I need to have several dental procedures aprroximately two hours each.
I am, or have become, immune to the 'caine family (lidocaine,
novocaine, septocaine, etc) and nitrous oxide and a sedative have not
allayed my extreme anxiety. Did I say extreme anxiety? I would love IV
sedation but at 500. per hour (eeks), I simply can't manage this. Is
there a solution that is safe, highly effective for dental procedures
where the 'caine family has failed and affordable (sorry, I am not
interested in hypnosis...I need real numbing and tranquillity)that can
be combined with valium or something similar (I also failed the
halcion pill that should have knocked me out.) Because I was in the
middle of a procedure when the 'caine family failed me I had to have
it completed with nothing and was reduced to a quivering mass of
nerves and each blast of air, water & drilling was Marathon Man
Torture. Please help!!!!

Hi! I share your pain :-D Fear of pain and the dentist kept me away
from the chair for many years. It was only when I broke a tooth and
needed a crown did I finally go see one. I had a wonderful "sedation
dentist" recommended to me. You might want to investigate different
sedation or sleep dentists in your area, it was much less expensive
than IV sedation.

Prior to going in for your dental work, the dentist or assistant will
make sure you are a good candidate for sleep dentistry; I had my blood
pressure taken. I also had to fast for 10 hours before my appointment.
I was given a sedative (Halcyon) and they waited for me to get tired
and fall asleep. Nitrous oxide is then given. Throughout the
procedure, your heart rate is monitored. It is quite a trippy
experience, I woke up feeling very happy and was in a state of bliss
for a couple days (obviously your experience may differ!). I remember
very little about what happened. I really didn't feel like eating and
the dentist recommended drinking Gatorade after the procedure.

The only downside to sleep dentistry is that if something hurts, you
can't tell the dentist about it. I need a crown and 12 fillings :-( On
my second visit to get four fillings done, my lip was bruised and a
little cut, unfortunately.

I certainly wish I had found this dentist earlier, the pain to my
wallet was greater than the pain to my mouth! Good luck.

Well there's always cocaine left. (I'm not kidding.) Under special
circumstances, cocaine powder can be used for dental procedures.

I'm surprised they don't just knock you out entirely. Makes the whole
operation simpler.

I hate to say it but maybe try a different dentist, I am a dental
student and often ppl who claim to be immune to sedation via lidocane
and septocaine are often due to inaccurate injections.

There are some alternatives, you are anxious and nervous at the office
I recommend pre-medicating with Valium or similair medication, ask
your dentist.  If this still does not work a select few dentists use
lasers to do fillings, ask your dentist if he uses lasers and if not
if he knows a dentist in the area.  With lasers you often do not need
local anesthesia.  I hope this have given you a few leads on how to
get the dental care you need.

On http://www.anaesthesiaresearch.org.uk/meeting2004.htm there is a
very interesting article about sedation during dental procedures -
they used sevlurothen & nitrous oxide on children who were extremely
nervous and found that this worked extremely well and produced far
less anxiety