Dental procedures often require numbing your mouth. Numbing is a good thing as it can make virtually any dental procedure more comfortable. Local anesthesia is typically administered to numb your mouth. Depending on where you receive it, you may end up feeling numb all over your mouth, including your lips, skin, and chin.
Anesthesia may be administered in a variety of ways. You may receive it by a topical gel, by pill, via injection, or nitrous oxide, which is commonly known as laughing gas. Depending on your procedure, it may only be applied to a certain area such as one tooth.
Many of our patients wonder how long numbing lasts. While some patients can expect to be numb for an hour or two, others may be numb for up to five hour. This all depends on how much anesthesia your dentist administered and where he chose to administer it.
In addition, your metabolism will play a vital role in how long numbing lasts. If your metabolism is fast, you’ll be numb for a shorter period of time than someone with a slow metabolism. Our dentists recommend not being stressed about it. Soon enough, you’ll feel like your normal self and will be able to eat your favorite foods once again.
In the rare case your numbing doesn’t wear off several hour after your dental procedure, contact your dentist as soon as possible. They can take a close look at your mouth and determine why the numbing is still present. Additionally, they can make recommendations on how to resolve the numbing.
Contact Costa Family & Cosmetic Dentistry
If your numbing does not wear off when we tell you it should, we encourage you to contact our Ashburn, VA office at (703) 542-7000. One dental team will evaluate your situation and let you know how to proceed.