An emphasis on the wide usage and important role of local anesthesia in dentistry: A strategic review

Abstract

Local anesthesia forms the major part of pain-control techniques in dentistry. The prevention and elimination of pain during dental treatment has benefited patients, their doctors and dental hygienists, enabling the dental profession to make tremendous therapeutic advances that would otherwise have been impossible. Introduced in the late 1940s, the amide local anesthetics represent the most used drugs in dentistry. Local anesthetics also represent the safest and most effective drugs in all of medicine for the prevention and management of pain. They are also accompanied by various adverse effects which should be well known and be able to be controlled by the clinician. The article reviews the types of agents used as local anesthetics and their effects on the human body.
Key Words: Anesthesia, anesthetics, dental, local/adverse effects, pharmacology, vasoconstrictor agent