HWN Suggests

Dental Block, ER Doc

It’s fast, easy, and provides good pain relief, while providing a chance for patients to book an appointment to see their dentist the following day. There has been some evidence that this method achieves good pain control for the patient and may help lower opioid prescriptions in the ED for dental pain.

There are essentially 2 blocks you will need to know:

• The Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block (Mandibular teeth)
• Supraperiosteal Infiltrations (Maxillary teeth)

   

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 How I learned to love dental blocks

During my research, I was surprised at how few the contraindications were. The biggest contraindication is that you should never inject into infected tissue. Because antibiotics are often administered for tooth complaints, the risk of infection due to injection with a needle is very low. Because of the relatively small amount of anesthesia that is administered, almost everyone qualifies for the block.

 My tooth hurts, and I don't want narcotics!

The IAN block provides anesthesia to all the teeth on the side of the mandible of injection. It also numbs the lower lip and chin.

 Regional Anesthesia of the Face & Mouth

Don't forget about your dosing guidelines and adverse reactions!

Articles of Interest

Nerve Block: Inferior Alveolar

Inferior alveolar nerve provides sensation to all of the teeth on the ipsilateral side of the mandible as well as the lower lip and chin via the mental nerve.

Nerve Blocks of the Face and Mouth

The supraorbital, infraorbital and mental nerves all line along an imaginary vertical line drawn through the pupil.When injecting in the mouth, provide topical anesthetic, retract mucosa to enhance vision & minimize needle insertion trauma, dry the injection site, and penetrate mucosa using distracting pain to minimize the pain of injection.

Oral & Maxillofacial Regional Anesthesia

Several highly efficacious and practical techniques can be used to achieve anesthesia of the dentition and surrounding the hard and soft tissues of the maxilla and mandible.

Oral Nerve Blocks

Talk it up, but Don’t Sell it as a Cure All - I offer dental blocks to nearly all of my patients that present with dental pain. I think it is a highly effective way to immediately take care of the patient’s pain.