Why does it take a long time for numbness to set in at the dentist after a shot?
In: 2
The novocaine needs time to permeate the tissue.
Local anesthetics like novocaine aren’t injected into veins like general anesthetics are. You want them to stay in the area where you injected it, so you put it in the muscle.
It takes a few minutes for the novocaine to “soak through” the surrounding tissue enough to affect the nerves.
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