Tips for Administering the Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block

By Marion C. Manski, RDH, MS, Deborah L. Cartee, RDH, MS

Dental pain management requires a thorough understanding of head and neck anatomy. As the practice acts of most states—excluding only Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas—allow dental hygienists to administer local anesthesia, the skills and confidence to perform pain management are commonplace among dental hygiene professionals. Of the 44 states and the District of Columbia that allow dental hygienists to administer local anesthesia, all but two—New York and South Carolina—allow dental hygienists to administer the inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB), commonly referred to as the mandibular block.¹

* References can be found in the original article via the link below.
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