articaine hydrochloride

Articaine, which was approved by the FDA in April 2000, is an intermediate-potency, short-acting amide local anesthetic that is effective with local infiltration or peripheral nerve block in dentistry, when administered as a spinal, epidural, ocular, or regional nerve block, or when injected intravenously for regional anesthesia. Articaine is typically used with epinephrine (another anesthetic) in the form of a combination medicine that serves the purpose of numbing the mouth for a dental procedure. It is worth noting that this combination works by blocking nerve signals in your body. There are actually no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women with Articaine. Therefore, this anesthetic should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus. It is also not known whether Articaine is excreted in human milk. So, caution should be exercised when it is administered to a nursing woman. Along with its needed effects, articaine / epinephrine may cause some unwanted effects such as bleeding, redness or swelling of the gums, chills, cough, fever, mouth ulcers, and swelling of the face.