Benzocaine Feedback

If you use Benzocaine please help others by adding your feedback. What would you tell your best friend about this product? Please remember that we do not give medical advice. That is for your local health care provider, who is familiar with your medical history.

Expired Orajel
Date: 11/30/2013
I used orajel that was expired by 5 years for a sore in my mouth caused by lower particial plate. It has left me with a severe chemical burn on a large area of my left bottom gum. I used alot and didn’t see that the orajel had turned a light brown until I used my finger to spred it all over my gum inside and out. Very very painful burn.

Renee

Kank-a review
Date: 2/21/2014
Kank-a: I used for my canker sore, big mistake. It cause bad irritation in my mouth, almost blister like, and has cause my lip to swell up. At first I was thinking that maybe it was more then a canker sore until I read the side effect that can occur using kana-a.

Suze

AskDocWeb: According to the Kank-A website, Kank-A® offers a line of products, each of which contains maximum strength benzocaine. Other brand names of benzocaine include Americaine Hemorrhoidal, Anacaine, Anbesol Gel, Babee Teething Lotion, Benzodent, Benzo-O-Stetic, Cepacol Extra Strength, Cepacol Sore Throat & Coating, Dent-O-Kain, Dermoplast, Hurricaine, Kank-a, Lanacane, Medicone Maximum Strength, Numzident, Num-Zit, Orabase, Orajel Baby, Orajel Denture, Oral Pain Relief, Outgro Pain Relief, Retre-Gel, Skeeter Stik, Solarcaine Aerosol, Sting-Kill, Topex, and Vagisil Feminine Cream. Any swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue may indicate an allergic reaction.

Expired Benzocaine
Date: 8/3/2014
Good afternoon, Sorry I don’t have a review, but I do have a question I would like to ask about benzocaine. We have the product at home “Walgreen’s Maximum Strength Gel: Oral Analgesic with Benzocaine” and it has expired. I have a family member that after applying the medication found out. Is there any complications that come after applying this medication that expired or is it nothing to worry about?

Glory

AskDocWeb: Expiration dates are a very conservative guide to the longevity or shelf-life of medications. An expiration date is a guarantee from the manufacturer that a medication will maintain its full potency and safety up to that date. Most medications, though, retain their potency well beyond the expiration date, and outdated medications, whether prescription or over-the-counter, are not usually harmful. Benzocaine is one of the exceptions and should not be used after the expiration date.

If most medications have been stored under good conditions, they should retain all or much of their potency for at least one to two years following the expiration date, even after the container is opened. However, you should discard any medication that has changed color, consistency or smell, and any liquids that appear cloudy or filmy; or any tubes of cream that have become hardened or cracked.

Sources: Johns Hopkins Medicine and NPS MedicineWise

Expiration date
Date: 8/3/2014
I read that benzocaine is not advised to be used after the expiration date. Will that include the use of oral gel like the Walgreens Oral anesthetic?

Jesus

AskDocWeb: Yes, that would apply to any product that contains benzocaine as one of the ingredients.

Taking chemo
Date: 6/19/2015
Is there any medical problems or side effects with oxygen in your blood or etc. using kanka softbrush tooth & gum pain gel, I have mds & am taking chemo one week every month??

Harry

AskDocWeb: According to the US National Laboratory of Medicine: “Chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis can result in inadequate oral intake, local and systemic infection, a prolonged hospital stay, and increased cost of treatment. Treatment of the pain resulting from this condition can greatly lessen these problems. Hydroxypropyl cellulose gel with benzocaine (Zilactin B) has been shown to effectively reduce the pain of mucositis for up to 3 hours.” Zilactin B contains 10% benzocaine. Kanka softbrush tooth & gum pain gel contains 20% benzocaine. Both products cost around $8.00.

Drug test
Date: 11/14/2016
I get random drug testing at work. Four years of clean tests. However, one of these occured as I was undergoing dental work, so I was using benzocaine 20%(Orajel) for pain along with lidocaine from the dentist during the procedure. The next day my in-house drug test popped for cocaine and benzos; I almost crapped myself in shock! After a little research my boss and I found many stories confirming the same results and I was vindicated. After being sent to the lab for a very detailed test, it showed a slight difference which was also helpful to my situation. Moral of the story: if you pop for those on a cheap home test you very well might have a leg to stand on. Worked for me.

Eric

AskDocWeb: Thank Eric, you are correct. Many people have experienced false positives on cheap drug tests – so many that we researched and put together a list of possibles causes.

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