Local Anesthesia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Local Anesthesia - Essay Example In states wherein the application of local anesthesia is allowed, the dental hygienist is initially authorized by the dentist of the dental clinic to administer the reagent to the client (DeAngelis and Goral, 2000). The application of local anesthesia has been delegated to dental hygienists because this procedure is not frequently employed, with exception to a few particular dental scenarios (Wilkins, 1994). However, majority of the cases wherein local anesthesia was administered to the client indicated satisfaction in the dental services that they received. It is thus apparent that the administration of local anesthesia to clients of a dental clinic experiences significantly less pain than those who were not given any local anesthesia. It has been reported that local anesthesia is usually administered during periodontal practice, with approximately 10% of clients needing this reagent. The utilization of local anesthesia presents a number of discrepancies in terms of its frequency and reasons for use. Firstly, it has been reported that the administration of local anesthesia by dental hygienists are more often performed based on the request of the client, as compared to the frequency of request by the attending dentist. It is thus possible that some of these cases could have been conducted without the need for a local block. Secondly, the frequency of use of local anesthesia by dental hygienists varied among states, thus there may be additional reasons that could influence the options of the client, dental hygienist and dentist. The application of local anesthesia has also been associated with a number of side effects, including that of a toxic reaction to the reagent (Brand et al., 2009). Other associated reactions may be linked to the loss of sensitivity of the mouth area, thus resulting in a change in the quality of service of the client soon after a dental proc edure has been performed. Given such discrepancies with regards to the utilization of local anesthesia by dental hygienists, this study would thus want to address the issue of local anesthesia administration in two specific states, namely Connecticut and Washington. It should be understood that Washington carries a longer history of implementation of local anesthesia, as compared to Connecticut. It would thus be important and informative to determine whether there are any differences in the frequency of use of local anesthesia in these two states. In addition, the satisfaction of both dentists and dental hygienists from the use of local anesthesia would be examined in this study. Any information that would be gathered from this investigation may provide a better understanding of the reasons and factors that influence the administration of local anesthesia to dental clients. This study will be performed by collecting the perceptions of dentists and dental hygienists on the issue of the administration of local anesthesia. A battery of questions that are related to the use of local anesthesia during dental services will be presented in questionnaires that will be given to study participants. One limitation of this investigation is that the study population may be fully represent the entire country, yet the particular features of each