So I had a dental appointment today, got there at 10:30 am only to be told that my appointment was actually 12:30 and that was my fault, not theirs. So I run off to, you know, shop because what else do you do with spare time, right? So I go in to JoAnn's and just walk around, looking at the spring stuff because I really don't need anything when up the aisle that I'm in, walks a man in a kilt. Gordon tartan no less! (I snuck a pic of him on my cell phone).
Then, I go off to Chick Fil A to grab some lunch, order a kids meal because I always do that and ask to swap waffle fries for coleslaw...and they tell me they don't have coleslaw any more and I'm like wth? After I eat my kids meal and decide to start back over to the dental clinic and think I'll just swing by McDonald's for a cup of tea because by now my caffeine levels are too low because I'm basically a caffeine addict, right? Get in there and they "don't have tea today".
Huh?
Go over to the dentist. The hygienist is going to work on my teeth and starts to give me a local anesthetic via injection in the back of my jaw. When all. of. a. sudden. I get double vision! I'm like wtf? In less than a split second from the onset it flashes through my head that I what if I pass out I better tell her the symptoms quick so they'll know how to save me.
She asks me if I want to sit up? I'm like how would I know? Is that what I should do? And I say, let's ask doctor, okay? So he comes in and says something about hitting a muscle or whatever. Tells me to sit and "chill" (he's cool, I'm not joking) and after about 15 minutes it wears off I can see normally again. They decide to do some other type of local that doesn't go into a nerve or wherever that one was supposed to go, and she tells me that in states where hygienist's aren't allowed to give injections, that this is what you get.
So anyway, I found something about diplopia and dental injections online and I just want you guys to read this excerpt and tell me what you'd do next time, okay?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3304222/
DISCUSSION
Dentists administer local anesthetic injections every day, with a few reports of serious complications. However, misjudging the anatomy involved during local anesthetic administration can not only result in inadequate or incomplete anesthesia, but also other complications, such as, paresthesia, bleeding, and hematoma or lead to serious systemic complications.[3] Visual disturbances are uncommon following the administration of local anesthesia and have been reported in a few publications. Ophthalmic complications such as temporary loss of vision and other signs like partial orbital palsies with diplopia have been reported.[4] There is little doubt that local anesthesias used in dentistry are safe agents.[5] Complications associated with LA can be divided into systemic and regional, as also those determined by the local anesthetic agents used and the technique of administration. Some of the systemic reactions include vasovagal syncope, anaphylactic shock, toxicity, tissue necrosis, and facial nerve palsy; and the ophthalmic complications include temporary blindness, diplopia, temporary paralysis of cranial nerves III, IV, and VI, oculomotor muscle paralysis, mydriasis, palpebral ptosis, and even permanent blindness.[
Damn!
So do you think that hygienists should be giving these injections to start with and if you were me, would you request the dentist to do the injection if you needed it again?
