Hesperian Health Guides
Chapter 9: Injecting Inside the Mouth
It is possible to treat a tooth without pain. You do this with an injection of local anesthetic. You must inject near the nerve, so to give good injections, you must know where the nerves are.
Injecting is a skill that develops with experience. The best way to learn is not from a book, but from a person who has experience giving injections.
Watch an experienced dental worker give injections. That person can then watch you and show you how to inject carefully and safely.
Local anesthetic is an injectable medicine. When it touches a nerve, the tooth joined to that nerve feels numb or dead for about an hour. This usually gives you enough time to take out a strong tooth or to put a cement filling into a deep cavity.
This page was updated:04 Apr 2024