Knowledge, Awareness, and Practice Regarding the Use of Phentolamine Mesylate: A Soft-tissue Local Anesthesia Reversal Agent among Dental Professionals – A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study

Abstract

Background: One of the drugs that is most frequently used in dentistry is local anesthetics. They are decisive while performing any dental procedure. The average length of a dental procedure is 47 min, but the local anesthetics used in standard dental procedures last between 1 and 3 h, with the most common inadequacy being the persistence of soft-tissue anesthesia (the numbness of the lips, cheeks, and tongue), which can persist for at least 3–5 h. This extended soft-tissue anesthetic in children can result in self-inflicted wounds like biting of the lips, tongue, or cheek. Aim: The study’s aim was to evaluate dental practitioners’ knowledge, awareness, and usage of phentolamine mesylate, a soft-tissue local anesthetic reversal agent. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and two dentists and graduate students participated in the study by filling out a validated questionnaire. The data obtained were entered into an Excel sheet and statistically analyzed using SPSS software version 22.0. It was observed that 66.50% of the participants had knowledge scores that were lower than the mean, 81.07% had awareness scores that were lower than the mean, and 91.26% had practice scores that were lower than the mean. With a very statistically significant P = 0.0001 (P = 0.05), Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient revealed a positive correlation between knowledge, awareness, and practice. Conclusion: There was a general lack of knowledge about the drug phentolamine mesylate leading to lesser attitude, thereby leading to lesser use of the drug.

Keywords

• children
• dentists
• knowledge
• local anesthesia
• reversal agent
• self-inflicting injury
• soft tissue anesthesia