ANALYSIS OF CHOICE OF LOCAL ANESTHESIA TECHNIQUE USED BY DENTAL PRACTITIONER'S IN PAKISTAN

Introduction: Local anesthetics are the most widely used drugs in dentistry today. Knowledge of the pharmacology and toxicology of these agents will result in their intelligent and judicious use. The choice of local anesthetic should be individualized for each patient. Aims and objectives: The basic aim of the study is to analyze the choice of local anesthesia technique used by dental practitioners in Pakistan. Methodology of the study: This study was conducted at Punjab dental hospital, Lahore during 2018 with the permission of ethical committee of hospital. The data was collected from the house officers of the different dental institutes of Lahore. The data was collected through a questionnaire. The questionnaire was modified and administered to general dental practitioners. This questionnaire was related to local anaesthesia used by the dentists during different dental techniques. Results: The data was collected from 100 dental house officers of different institutes of Lahore. Response rate was 59%. There were 85 (53.1%) male respondents and 75 (46.9%) female respondents and the male to female ratio is 1.1: 1, with 126 (78.8%). Comparing training received by general dentists and specialists in local anesthesia techniques, Training had been received for IANB by 81.8% (n=131), for Gow-Gates by 16.3% (n=26), for Vazirani Akinosi by 8.1% (n=13), for intraligamental by 51.3% (n=82) and for infiltration by 65%. Conclusion: It is concluded that local anaesthesia is an inevitable aspect of dental practice. Most practitioners will experience it less often than they achieve success.