HELP - NEED ANSWER FAST!!!!

[BlueEyes]

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I'm hoping someone can help me here. I have a question:

After receiving local anesthetic, a dentist would tell you not to eat until the anesthetic wears off because you might choke. Can you tell me which cranial nerve is involved and why?

Thanks.

 

[turtleboard]

Really?

CNIX and CNX are involved with the swallowing mechanism, but I think most dental procedures would just knock out the superior/inferior alveloar branches in your maxilla/mandible. It doesn't make much sense to me that you'd aspirate -- unless you don't chew much after having been numbed by the anesthetic.

Forgive me if I have the anatomy all wrong, but I'm about a year removed from head/neck anatomy and currently studying cardiac pathology.

Tim of New York City.

 

[BlueEyes]

Thanks Tim. It was actually a question for the Anatomy and Physiology class I'm currently taking. I didn't thing the question made sense because I can't ever remember leaving the dentist and having trouble swallowing (water, saliva, etc.) I remember them telling me not to chew gum or chew anything for that matter. The explaination I got for that was that you might bite right into a part of the inside of you mouth that is numb and you won't even feel it.

Anyway, the question was one of the essay questions we received previous to the actual test. I thought that the answer was the Vagus since it involves swallowing and coughing. My reasoning was that if you did "swallow wrong" you might not be able to expel it by coughing since the Vagus controls both of those mechanisms.

We'll see if I got it right. Obviously, this woman is a teacher and not a dentist.

Thanks again.

[This message has been edited by BlueEyes (edited 12-06-2000).]