Eastman Kodak Company’s dental business is discontinuing production of Cook-Waite Carbocaine HCl 2% with Neo-Cobefrin 1:20,000 (mepivacaine hydrochloride and levonordefrin injection, USP) because a key constituent of the local anesthetic is no longer available. In conjunction with the announcement, Kodak is recommending that dentists who have used Carbocaine 2% switch to one of Kodak’s other premium medium-duration injectable local anesthetics: Cook-Waite Lidocaine HCl 2% and Epinephrine 1:100,000 injection (lidocaine hydrochloride and epinephrine injection, USP) Cook-Waite Lidocaine HCl 2% and Epinephrine 1:50,000 injection (lidocaine hydrochloride and epinephrine injection, USP) or Cook-Waite Carbocaine 3% injection without vasoconstrictor (mepivacaine hydrochloride injection, USP).
Kodak is discontinuing Carbocaine 2% because it can no longer obtain levonordefrin, a key constituent of the local anesthetic. “We rely on a number of suppliers to provide the ingredients used to manufacture our line of injectable local anesthetics,” said James Flood, anesthetics product line manager, Kodak’s dental business. “When the sole supplier of levonordefrin decided to discontinue its production, it had an unavoidable impact on our production capabilities.”
Kodak expects the inability to obtain levonordefrin will require other manufacturers of mepivacaine hydrochloride and levonordefrin to also discontinue production as well.
Alternatives to Carbocaine 2%
Kodak’s premium Cook-Waite Lidocaine 2% injectable local anesthetic offers properties that are very comparable to those of Carbocaine 2%. Both have strengths of 2% and provide 60-90 minutes of anesthesia. For this reason, Kodak is encouraging its customers to choose Cook-Waite Lidocaine 2% as their medium-duration injectable local anesthetic.
Cook-Waite Carbocaine 3% injectable local anesthetic, while a shorter-duration anesthetic, may also be suitable for dentists who need an alternative to Carbocaine 2%.
“Dentists trust the Cook-Waite brand name. They know our history of manufacturing products to the highest possible quality standards,” noted David C. Allen, general manager, United States and Canada, Kodak’s dental business. “We’re pleased that our top-of-the-line Lidocaine 2% or Carbocaine 3% products offer dentists a way to minimize the disruption caused by the discontinuance of Carbocaine 2%.”
Allen also noted that switching to Lidocaine 2% will allow dentists to reduce their anesthetic costs. Dentists can purchase Cook-Waite Lidocaine 2% or Carbocaine 3% from leading dental products dealers. For more information, dentists can call 800-933-8031 or visit Kodak’s dental business website at www.kodak.com/go/dental.
About Kodak’s Dental Business
Kodak’s dental business is a leading participant in infoimaging, a $225 billion industry created by the convergence of image-and-information technology. The business develops, manufactures and markets imaging capture and output solutions for dental practitioners, including intraoral and extraoral dental imaging films and processing chemistry; medical inkjet printers, inks and papers; 35mm photographic films, digital cameras, printers and accessories for dental applications; Cook?Waite brand local anesthetics; and a variety of related products and services. Infoimaging unites three closely related imaging markets that enable people to more easily take and share images as information: devices, such as digital cameras and medical inkjet printers; infrastructure, such as networks; and services and media, such as medical grade inkjet paper.
For more information about Kodak’s dental business call 800-933-8031 or visit Kodak’s Health Imaging Dental Products Group website at www.kodak.com/go/dental. For technical questions about any Kodak dental product, you can also call (U.S.) 800-933-8031 or your regional Kodak products representative.
(Note: Kodak and Cook-Waite are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company.)