Before we can even think about doing a good job for our patients we need one very important thing. Not good, but great anesthesia. We need a patient who is relaxed and able to accept treatment in a stress-free environment. We all have patients who have difficulty getting numb. They stress, we stress and sometimes that great prep that we need is impossible to attain. What can we do to avoid this problem?

At CEREC 27 and a half, I had the pleasure of talking to a vendor who has a product that may just be able to help. For decades the medical profession has been routinely buffering their anesthetics. Dentistry was behind the times, mostly because of our delivery system. We have pre-filled carpules that made adding or mixing very difficult. Well that problem is now a thing of the past, thanks to Onpharma www.onpharma.com. This company has devised a system which makes adding sodium bicarbonate to your anesthetic very simple.

Buffering makes your injection less painful, gives a faster onset and causes less tissue damage so there is less post-injection pain. The science behind it is available on their website, and is astonishing. It’s worth the read and is a good refresher if nothing else. They say that buffering anesthetic outside of the body yields 2500X more active form of the anesthetic before it is injected.

I love to read research, but anecdotal information is worth a great deal to me as well. While I was at the booth another doctor was there taking advantage of the show special. He told me that he has been using this buffering system on select cases and said that for the most part patients were experiencing lip signs with lower blocks before the needle was even out. He also said that he was able to get one particular patient profoundly numb for the first time after failing for the last 20 years. That sold me.

So, while this is only an attempt to pass on information from the show, I will add that there are other companies offering similar products. Do your own research and see if this is right for you and your patients. Also, keep in mind that most if not all of the available research has been conducted using Lidocaine only. So if you go this route you should use it with Lidocaine only.

If we can give our machines the best possible prep, the rest is easy. To do so we need a compliant and comfortable patient. This may be one way to achieve our goals and make everything else fall into place.

So Jeff, have you been able to use the system yet? I want to hear it from dentists that I trust and know before I accept the responsibility of bringing something new into my own office. Let me know how it works for you!
Thanks for your time!

I haven't used it yet but will soon. I will Post my experiences.

Onset is one of those must have products. I have been using it for over a year and achieve profound numbness within two minutes. You will save an hour in your schedule every day and not have to worry about those difficult to numb patients or how long will it take to get the patient numb. Don't leave the chair after you deliver the anesthetic as you can start your procedure almost immediately!