when there is marked pain, inflammation or infection, sometimes interfere with the effectiveness of local anesthesia. In such a case, often an anti-inflammatory medication such as Advil and, possibly, an antibiotic should be taken for a day or so before solving the problem. From then on, things should be smooth sailing. We will not proceed with treatment if you are not comfortably numb. If you feel any discomfort during the procedure, raise your left hand and we will stop and give you more local anesthetic and time to get numb. We promise.