The place of James Arnott (1797-1883) in the development of local anaesthesia in dentistry.

Dental disease in the form of caries and abscesses has been known since antiquity. Before the advent of anaesthesia, operations upon the mouth were painful. The introduction of general anaesthesia in the form of ether and chloroform seemed to provide a solution, but there was an unacceptable level of mortality. James Arnott introduced local anaesthesia by means of freezing with ice, which he considered safer. He waged a long campaign and his method received recognition and was used in France and the USA. His method stimulated the development of pharmacological anaesthesia.