Knowledge, awareness and practice among dental practitioner regarding various topical anaesthetic agents used in dental clinics

Aim: To determine the knowledge and awareness of various topical anaesthetic agents used in dentistry among the dental practitioners. Background: Topical anaesthesia is a numbing gel it is used to numb your gums or other tissues before an injection so that u can't feel the needle glide in and to relieve the pain during procedures. These products contain drugs such as benzocaine, lidocaine or tetracaine. Materials and method: A questionnaire was made consisting of 10 questions. It was send to 50 dental practitioners working in Chennai and were asked to answer. Result: It was found that 53.2%of dental practitioners are not aware of adverse effect of topical anesthetics. 73% of patients dislike topical anesthesia due to its taste. Conclusion: It was found that all the participants who answered the survey had adequate awareness about topical anesthesia. The mode of administration of topical anesthetics should be improved. The taste of it should also be improved in the case where topical anesthetics are to be given for children.