I have been told that I may be allergic to novocaine or that I can not take the epinephrine in the novocaine. Is that true or accurate?
First of all, novocaine is an old anesthetic not commonly used in dentistry today. The most common local anesthetics used in dentistry today are lidocaine and articaine, which have a very different chemical composition than novocaine. These drugs are more effective and have a higher safety margin than novocaine. A true allergy to either lidocaine or articaine is very rare. However depending on the amount, the time frame or how the local anesthetic is given, a person may have a non-allergic reaction to the anesthetic. The most common non-allergic reaction is heart palpitations or an increase in the heart rate, which goes away by itself usually within 10 minutes without any treatment. For example, a painful injection can cause an increase in heart rate. An injection given too fast commonly causes pain and can cause an increase in heart rate for most people. Excessive local anesthetic given within too short a time period can cause an increase in heart rate. Local anesthetic injected into
