Journal of the California Dental Association
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For hundreds of years, mankind has struggled with the problem of controlling pain during surgical procedures without putting the patient to sleep. In 1884, cocaine was discovered to have local anesthetic properties and soon became widely used in many types of surgery. The many undesirable properties of cocaine led scientists to find a safer alternative. Since then, more effective local anesthetics have been and continue to be developed.
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Permanent nerve involvement following inferior alveolar nerve block may occur from 1 in 20,000 to 850,000 patients with little information on local anesthetic used. Patients with permanent nerve damage from blocks were recorded. ⋯ Nerve blocks can cause permanent damage to the nerves, independent of the local anesthetic used. Articaine is associated with this phenomenon in proportion to its usage.