Buffering Brilliance: Optimizing Anesthetic Performance by Dr. Mark Donaldson

Local anesthesia is a cornerstone of modern dental and surgical practices, providing effective pain control for various procedures leading to improved treatment experiences and ultimately, better patient care. To improve stability and shelf-life, the pH range of commercially available cartridges of dental local anesthetic solutions containing a vasoconstrictor, such as epinephrine, is between 3-5. Acidic anesthetic solutions can lead to delayed onset, injection pain, and inadequate depth of anesthesia especially for sensitive areas like the palate or inflamed tissues. Buffering local anesthetics with sodium bicarbonate to raise the pH of these solutions closer to physiological levels immediately before injection has become a proven method to enhance patient comfort and improve the onset and effectiveness of the anesthetic.

This course examines the benefits of buffering dental cartridges of commercially available local anesthetic solutions with sodium bicarbonate immediately before injection to offer clinical benefits such as reduced injection pain, faster onset, and improved efficacy. These advantages enhance patient comfort and procedural efficiency, making buffered anesthetics a valuable option for both routine and more complex dental and surgical procedures.