[The prevention of accidents in dental local anesthesia]

The relatively rare complications developing under local anaesthesia may be due to various causes. The possibilities of the development of accidents under local anaesthesia are outlined; and prophylactic and therapeutic measures are deduced. A schematic premedication cannot prevent the development of complications with a sufficient degree of certainty; for instance, in certain cases the administration of atropine alone will still worsen the course of a complication. On the contrary, an individual premedication should be aimed at, especially in risk patients; the dosage must take into consideration all important factors. Consequently, atropine is of less importance than, for example, psychopharmaca and beta-receptor blockers.