My Son Had Reaction to Novicaine

Abreva is used to treat cold sores. It wouldn't help with an allergic type reaction.

The dentist would have been the better person to call, as this is his/her area and they would know what was happening. Call the dentist now if they are open on Sundays, tomorrow if not.

I'm sorry your son is in so much discomfort. Hard for mom and son.

Generally they watch for reactions especially in people who haven't had Novocain before. Or at least would have told you what to watch for and how to proceed once you got home.

I could be totally off here - but would your dentist maybe have used latex? Gloves or that thing that goes over the kids' mouths?

I have a latex reaction - nothing serious, but I get contact dermatitis. Just nasty blisters and my skin looks swollen. Sometimes the blisters kind of stay around even with allergy meds. My kids sometimes get something that looks kind of similar with their eczema.

I have no idea why the Abreva. Or Oragel. I'm not a doctor but that's nothing I've heard of before.

It's hard to diagnose a rash over the phone. But doesn't sound like your pediatrician or dentist thought much of it. Personally, I'd take your son in and see what's up. You'll feel better and so will your son.

i have put off responding to this because I thought you would flounce. And it seems I was right.

You don't know for a fact your son is allergic to or having a reaction to the Novocaine. When the blisters first started happening? I would have taken my child to the urgent care. Having an allergic reaction to something can be life threatening. I won't mess around with that.

I don't understand why you are waiting until tomorrow. If he's in pain today and blisters today? I would have him seen. I would also tell the dentist to pound sand and send the bill for his Urgent Care treatment to him - IF it is proven he's having a reaction to the Novocaine. He should have reacted better to this situation, in my opinion.

Good luck!

I've had allergies my whole life. Allergies do not cause blisters! Never! If your son had had an allergic reaction to novocaine,.possible symptoms.are difficulty breathing which would occur soon after the injection while he was still sitting in the chair. I suggest his dentist tried to tell you the blisters were not caused by the novocaine and you wouldn't accept it.

Other allergic reactions can be itcy hives, an itchy throat, swelling at the injection sight if there has been an injection. All of the last ones happened in a mild way five minutes after I was given an antibiotic shot. The nurse gave me Benedryl. Symptoms were gone in 10-15 minutes.

If you do not think he has cold sores, take him to see a medical person. I have Kaiser insurance and walk into the clinic and go, without an appointment to the Nurse Treatment room for answers.

I had cold sores when I was younger because I'd had chicken pox as a toddler. Chicken pox is caused by the same virus as cold sores and causes blisters all over the body. The virus lies dormant along nerve paths until the body is stressed. The blisters last anywhere from a week to 2 weeks. Cold sore virus can also be passed from one person to another. It's contagious.

I wouldn't expect you to know this. The moms who responded have experienced what you described. So I don't understand why their answers offended you. I thought you wanted suggestions. I guess you want confirmation he is having an allergic reaction. The only person who can accurately make a diagnosis is a doctor. We can only share our experiences.

You don't know if it's a reaction vs a disease - you're just guessing.
Abreva is for cold sores - so doctor thinks he's got a virus - but I'm surprised he would just tell you this over the phone without seeing it for himself.
Are you sure he didn't say Anbesol? Something to numb the pain?
Without seeing it it could be Hand Foot and Mouth or chicken pox or a number of reasons for mouth/lip sores - I'm not sure Abreva would do anything for that.
For allergic reactions, Benadryl would be recommended but this really doesn't sound like an allergic reaction.

Additional:
Ok. The benadryl did nothing so I still don't think it's a reaction to Novocaine.
Abreva is still for cold sores - and it's helping - so it's likely a cold sore.
Working with your doctor is a good thing.
No one is responsible for your feelings except for you.
When you ask questions you're going to get a lot of responses you may or may not agree with.
Take what is helpful and ignore the rest.
A cold sore can take awhile to heal up.
I don't think this has any relation to the dental work he had - he just had an eruption that happened close to the same time.
Actually you only seem to want kind agreeable answers most of the time.
Maybe starting your questions with 'please only answer if you can agree with me' will help with your feelings even if it doesn't give you much in the way of answers or knowledge.

What a frustrating experience! It makes me so angry that some doctors & dentists poo poo our concerns. If our concerns aren't valid, there are ways to tell us that without making it seem like we're stupid.

I think, because your son doesn't seem to be improving, I would take him to Urgent Care. I would want to do anything I could to ease his suffering. I can understand the ped telling you to put Abreva on it because it really might have helped. But since it didn't, I think I'd take him to be seen.

Urgent Care just seems like a very good, next step.

Sorry your little boy is experiencing this.

Read this: http://www.animated-teeth.com/cold_sores/t2_oral_herpes.htm

Especially the part about local triggers; it specifically mentions dental treatments as a trigger for cold sores and fever blisters, which are all a form of herpes. Your doctor should be informed that this happened.

Three are many different possible explanations for what happened to your son, but there is absolutely no way any of us here can tell you what it is. I am very sensitive to dental work and often end up with swollen lips and even bruises after certain dental procedures, but me sharing this does not help alleviate your son's pain or help you figure out what's going on. I say that not to be dismissive or disrespectful of your question, but only to highlight the fact that we can all share our stories here, but not one of them will help you and your son's doctors/dentist figure out what happened.

He needs to be seen by the pediatrician or dentist for his condition to be properly diagnosed. This is important so that you can take proper steps to diminish the possibility of this happening in the future and to know what to do to alleviate the pain if it does happen again when he has dental work.

Kids often do bite their lips when they are administered novocaine because they can't feel when they're biting. It's a very common thing, even when parents are on the lookout for it post-procedure, and that's probably why the dentist mentioned it. I am NOT saying that this is what happened with your son, but it does happen quite commonly and thus would logically be considered as a possibility. Again, the only way to know is to have your son evaluated in person.

There are many different types of blisters that can occur around the mouth area. Herpes simples viruses (which cause cold sores to erupt) are just one of the possibilities, but they are one of the most common.

The vast majority of the American population has been exposed at some point to the various herpes simplex viruses. After exposure, the virus lives dormant on the nerve endings until something triggers an outbreak. We have lots and lots of nerve endings around our lips and mouth, so this is one of the places where the sores show up. It is also the reason that the outbreaks are so painful . Some people who are prone to cold sores find they have outbreaks after dental procedures. However, whether or not your son's condition is an actual outbreak of cold sores should be left to your doctor/dentist to diagnose.

If it is a herpes infection, you want to know so that you can take steps to minimize outbreaks during future dental procedures. Herpes infections are very painful and very contagious. It's important to know how to manage these outbreaks so the infection isn't further spread to other sites on the mouth and face or spread to other people. There are medications that can be prescribed to minimize outbreaks, but they must be monitored by a physician. Dentists can also prescribe these medications.

If your son likes popsicles or otter pops, you can give him those. The coolness of the pops may alleviate some of the pain temporarily. It's good that you're taking him in to be seen. Once you find out what's really going on, you'll feel much better and will have a plan for how best to help your son.

Poor little guy. Sounds like he has canker sores. From what I understand, that can be a stress reaction to the dental work. He will be ok, but definitely try and keep him from biting at them. I would also suggest no acidic foods--just mild things, so that he doesn't irritate the sores.

You need to take your son to an Urgent care so he can be looked it.

It's too late for them to run blood tests to see if it was the Novocain or not. He still needs to be seen. TODAY.

He should have told you to give him BENEDRYL and NOT Abreva. Benedryl is for allergic reactions. Abreva is for Herpes Simplex II Virus/cold sores.

Why are you waiting until tomorrow? Your son could get dehydrated TODAY. Go to an urgent care TODAY! You don't know what he had. You are speculating at this point and it's NOT helping your son.

are you sure it wasn't from him biting on the lip? or is it on both lips? It is common for them to bit down on the bottom lip while it is numb, espeically if it was work on the bottom teeth. They should have him bite on a the cotton cylinder thing for the first hour to avoid it. It can be a horrible white blister looking thing that takes up the bottom lip. But it WILL get better if that's the case. Hope the Dr. can find something out. good luck

I don't think it's the Novocaine.

It could be anything that went in his mouth. How about the latex gloves that they used? Maybe he has a latex allergy??

If it's not getting better I'd bring him back to the dentist and the pediatrician for a look. Sounds terrible.

This could be to anything they put in his mouth, even plain old fluoride.

I'd have taken kiddo to the ER to get a steroid shot and something more powerful for the reaction. Do you know for sure that this isn't all the way down his throat? I have bad reactions to caines too. It hits my nervous system when I get the shot and I start shaking like I'm having a seizure or something. It scares the dentist most of the time.

Your little one should be at the docs office first thing in the morning and then you need to have a referral to an allergist before you leave. They can test him for caine allergies in a controlled environment and keep him safe while they determine what it was that caused this.

Novocaine goes inside the gums, not on them. That's why I'm thinking it was something they put on the gums or on the teeth.

i would of brought him to the er. if its an allergic reaction to the drug then his airways could be compromised. the dr said abreva? without even seeing the patient? get a new dr.
(canker sores are inside the mouth. not outside so its probably not that.)
see a different dr ASAP