Dentistry's wonder drugs: local anesthetics and vasoconstrictors.

This article reviews recent developments concerning local anesthetics, including the amount of pain resulting from injection, which drugs achieve anesthesia most effectively, proper dosing for anesthetizing children and adults, the maximum recommended doses of lidocaine 2% with epinephrine for cardiac patients, and which drugs can be used for patients taking monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, or nonselective beta blockers. Dentists should be familiar with all aspects of local anesthetics, especially anesthetic toxicity and maximum recommended doses.