Dr. Pada Chalothorn, DMD

So my 11 year old boy had to have two baby teeth pulled today. He was injected multiple times to numb the areas but it felt rushed. As a retired RN who has done everything from assisting in office procedures to coding a patient in the ICU, I know a thing or two about numbing technique as well as assessing signs & symptoms of pain. My son audibly exclaimed in pain but did not shout or cry outloud. Instead, he lifted his legs up and gripped my hand. His tears dropped into his ears. I get it, it is a fast procedure. It really does take longer to adequately numb the patient than to actually extract the teeth but to rush the numbing, to not wait until it is fully in effect is to put the patient in unnecessary pain. Just waiting 3-5 minutes more could have avoided the tears.