Anesthetic for dental emergencies, any experience please? 3rd trimester

[skinnylegs33]

Hi,

Currently almost 31 weeks pregnant. Two weeks ago my back tooth started hurting pretty bad. I've tried to bear the pain for 4 days hoping it will go away but it has gotten worse. Went to the dentist, she had to do a local anesthetic to open the tooth and see what was wrong. She took one of the 3 nerves out.
Initially I refused as I was too scared about the effects the anesthetic could have on my baby but she promised me it was safe. She told me she would not do an xray because of the risk but the local was safe and routinely administered in pregnancy. She also said the risk of the infection and the pain is far worse for the baby than having the injection. I also had to take a low dose amoxicillin (250mg x3 times a day for 5 days).
I have cried my eyes out after the appointment and felt so guilty and worried for the baby I could not stop crying for hours.
The pain went away for a few days but it came back last night with a vengeance!
Had to go for an emergency appointment today as I could not take it anymore and she had to do another injection and took some more nerve out of the tooth. She told me she cleaned as much as she could and placed a temporary filling. I have another lot of amoxicillin to take now as I have an infection again.
Needless to say I am besides myself with worry and can't stop thinking about how I've harmed my baby. I am so upset and feel so powerless as I know the harm has been done and I can't change anything now, but I'm so scared.

Does anyone have any experience of dental work during last trimester?
Is it really bad? What about taking amoxicillin? I am scared to take another treatment in such a short space.
I only took 3 paracetamols for the whole almost 8 months I've been pregnant and now this

I had a local for a cyst to be drained in my first pregnancy, during the second trimester. I also had amoxcillin during the 1st trimester (for a UTI). I probably had some more antibiotics when I had the cyst actually, but can't remember. DC1 is now 7, in rude health & doing well academically. Don't worry!

Both dental local and amoxicillin are safe in pregnancy. I am a dentist and took several courses of amoxil for non dental reasons in pregnancy with my son. I was very risk averse as well as he was ivf. I would have had LA if needed too but didn't need it. The benefits of having your dental pain treated far outweigh any risks. Try not to panic about this- your baby will not have been harmed by this treatment.

Stop fretting

Dental anaesthetics are not new, so any issues would have been well documented by now. If there were any known risks, they wouldn't use it!

Hope you're feeling better.

Thank you all for trying to reassure me
I am worried for the long term efffects.
I had the anesthetic without adrenaline as I get tachycardic from adrenaline, would that make things better or worse?

They say it's safe, but then you read stories like the one recently about paracetamol no longer believed to have no ill effects in pregnancy and it makes you wonder - how safe is safe?

black my dentist kept telling me (she emphasised this a few times) that the pain is worse for the baby than the local? This doesn't really make sense to me; is there any science behind it or she was just saying it to convince me?

Dentist here too. The pain won't really do the baby any harm. However, untreated dental infections are potentially fatal. You have done the right thing in seeking and accepting care. Local anaesthetic, either with or without adrenalin is fine. I tend to use with adrenaline as it's faster, more effective and lasts longer. There is an adrenaline- free anaesthetic that contains something similar to oxytocin, which I've not used in maybe 10 years, which I would not use in a pregnant woman. My only criticisms are that I would have given you double that dose of amoxicillin: the dose you had is not usually effective. And that a few dental X-rays would have done no harm and might get you treated more successfully. FWIW I am currently 24 weeks pregnant and so far have had 3 courses of antibiotics (flucloxacillin, amoxicillin and co-amoxiclav) in the first trimester. Tbh antibiotics are not effective treatments for dental infections, and getting the root canal sorted properly now (or the tooth removed) before your baby comes would be the best idea.