Why does a root canal anesthesia not kick in and it hurts like a mfkr?!
Question:
Why does a root canal anesthesia not kick in and it hurts like a mfkr?
serious answers only, Dentists, experts please, the pain was horrible with all that painful drilling!
Answers:
If you have an infection, the area around the tooth becomes acidotic (low pH).
In order for local anesthetics to work, they must be at a higher pH in order to diffuse into the nerve. It has to do with the Henderson-Hasselbach equation, if you ever took chemistry:
http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemis...
This can sometimes be abated by adding sodium bicarbonate to the local anesthetic, but not always.
Hope that helps.