Benzocaine

Category: topical

Aliases: Anbesol, Orajel

Pharmacological Mechanism

Ester-class topical local anesthetic — Na+ channel blocker. OTC oral gels for dental pain, throat lozenges, condoms. Methemoglobinemia risk (especially in infants/children) is the FDA-warned concern.

Half-Life (t½)

TD: 1h

Dosing Guidelines

• TD: Typical 50 mg (Range: 5–200 mg)

Target Organ Systems

• nervous
• integumentary

Pathways It Modulates

• Voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav1.x) (inhibitor) — Nav1.x (topical ester LA)

Chemical Identifiers

• PubChem CID: 2337
• Formula: C9H11NO2
• Molecular weight: 165.19 g/mol
• InChIKey: BLFLLBZGZJTVJG-UHFFFAOYSA-N
• SMILES: CCOC(=O)C1=CC=C(C=C1)N