Local Anesthesia

The main purpose of this book is to act as a practical guide to the use of local anaesthesia in dentistry. Before embarking on practical issues it is important to acquire a basic understanding of the pharmacology and anatomy of dental local anaesthesia. Anaesthesia is defined as a loss of sensation in a circumscribed area of the body by a depression of excitation in nerve endings or an inhibition of the conduction process in peripheral nerves. This definition includes all sensation. In dentistry it is pain sensation we want to eliminate. Loss of pain sensation is termed analgesia. The terms local anaesthesia and local analgesia are used almost synonymously in dental practice. As true anaesthesia may be produced on occasion following intra-oral injection, the former term is used in this book.