Dental work- Lidocaine and epinephrine

[madalina21]

I have a 14 weeks old boy and I'm nursing. Next week I have to do a dental work and the dentist told me that she has to do an anesthesia (with lidocaine and epinephrine). The dentist mentioned that I should not nurse for 4-5 hours.
I read on the internet all kind of suggestions and advice and I don't know what to think.

Should I pump and dump the milk, or after 4-5 hours is safe for the baby?

Thank you very much for you replay and advice.

Have a nice day,
Madalina

[admin-james]

Hi, thanks for your post.

The amount of lidocaine used in typical dental anesthesia is fairly low. Lido from local anesthesia is absorbed slowly from the injection site, so the blood levels never get very high. A small fraction of what's in your bloodstream does get into the milk, but it is poorly absorbed by the baby. You should be able to breastfeed right away with no trouble.

An earlier forum post re: lidocaine injection discussed local anesthesia in the breast. The recommendations we made in that circumstance do not apply here.

The epinephrine has such a short half-life that it will be gone by the time you get home.

Please call us at the InfantRisk Center if this has not completely answered your question. (806)352-2519

-James Abbey, MD
and
-Thomas W. Hale, Ph.D.