Audio Recording

Buffering Local Anesthetic Hits Its Stride
Mic Falkel, DDS


This presentation will focus on the science of local anesthesia and the factors that contribute to inconsistent anesthetic performance, specifically discussing the requirement that the body’s in vitro buffering systems must neutralize local anesthetic injections having a pH of 3.5 before the anesthetic begins working. The course will detail the role that pH plays in the biochemistry of local anesthetic and the ability of a standard dental anesthetic injection to provide the analgesia necessary for all dental procedures. It also will introduce technology that allows dental practitioners to neutralize standard dental anesthetic cartridges chairside, overcoming the delay and uncertainty inherent with acidic local anesthetic. The benefits that buffered anesthetic provides for the practice’s activities and workflow also will be discussed. Dr. Falkel will explain how to better set expectations around anesthetic success. A review of meaningful steps the dentist and staff can take when buffering is incorporated into the anesthesia routine will be provided, which leads to an additional hour or more of production time per day. Attendance is limited to 100.

Learning objectives:
Participants will be able to:

• Understand how pH affects anesthetic performance.
• Know how the buffering process creates CO2 in solution, and how this serves as a catalyst for anesthetic onset.
• Identify the variables that must be controlled in order to buffer anesthetic effectively.
• Learn how anesthetic buffering can provide a better practice flow and patient experience, leading to more production time during the day.