The most "intelligent" way to boost your practice? Most experts say, "Numb patients in the gentlest way possible, and don't waste their time (or yours) making them wait." New local anesthetic drugs that can lower injection pain, reduce waiting time, and increase reliability are in development.
Why is this important?
In a recent survey, 58% of dental patients said, "The worst part of the dental visit is the injection." The injection scored worse than the drilling, the cost of the procedure, and everything else combined.1
Why?
For starters, there is often pain involved, even though the patient won't admit it for fear of hurting the doctor's feelings. Research confirms this unfortunate truth.
Gentle technique mitigates the stick of the needle and the pressure of the fluid, but the acidic nature of the currently available drugs (articaine and lidocaine) are a large component of the pain. The sting of the acid simply cannot be avoided with the current drugs, no matter how gentle the operator may be.
Clinicians can neutralize the acid by injecting sodium bicarbonate solution into their cartridge ("buffering"), using either a small plastic syringe or one of the mixing devices made for that purpose. This achieves the desired pH balance, but unfortunately adds a few things that are not desirable, including cost, risk, complexity, and hypertonicity.
If you've ever opened your eyes underwater in the ocean, you know that too much salt (hypertonicity) stings. Articaine and lidocaine both start out with salt added (in the form of sodium chloride) to balance their formulas, so adding more salt (in the form of sodium bicarbonate), results in quite a bit too much, so the pain you lost with the acid is back, to some extent, with the salt.
Too much salt instead of too much acid. A good trade, but just barely.
More about the complexity, risk, and cost in our next episode. Meantime, know this: At Balanced Pharma, we're committed to helping you provide your patients with the shortest, most pain-free experience possible and making it both affordable and convenient for you and your office staff.
Here's our blueprint for a better drug:
- Get the pH balance right (versus nonbuffered anesthetics)
- Acid destroys tissue and it hurts
- Get the salt balance right (versus buffering kits)
- Too much salt destroys tissue and also hurts
- Use a standard dental cartridge (versus buffering kits)
- No extra gadgets to order and keep track of
- No extra steps to add to your busy workday
- Keep the same safety profile, duration, and shelf-life
Stay tuned.
1 "58% of patients believe the injection is the worst part of the dental experience," Olson Research Group, "Patient Dental Care Study Quantitative Report, Conducted for Balanced Pharma, May 7, 2021," Fielding: March 30-April 23, 2021, total sample size: n=140 (includes 40 parents/caregivers).
