Case Study: Using Hypnodontics
By: Gwenn Henkel, CMH, MH
It was in my Clinical Hypnosis class that we were taught about Hypnodontics. It was very exciting because we worked with each other in the class, having the opportunity to experience this amazing phenomenon ourselves!
We were practicing the technique called, "Glove Anesthesia," where we were actually able to numb our mouths as if we just had just been injected with Novocain. Here's what we did:
First we were relaxed into Theta trance state (medium to deep) and taken to our special place that we chose to think about as our alternative to the situation at hand (i.e.: the dentist). So thinking about our special place, we would automatically relax deeply and the suggestion is always that good and positive things happen while in this special place.
As we relax deeply, the suggestion given by the person doing the hypnosis, is that they will gently stroke one of the client's hands and that with each stroke, the hand will become numb, as if it had been injected with Novocain. Each gentle stroke then would numb the hand more and more until the hand was completely numb. It was amazing that my hand became completely numb as suggested and it tingled and felt heavy!
Once the person being hypnotized gave a nod indicating that their hand was completely numb, the suggestion then was to put the hand on the side of the face that the dental procedure would be performed on and to allow the numbness from the hand to "transfer" to the face, deep into the tissue of the gums and feeling the tingling sensation of Novocain in the face. Perhaps even feeling it up into the eye area or nose and that the tongue would feel fat and numb.
It didn't take long at all to feel this happening. Once the numbness had completely transferred in to the face and gums, we were to let the other person know that the transfer had taken place. Then, to our amazement, when we tried to talk, we couldn't' talk normally! We talked with a heavy mouth full of Novocain! So then the suggestion was that we would be able to talk normally even though our mouths were numb, and we did!
The whole idea here of course is to be able to use this for people who can't use anesthesia or to even deaden the area before the injections if one would like to make that experience more tolerable.
After leaving class I was exhilarated by the experience and wondered when I would have the grand opportunity to use this technique. After all, I was still a student myself and did not have a hypnosis practice at this time. Little did I know what was about to happen upon returning home!
Being in the Clinical class, we had to do case studies of people who would volunteer for us so we could write papers on them. That afternoon, my case study, Mary, was to come over for me to continue working with her to become a non-smoker. When I got home, she called to tell me that she would not be able to come over for our session because she had a terrible TOOTH ACHE!!!!!!! I was thrilled! She couldn't understand why I was so excited about her toothache, and I apologized for my seeming unsympathetic, but I explained that I had just come from a class teaching how to numb pain in the mouth! I wanted her to come over anyway so we could work on this instead.
She then informed me that the pain was SO bad that she wasn't even up to driving over to see me. Well being the incredible hypnotherapist that I knew I would eventually become, (ha ha ha) I was able to think quickly and decided that we could do this over the phone. She couldn't imagine how we were going to do this. So here is what I told her to do.
I told her to tell her children that she needed about twenty minutes of undisturbed time on the phone. Once they understood that she was doing hypnosis with me, they were very good and went outside to play. Mary then made herself comfortable on her bed with the phone in hand. I knew that she was an excellent subject, as she had done so well with me in person, I had confidence in her ability to relax deeply even on the phone. She did not have a speaker phone (it is very helpful to have one for phone sessions) so I suggested to her that holding the phone to her ear would be most comfortable and that her hand and arm would remain relaxed though out our time on the phone. It did. Next I asked her to go to her special place where all good and positive things happen for her. It was her garden. Merely thinking of this place takes her deep into relaxation. She was in Theta trance quickly.
Now I was about to suggest the Glove Anesthesia, when I realized that I was supposed to stroke her hand to make it numb! What was I going to do now?
Quick thinker that I am, I had to improvise and decided that she was to imagine Novocain dripping onto her other hand, and that with each count and drip that I said from 10 down to 1, her hand would become more and more numb. By the count of 1, her hand was completely numb. She told me she could feel it and it was completely numb. Next I asked her to please place the numb hand on her cheek where the sore tooth was and to transfer the numbness from her hand to her cheek. She did.
When she had finished doing that, I asked her to speak to me about the experience and of course she spoke like a person with a mouth full of Novocain. I quickly interrupted and told her that even though her mouth was completely numb, she could speak easily and clearly. She did. I then told her that if at any time she might feel "discomfort" (never use the word pain, as the mind registers that word much differently than discomfort) that she would feel the numbness again in her hand and could transfer it to her face as needed. I also told her that her visit to the dentist for the root canal that was on hold because of this infection would be easy and she would be calm and relaxed through the whole procedure. She had always been terrified of going to the dentist, so this situation put her at the top of her stress level and she had been very anxious.
I then brought her back, after a total of 20 minutes, and she had NO pain in her tooth! She was amazed that her mouth was numb and NO PAIN!
Now the interesting thing about this was that she knew she had an abscessed tooth and the dentist had given her antibiotics to take before doing the root canal early in the following week after taking the medicine. I was going to be out of town over the weekend and I knew that I would not be reachable for Mary and that is why I suggested that she could do the Glove Anesthesia anytime if she needed it.
On Monday I called her to see how she was doing. She said that at times it would feel as though the "Novocain" was wearing off, so she put her hand back on her face and made the transfer and the discomfort was gone. When she saw her dentist that day, her dentist was shocked to see that the infection had actually traveled to a second tooth!
She could not imagine how Mary had dealt with the pain she must have suffered over the weekend! Mary told her of her experience with me and her dentist was amazed! Mary still had to take antibiotics for a couple more days until the dental work could be done, and the Glove Anesthesia continued to work for her. I then made her a CD using visualization of how well her procedure would go, seeing herself calm and relaxed in the waiting room just before the procedure and then in the chair. Having her realize that she is in good hands and that the procedure would go smoothly and effortlessly, and that there would be minimal to no bleeding and that she would heal quickly, seeing the tissue around the teeth pink and healthy and so on.
When the day came for her now TWO root canals, Mary said that she put her headset on and began listening to my CD while in the waiting room and continued with it once in the chair. Even while in deep trance visiting her special place, Mary was able to respond when needed to her dentist's instructions and questions, returning easily to her trance state. When the dentist was finished, she was amazed at how Mary handled the entire event, knowing that Mary usually had "white knuckles" as she grasped the arms of the chair during even a hygiene appointment!
It was so exciting and encouraging for me to have this experience with a client even when I was still a student. I knew that being a hypnotherapist was going to be the most rewarding profession! This is only one of hundreds of amazing experiences I have had in helping people with a wide range of challenges in their lives.
It was in my Clinical Hypnosis class that we were taught about Hypnodontics. It was very exciting because we worked with each other in the class, having the opportunity to experience this amazing phenomenon ourselves!
We were practicing the technique called, "Glove Anesthesia," where we were actually able to numb our mouths as if we just had just been injected with Novocain. Here's what we did:
First we were relaxed into Theta trance state (medium to deep) and taken to our special place that we chose to think about as our alternative to the situation at hand (i.e.: the dentist). So thinking about our special place, we would automatically relax deeply and the suggestion is always that good and positive things happen while in this special place.
As we relax deeply, the suggestion given by the person doing the hypnosis, is that they will gently stroke one of the client's hands and that with each stroke, the hand will become numb, as if it had been injected with Novocain. Each gentle stroke then would numb the hand more and more until the hand was completely numb. It was amazing that my hand became completely numb as suggested and it tingled and felt heavy!
Once the person being hypnotized gave a nod indicating that their hand was completely numb, the suggestion then was to put the hand on the side of the face that the dental procedure would be performed on and to allow the numbness from the hand to "transfer" to the face, deep into the tissue of the gums and feeling the tingling sensation of Novocain in the face. Perhaps even feeling it up into the eye area or nose and that the tongue would feel fat and numb.
It didn't take long at all to feel this happening. Once the numbness had completely transferred in to the face and gums, we were to let the other person know that the transfer had taken place. Then, to our amazement, when we tried to talk, we couldn't' talk normally! We talked with a heavy mouth full of Novocain! So then the suggestion was that we would be able to talk normally even though our mouths were numb, and we did!
The whole idea here of course is to be able to use this for people who can't use anesthesia or to even deaden the area before the injections if one would like to make that experience more tolerable.
After leaving class I was exhilarated by the experience and wondered when I would have the grand opportunity to use this technique. After all, I was still a student myself and did not have a hypnosis practice at this time. Little did I know what was about to happen upon returning home!
Being in the Clinical class, we had to do case studies of people who would volunteer for us so we could write papers on them. That afternoon, my case study, Mary, was to come over for me to continue working with her to become a non-smoker. When I got home, she called to tell me that she would not be able to come over for our session because she had a terrible TOOTH ACHE!!!!!!! I was thrilled! She couldn't understand why I was so excited about her toothache, and I apologized for my seeming unsympathetic, but I explained that I had just come from a class teaching how to numb pain in the mouth! I wanted her to come over anyway so we could work on this instead.
She then informed me that the pain was SO bad that she wasn't even up to driving over to see me. Well being the incredible hypnotherapist that I knew I would eventually become, (ha ha ha) I was able to think quickly and decided that we could do this over the phone. She couldn't imagine how we were going to do this. So here is what I told her to do.
I told her to tell her children that she needed about twenty minutes of undisturbed time on the phone. Once they understood that she was doing hypnosis with me, they were very good and went outside to play. Mary then made herself comfortable on her bed with the phone in hand. I knew that she was an excellent subject, as she had done so well with me in person, I had confidence in her ability to relax deeply even on the phone. She did not have a speaker phone (it is very helpful to have one for phone sessions) so I suggested to her that holding the phone to her ear would be most comfortable and that her hand and arm would remain relaxed though out our time on the phone. It did. Next I asked her to go to her special place where all good and positive things happen for her. It was her garden. Merely thinking of this place takes her deep into relaxation. She was in Theta trance quickly.
Now I was about to suggest the Glove Anesthesia, when I realized that I was supposed to stroke her hand to make it numb! What was I going to do now?
Quick thinker that I am, I had to improvise and decided that she was to imagine Novocain dripping onto her other hand, and that with each count and drip that I said from 10 down to 1, her hand would become more and more numb. By the count of 1, her hand was completely numb. She told me she could feel it and it was completely numb. Next I asked her to please place the numb hand on her cheek where the sore tooth was and to transfer the numbness from her hand to her cheek. She did.
When she had finished doing that, I asked her to speak to me about the experience and of course she spoke like a person with a mouth full of Novocain. I quickly interrupted and told her that even though her mouth was completely numb, she could speak easily and clearly. She did. I then told her that if at any time she might feel "discomfort" (never use the word pain, as the mind registers that word much differently than discomfort) that she would feel the numbness again in her hand and could transfer it to her face as needed. I also told her that her visit to the dentist for the root canal that was on hold because of this infection would be easy and she would be calm and relaxed through the whole procedure. She had always been terrified of going to the dentist, so this situation put her at the top of her stress level and she had been very anxious.
I then brought her back, after a total of 20 minutes, and she had NO pain in her tooth! She was amazed that her mouth was numb and NO PAIN!
Now the interesting thing about this was that she knew she had an abscessed tooth and the dentist had given her antibiotics to take before doing the root canal early in the following week after taking the medicine. I was going to be out of town over the weekend and I knew that I would not be reachable for Mary and that is why I suggested that she could do the Glove Anesthesia anytime if she needed it.
On Monday I called her to see how she was doing. She said that at times it would feel as though the "Novocain" was wearing off, so she put her hand back on her face and made the transfer and the discomfort was gone. When she saw her dentist that day, her dentist was shocked to see that the infection had actually traveled to a second tooth!
She could not imagine how Mary had dealt with the pain she must have suffered over the weekend! Mary told her of her experience with me and her dentist was amazed! Mary still had to take antibiotics for a couple more days until the dental work could be done, and the Glove Anesthesia continued to work for her. I then made her a CD using visualization of how well her procedure would go, seeing herself calm and relaxed in the waiting room just before the procedure and then in the chair. Having her realize that she is in good hands and that the procedure would go smoothly and effortlessly, and that there would be minimal to no bleeding and that she would heal quickly, seeing the tissue around the teeth pink and healthy and so on.
When the day came for her now TWO root canals, Mary said that she put her headset on and began listening to my CD while in the waiting room and continued with it once in the chair. Even while in deep trance visiting her special place, Mary was able to respond when needed to her dentist's instructions and questions, returning easily to her trance state. When the dentist was finished, she was amazed at how Mary handled the entire event, knowing that Mary usually had "white knuckles" as she grasped the arms of the chair during even a hygiene appointment!
It was so exciting and encouraging for me to have this experience with a client even when I was still a student. I knew that being a hypnotherapist was going to be the most rewarding profession! This is only one of hundreds of amazing experiences I have had in helping people with a wide range of challenges in their lives.
