The suction thing making my mouth dry is my least favorite part of the dentist office and in a close second is the dentist injecting the anesthetic (lidocaine?). I can instantly feel it working and several hours later can still feel it working. I don't know what anesthetic the dentist used but my tongue is still numb 5 hours later!
Hence, I looked up lidocaine to learn how it works and discovered that it alters depolarization in neurons, by blocking the fast voltage gated sodium (Na+) channels in the cell membrane. With sufficient blockade, the membrane of the presynaptic neuron will not depolarize and so fail to transmit an action potential, leading to its anaesthetic effects.
And my tongue is numb because the dentist anesthetized the lingual nerve (affecting my tongue) while also anesthetizing the inferior alveolar nerve (for the teeth - see above picture).
Today, 3 fillings (total) in the back molar and bicuspid on the lower left hand side of my mouth. The dentist also reminded me to use the flouride toothpaste (which I do use, by the way).
The nice thing about today...only one more appointment till I'm caught up on my dental work!
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