Local Anesthesia

Introduction

Dentists use pain control products to control pain and discomfort their procedures may cause. The best way to achieve pain control is with the traditional use of local anesthetics. A local anesthetic is a substance that is injected to a specific area inside the mouth to cause a reversible loss of sensation. This means that after a certain amount of time, the numbing goes away. Each anesthetic drug does the same thing – they all “numb”. However there are different anesthetic drugs in the dental market that can be used on patients. This is a decision that the dentist will make based on the age, weight and medical history of the patient.

There are 5 different types of anesthetics that are available in the dental market, but only one that is designed and used strictly for dentistry – Ultracaine®. Ultracaine® is a brand of anesthetic drug that is available to dentists across Canada and is known as a very profound anesthetic. Ultracaine® is clinically proven effective by proving anesthetic success in routine dental procedures. Ultracaine® is a rapidly growing anesthetic in the dental market, and with 30+ years of experience, there have been zero recalls on the solution!

Ultracaine® History

Ultracaine® is the original Articaine, one of the main local anesthetic drugs used in dentistry. It was designed specifically for dentistry and was developed in the late 1970’s by a German company, which is now a part of Sanofi – one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Ultracaine®was launched in Canada in 1983, while the distribution was taken over by HANSAmed in 1999. Presently, we are still the sole distributor of Ultracaine® worldwide!

Ultracaine® Manufacturing

Each individual Ultracaine® cartridge is manufactured aseptically and is latex-free. Ultracaine® is the only anesthetic that is packaged in a unique environmentally-friendly, all-cardboard packaging that is easy to recycle. Ultracaine® is manufactured with two epinephrine concentrations: Ultracaine® DS and Ultracaine®DS-Forte. The only difference between Ultracaine® DS and Ultracaine® DS-Forte is how long the numbing will last. Ultracaine® DS-Forte is known as “the surgeon's anesthetic” because it lasts longer than Ultracaine®DS.

DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR DENTISTRY

Ultracaine®4% (articaine hydrochloride with epinephrine) is indicated for infiltration anesthesia and nerve block anesthesia in clinical dentistry.

How the patient will benefit from Ultracaine®

As a patient seeking dental treatment, you are hoping to be treated with the most premium dental products on the market to ensure success and safety. Ultracaine® has unique properties that are different than any other local anesthetic drug available. The chemical structure of Ultracaine® gives the medication a quick onset (the time it takes for the medication to work) of 1-3 minutes. This ensures the patient is comfortable right from the start of the treatment until the end. Ultracaine® also has additional safety properties. The way the medication is broken down in the body naturally reduces the risk of toxicity and overdose. This happens because Ultracaine® has the shortest half-life (the time it takes for half of the medication to be metabolized) of 27 minutes.
As a patient, you have a right to know which materials are being used in your mouth at each procedure – including dental anesthetics. Ask your dentist about Ultracaine®, a clinically proven effective anesthetic drug.

What is the Special Access Program?

Health Canada’s Special Access Program considers requests for access to drugs that are unavailable for sale in Canada from practitioners treating patients with serious or life-threatening conditions when conventional treatment has failed, is unsuitable or unavailable.

Ultracaine Brochure

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