Benzocaine 3% oromucosal liquid
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
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Official medicine documents
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Benzocaine
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Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Benzocaine
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EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
1 branded products available
Part of the Ultra Chloraseptic brand family (generic: Benzocaine)
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Benzocaine on the MHRA register
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity is based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and on a factual NHS dm+d therapeutic-grouping code prefix. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NICE clinical guidance(1)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
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Search for this medicine at major UK pharmacy chains. These links open the retailer's own website — results depend on their current online catalogue.
Supply & safety information
Official UK regulator monitoring and safety alerts
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. Shortage and safety information sourced from MHRA drug safety updates (gov.uk, Crown Copyright under OGL v3.0).
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF code shown is the factual mapping value distributed by NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in the dm+d supplementary file under OGL v3.0; it is not affiliated with, nor licensed from, the publishers of the British National Formulary. ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing the 50 most relevant studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 7 · Randomised trials: 13 · 1970–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
V. Naik, Deepak Sharma, Ashish K. Jain, et al.
Cureus, 2024
Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 5% eutectic mixture of local anesthetics (EMLA) cream and 20% benzocaine gel in reduction of pain during rubber dam clamp placement in the treatment of non-carious cervical lesions (NCCLs). Methodology In this split-mouth single-blind randomized clinical trial, 50 adult participants were selected from the outpatient department. The test group was treated using 5% EMLA cream for three minutes, and visual analog scale (VAS) scores were recorded. The comparison group was treated using 20% benzocaine gel and procedure was repeated as that in the test group. After recording the VAS scores, NCCLs in both the groups were restored using composite restoration. Results In the included 50 participants, 70% were males, with an age group of 31-67 years. The mean VAS score at 3 minutes in EMLA group was significantly lower than that in benzocaine group. Conclusion Application of 5% EMLA cream for 3 minutes showed greater pain reduction during rubber dam clamp placement as compared to 20% benzocaine gel in adult patients with NCCLs.
Abstract licence: CC BY
Rai S, Jaisani MR, Dongol A, et al.
2024
BackgroundPalatal injections are often painful. We aimed to compare topical ice and 20% benzocaine gel for pre-injection anesthesia before greater palatine nerve block (GPNB) injections.MethodsA randomized split-mouth clinical trial was conducted among patients aged 15-60-years needing bilateral GPNB injections. A total of 120 palatal sites from 60 patients were randomly allocated to Group A (topical ice) or Group B (20% benzocaine gel). Pain was evaluated using sound, eye, motor (SEM), and the visual analog scale (VAS) in both groups. Inferential analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 20.5 ± 3.9 years. The median VAS score for group A was 11 (Q1 - Q3: 5.25 - 21.75), which was slightly higher than the 10 (Q1 - Q3: 4.0 - 26.75) reported in group B. However, the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.955). The median SEM score for group A and group B was 3.5 (Q1 - Q3: 3.0 - 4.0) and 4.0 (Q1 - Q3: 3.0 - 4.0), respectively, which was statistically insignificant (P = 0.869).ConclusionUsing ice as a form of topical anesthetic for achieving pre-injection anesthesia before GPNB was as effective as 20% benzocaine gel.
Abstract licence: CC BY-NC
Karkoutly M, Alatassi L, Azrak L, et al.
2024
Sazgar Muhammed Sabir, Abduljaleel Samad, Shereen Najat Haji, et al.
Erbil Dental Journal, 2025
Kiriishi K, Ayuse T, Tanoue N, et al.
2026
- Benzocaine
- Anesthetics, Local
- Anesthesia, Local
Ninawe N, Anija CK
2025
Stephan Warnke, Jongcheol Seo, Jasper Boschmans, et al.
Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2015
- Anesthetics, Local
- Benzocaine
- Models, Molecular
Manisha Nair, D. Gurunathan
Journal of Anaesthesiology, Clinical Pharmacology, 2019
L. Eslamian, A. Borzabadi-Farahani, H. Gholami
Australasian Orthodontic Journal, 2016
Nurain Rehman, S. R. Qazi
Anesthesia progress, 2019
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
1 found
Half-life
Not available
Mechanism
Benzocaine diffuses into nerve cells where it binds to sodium channels, preventi…
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
1 target
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Protein binding
[A231124]
Metabolism
[A231094]…
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
[A231219]
Benzocaine products are indicated for topical anesthesia in a wide variety of conditions including skin irritation,[L32454] oral pain,[L32459] and hemorrhoids.
[L32464]
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 1964 interactions
[A231219]
Patients should be treated with symptomatic and supportive measures which include airway maintenance, controlling seizures, and hemodynamic stabilization.
[A231219]
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[A231124]
[A231094]
4-aminobenzoic acid can be acetylated or acetylbenzocaine can undergo ester hydrolysis to form 4-acetaminobenzoic acid.
[A231094]
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
Proteins that transport this drug across cell membranes
PMID:2897240 PMID:35970996 PMID:8898203 PMID:9038218 PMID:35507548
Catalyzes the flop of phospholipids from the cytoplasmic to the exoplasmic leaflet of the apical membrane. Participates mainly to the flop of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, beta-D-glucosylceramides and sphingomyelins .
PMID:8898203
Energy-dependent efflux pump responsible for decreased drug accumulation in multidrug-resistant cells PMID:2897240 PMID:35970996 PMID:9038218
Proteins that carry this drug through the body
PMID:19021548
Major calcium and magnesium transporter in plasma, binds approximately 45% of circulating calcium and magnesium in plasma (By similarity).
Potentially has more than two calcium-binding sites and might additionally bind calcium in a non-specific manner (By similarity). The shared binding site between zinc and calcium at residue Asp-273 suggests a crosstalk between zinc and calcium transport in the blood (By similarity). The rank order of affinity is zinc > calcium > magnesium (By similarity).
Binds to the bacterial siderophore enterobactin and inhibits enterobactin-mediated iron uptake of E.coli from ferric transferrin, and may thereby limit the utilization of iron and growth of enteric bacteria such as E.coli .
PMID:6234017
Does not prevent iron uptake by the bacterial siderophore aerobactin PMID:6234017
Appears to function in modulating the activity of the immune system during the acute-phase reaction
ATC C05AD03
ATC R02AD01
ATC D04AB04
ATC N01BA05
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Benzocaine
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
8903
ChemSpider
13854242
BindingDB
197282
ZINC
ZINC000012358719
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10582
GenAtlas
SCN10A
GeneCards
SCN10A
GenBank Gene Database
AF117907
GenBank Protein Database
4838145
Guide to Pharmacology
585
UniProt Accession
SCNAA_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2596
GenAtlas
CYP1A2
GeneCards
CYP1A2
GenBank Gene Database
Z00036
Guide to Pharmacology
1319
UniProt Accession
CP1A2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2615
GeneCards
CYP2B6
GenBank Gene Database
M29874
GenBank Protein Database
181296
Guide to Pharmacology
1324
UniProt Accession
CP2B6_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2621
GeneCards
CYP2C19
GenBank Gene Database
M61854
GenBank Protein Database
181344
Guide to Pharmacology
1328
UniProt Accession
CP2CJ_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2625
GenAtlas
CYP2D6
GeneCards
CYP2D6
GenBank Gene Database
M20403
GenBank Protein Database
181350
Guide to Pharmacology
1329
UniProt Accession
CP2D6_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2631
GeneCards
CYP2E1
GenBank Gene Database
J02625
GenBank Protein Database
181360
Guide to Pharmacology
1330
UniProt Accession
CP2E1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:1863
GenAtlas
CES1
GeneCards
CES1
GenBank Gene Database
M73499
Guide to Pharmacology
2592
UniProt Accession
EST1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:399
GenAtlas
ALB
GeneCards
ALB
GenBank Gene Database
V00494
GenBank Protein Database
28590
UniProt Accession
ALBU_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:8498
GenAtlas
ORM1
GeneCards
ORM1
GenBank Gene Database
X02544
GenBank Protein Database
757907
UniProt Accession
A1AG1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:8499
GeneCards
ORM2
GenBank Gene Database
BC015964
GenBank Protein Database
16359000
UniProt Accession
A1AG2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:40
GenAtlas
ABCB1
GeneCards
ABCB1
GenBank Gene Database
M14758
GenBank Protein Database
307180
Guide to Pharmacology
768
UniProt Accession
MDR1_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications:
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Structured knowledge from the free knowledge base
Linked open data from Wikidata (Q422745), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication. WHO INN from the World Health Organization.