Anesthesia & Pain Management Insider: Dexamethasone reduces pain after third-molar extractions

Dear Anesthesia & Pain Management Insider,

Dentists and oral surgeons are always looking for better ways to reduce their patients' pain after surgery, and a new study may have a solution. An injection of dexamethasone before surgery significantly reduced postoperative pain for patients who had impacted third molars extracted. Find out more in our Insider Exclusive.

Also in the Anesthesia & Pain Management Community, when patients need to have their impacted third molars extracted, many dentists choose to use either 4% articaine or 4% lidocaine hydrochloride to block their pain. But which is more clinically effective when treating these patients? Learn more here.

Do you use deep sedation for your patients who need to have their third molars extracted? It may not be needed for these and other invasive procedures, according to a new study. After testing various concentrations of midazolam and propofol on 1,000 people, researchers found 3 mg of each drug worked best for the majority of patients. Learn more here.

Postsurgical pain is one of many common fears your patients have before undergoing a surgical procedure. Opioids have been the primary prescribed pain medication after extractions, but too many of these pharmaceuticals are being prescribed. Dr. Timothy Gocke explores some nonopioid alternatives for pain management, including an injectable option. Read more here.

In the Anesthesia and Pain Management Community, you'll also find the following recent news:

• The Trump administration is forming a commission to combat opioid addiction.
• Henry Schein is acquiring an anesthesia supply company.
• The California dental board has published a report on pediatric anesthesia.