Community Magazine January 2009

88 Community magazine JACQUES DOUECK, DDS Y our recent filling didn’t hurt, thanks to the gentle touch of your dentist and a good dose of local anesthetic. But while in the past we used novo- cain to achieve the numbing effect, today, epinephrine mixed with lidocaine is the number one anesthetic used by dentists in America. The epinephrine enhances the effect and duration of the injection, but also has the unpleasant result of leaving your cheek, tongue, and lips feeling numb much longer. This prolonged numbness interferes with talking, eating and drinking, and many consider it worse than the procedure itself. STOP THE SLURRING OraVerse™, an old and proven drug that blocks the effects of epinephrine, has been available in the United States since 1952 and is now approved by the Food and Drug Administration for dental use. Dentists who make use of OraVerse™ are finding it can be used to reduce the duration of numbness in the mouth after dental work. The successful use of OraVerse™ was confirmed by two scientific studies. The first consisted of 122 healthy patients, ranging in age from 10 to 65, who underwent routine dental work on the lower jaw. The second study consisted of 120 patients undergoing work on the upper jaw. All participants received one or two cartridges of lidocaine with epinephrine before their treatment. At the conclusion of the procedure, either 1.8 ml of OraVerse™ or a placebo was injected per cartridge of local anesthetic used. NUMB TO NORMAL IN 70 MINUTES OraVerse reduced the time to recover normal sensation in the lower lip by 85 minutes (55 percent improvement) as com- pared with the control group. In the upper lip, numbness was reduced by 83 minutes (62 percent improvement). Similarly, in a study of 152 children ages 4–11, the time needed to recover normal lip sensation was reduced by 75 minutes (56 percent). Within just one hour after administration of OraVerse, 44 patients (61 percent) reported normal lip sensation. Though there are no listed contraindica- tions, OraVerse is not recommended for use in children under 6 years old. THE CATCH OraVerse is not covered by dental insur- ance, and is thus likely to be an out-of- pocket expense, but one which many of us may find useful. It is priced at about $20, which is a small price to pay for the ability to smile, talk and, perhaps most important of all, not drool, upon returning to your daily activity! You’ve Lost That Numbing Feeling A common complaint about dental injections is the amount of time it takes for them to wear off Dentists who make use of OraVerse™ are finding it can be used to reduce the duration of numbness in the mouth after dental work.