ABSTRACT
Dental procedures, whether simple or complex, are typically associated with pain. The patient anticipates this pain, fears it, and postpones the visit to the dentist until such time as the discomfort or pain is such that he or she has to go. The dentist, on the other hand, knows that the patient is fearful and tries to make the visit as painless as possible so the patient will return on a more regular basis and thus minimize the need for the more painful procedures. Usually the mode used by the dentist to ameliorate the pain of the procedure is an injection of a local anesthetic, typically in combination with a vasoconstrictor, so as to extend the duration of the anesthesia. The problem is that the injection itself is painful, and the patient remembers the pain of the needle, the post procedure pain, as well as the uncomfortable feeling of the anesthetic “wearing off” for an hour or two after the visit.
