Can you take articaine while breastfeeding?
What LactMed says
The National Library of Medicine’s own summary, quoted in full. We do not write a verdict of our own on this question, and we do not compress theirs into a label.
Based on the low excretion of articaine into breastmilk, a single dose of articaine injected during breastfeeding is unlikely to adversely affect the breastfed infant.
Quoted from Articaine — Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed®), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, revised June 15, 2025.
How much articaine gets into breastmilk
Maternal Levels. Two mothers donated 3 mL of breastmilk before 68 mg of articaine injection for dental anesthesia and at 15 and 30 minutes, 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 hours after administration. Peak milk articaine concentrations of 237 and 270 mcg/L occurred 15 minutes after administration and fell to about 10 mcg/L by 3 hours after the dose.
Six nursing mothers were given an intraoral injection of 1.7 mL of a 4% articaine injection with 1:100,000 epinephrine that provided a total dose of 68 mg articaine. Three mL milk samples were collected before articaine administration and at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 3 hours after the injection. Peak milk articaine levels, which occurred at 15 minutes after injection, averaged 257 mcg/L. Another 6 mothers received the same dose, but emptied their breasts before the dose and 3 hours after the dose. The concentration of articaine in the 3 hour sample was 15.6 mcg/L. Using these data, a computer model was constructed and predicted that the articaine dose in a breastfed infant would be 1.12 mg of articaine, which is equivalent to 0.05% of the safe dose of 5 mg/kg. The predicted peak concentration in infant plasma was 0.19 mcg/L compared to a toxic concentration of 3,100 mcg/L.
Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
What has been seen in breastfed infants
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Frequently asked questions
Can you take articaine while breastfeeding?
What the NIH's Drugs and Lactation Database says about Articaine while breastfeeding — quoted in full. The full record is quoted on this page, and the decision is one to make with the person who prescribed it — LactMed itself states it is not a substitute for professional judgement.
Does articaine pass into breastmilk?
LactMed's measured drug levels for articaine are quoted in full on this page, under "How much gets into breastmilk".
Do I need to pump and dump after taking articaine?
LactMed does not frame its records that way — it reports measured drug levels in milk and what has been observed in breastfed infants, which is what this page quotes. "Pump and dump" advice for a specific drug and dose should come from your clinician or a pharmacist, not from a general rule.
More on articaine
LactMed states that the information it presents is not a substitute for professional judgement, and that you should consult your healthcare provider for breastfeeding advice related to your particular situation. Nothing on this page is medical advice.