Marijuana claims a new class of victims
Ever been told by your dentist, “Gee! I seem to be off today! I cannot get you fully frozen”. When this situation occurs, dentists will chat among themselves as to the reason(s). According to all text books on dental anesthesia, failure is generally accepted to be around 15 to 18%. There are many reasons listed, ranging from a bad batch of anesthetic solution to persons who may be classified as having accessory innervation, or patients with anatomical variations. Other explanations could be infection within the gum tissue, too rapid a delivery of the solution, or even an over anxious patient. Enters a new variable into the equation…”A Change in Life Style” of patients. Cannibis…known on the street as Marijuana. Dentists have never had to deal with this variable factor back in the sixties and seventies. Before he/she starts the “marinating” process, with six different brand of anesthetic solution, [all to no avail], let me explain the pharmacological maze. Smokers of marijuana trigger high liver enzyme activity which hastens the breakdown (metabolism) of the local anesthetic, resulting in a situation of not being able to sustain profound anesthesia. Comments to localanesthetics@yahoo.ca
Author: M.Sc. PharmD.
About the Author
Haynes Darlington M.Sc. PharmD. (CCPE) joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1969 on the medical side. In 1982 he was selected to the dental team to make submissions to regulatory agencies (FDA) and HC (Health Canada) to obtain acceptance for Articaine hcl into North America for Dental use as a local anesthetic. He is highly respected among peers in the field of pharmacology and bio-chemistry. In 1999, Haynes received The Team Excellence Award from The City of New York. The award recognized the value and professionalism of a continuing education program.
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