Local anaesthesia

Question 1

When a pt suffers pain

Answer 1

a message is passed along a nerve to the brain which causes a sensation of pain in the area supplied by that nerve

Question 2

A local anaesthetic

Answer 2

injected into the area of the nerve presents the passage of these messages, this produces temporary local anaesthesia

Question 3

What happens?

Answer 3

the perception of pain is lost, but sensations such as pressure or vibration can be felt
analgesia means loss of pain only

Question 4

Intrapulpal

Answer 4

this type of injection is given during endodontic trt + should only be given after all other techniques have failed

• major drawback of this is that the needle placement + injection are directly into a vital + sensitive pulp causing moderate to severe pain
• the duration of pulpal anaesthesia may be short, however onset is immediate + no special syringes or needles are required

Question 5

Nerve block

Answer 5

pain sensations from every part supplied by the nerve are blocked at the site of injection + cannot reach brain
nerve block is used when it is necessary to anaesthetise several teeth in one quadrant or where local infiltration will not work

Question 6

Local infiltration

Answer 6

is given over the apex of tooth to be anaesthetised. the anaesthetic soaks through pores in the bone + numbs nerves supplying the tooth + gum at the site of the injection

Question 7

Intra-ligamentary

Answer 7

provides deeper anaesthesia around hypersensitive teeth + is usually used in conjunction with a nerve block or local infiltration. the anaesthetic is administered into the periodontal ligament of the tooth

Question 8

Intra-osseous

Answer 8

given directly through the outer cortical plate of jaw + into spongey bone between two teeth. few drops of anaesthesia are initially injected into the overlying gum to permit painless drilling of a small hole through the compact bone to allow the needle to be inserted into the spongey bone