Can Dental Anesthesia Cause Panic Attacks?

Posted on 4/15/2024 by Weo Admin

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Your dentist is always aware of the possibility of medical emergencies that can arise in their offices. Many of these emergencies are associated with fear, reaction from, and the administration of local anesthesia.

Dental anesthesia cannot cause panic attacks. However, panic attacks associated with anesthesia are usually from the anxiety that most people associate with the injection. Panic attacks are psychogenic responses, and anyone apprehensive enough about an anesthesia injection will present panic attack manifestations.

Adverse Effects of Dental Local Anesthesia

Most dental procedures are uncomfortable or extremely painful. Dentists use local anesthesia to make you comfortable during any dental procedure. That is why local anesthesia is the most commonly administered drug in dental care. In the United States, about 200 million cartridges of local anesthesia are used in one year.

Local anesthesia injections are effective and uneventful in most instances. However, systemic adverse reactions can occur, from feeling light-headed to collapse. These systemic reactions are usually ascribed to an allergic reaction to anesthetic injections and not the anesthesia itself. Therefore, dental anesthetics cannot cause panic attacks.

Systemic Reactions to Dental Local Anesthesia

There are several other systemic adverse reactions that one can experience following the administration of local anesthesia before the start of a dental procedure. Some of the known systemic adverse reactions to dental anesthesia include possible toxic drug overdose, rapid absorption, and cardiovascular, central nervous system, or psychogenic reactions.

A person with health issues, such as coronary artery disease, epilepsy, and diabetes, might experience a toxic reaction to dental anesthesia. For instance, a patient with epilepsy will be naturally apprehensive because of the local anesthesia injection, which might trigger a seizure.

Concluding Remarks

Whenever you go to the dentist, you will most likely find out that you will need local anesthesia to make you comfortable during the dental procedure. If you have heard that anesthesia will give you panic attacks, be assured that the information is less than true. You will not have panic attacks from dental anesthesia unless you have some underlying condition that contributes to you feeling dizzy. For more information on the use of anesthesia during dental procedures, contact us today.

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Dentist Salem OR • About Oak Park Dental
Providing modern dental technology and advanced oral health care to give you a comfortable and stress-free dental experience in Salem and Keizer, OR. Call today!
Oak Park Dental, 3380 Astoria Way NE, Salem, OR 97305; (971) 600-0211; salemsmiles.com; 6/10/2025; Associated Words: dentist Salem OR;