The Editor,

Journal of Maxillofacial & Oral Surgery

Dear Sir,

  1. 1.

    Greetings to you. I am writing to you with reference to my article—Arched Needle Technique for Inferior Alveolar Mandibular Nerve Block, J Maxillofac Oral Surg. 2013 Mar; 12(1): 113–116. Published online 2011 Oct 19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12663-011-0310-1. The ibid study has been cited twice and has been demerited by both citations based on incorrect inferences. The two citations are as follows:

    1. a.

      Darpan Bhargava. Arched Needle Technique for Inferior Alveolar Mandibular Nerve Block J Maxillofac Oral Surg. 2015 Jun; 14(2): 509–510. Published online 2013 Apr 18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12663-013-0515-6.

    2. b.

      Chang Kim, Kyung-Gyun Hwang and Chang-Joo Park. Local anesthesia for mandibular third molar extraction. J Dent Anesth Pain Med. 2018 Oct;18(5):287–294. English. Published online October 31, 2018. https://doi.org/10.17245/jdapm.2018.18.5.287.

  2. 2.

    Both the above studies have discredited my work based on an incorrect presumption that we tested the needles for breakage by bending them prior to insertion in the tissue. This is incorrect, as the article states that the bending test was carried out in vitro. This test was carried out using a separate set of needles. However, the needle which was used for administering the inferior alveolar nerve block was neither pre-bent nor pre-arched. The Materials & Methods section of my article clearly states the technique used and does not mention any kind of pre-bending test prior to insertion of needle in the tissue for administration of the block.

  3. 3.

    Our technique is very effective as is evident from the high success rate, and over the past decade, we have used it in more than 50,000 patients with consistent results. It is a very versatile technique, and the readers will surely benefit from this clarification of misconceptions which might have been raised by the above-cited articles.

Best regards,

Ashish Chakranarayan.