title: Local anesthetics, pulpal blood flow and C. Edmund Kells.
abstract: Historically there was an attempt by many dental practitioners to implicate anesthetic solutions in the death of the dental pulp. However, their implications may or may not have been valid, as damage to the dental pulp may have resulted from excessive and deleterious restorative procedures on teeth that were anesthetized. Unfortunately little was known about the anesthetic solutions at that time, their composition, which included vasoconstrictors, and their potential to alter pulpal blood flow. This paper will explore both the historical perspectives and concerns regarding the impact of anesthetic solutions on the dental pulp through the eyes of Dr. C. Edmund Kells, along with the contemporary perspectives and realities through the eyes of science, sound research data and clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Emeritus Baylor College of Dentistry, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Dallas, Texas, USA. jlgutmann@earthlink.net
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gutmann
mesh_terms: D000766:Anesthesia, Dental / Q000266:history*; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000266:history*; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000187:drug effects; D003814:Dentistry, Operative / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local