Aspirations and solutions--a 20 year journey through dental local anaesthetics.

This paper describes clinical and laboratory investigations concerned with the delivery, comfort, systemic effects and efficacy of dental local anaesthesia. Factors influencing the aspirating ability of dental local anaesthetic delivery systems are discussed. The effects of adrenaline in dental local anaesthetic solutions on plasma potassium levels and on the transplanted heart are described. The use of an infiltration technique as an alternative to the inferior alveolar nerve block in the mandible is discussed.