offices happen during or immediately following administration of a local anesthetic. 2
An earlier paper by Becker and Reed 3 provided an in-depth review of the pharmacology of these invaluable drugs. In the present paper we will discuss issues of importance to the safe and effective delivery of these drugs, including needle gauge, traditional and alternative injection techniques, and methods to make injections more comfortable for patients (eg, warming, buffering, novel delivery devices). In addition, we will look at the future of local anesthesia in dentistry