Advanced Local Anaesthetic and Pain Management

Course Information

his course will assist in building the knowledge and skills required to successfully administer and manage local anaesthesia for routine dental procedures, and to tailor pain relief to individual patients. Managing pain is a daily duty for most dental professionals. Although dental interventions are first line treatment for most sources of dental pain, analgesic medications are also frequently used. Ibuprofen, paracetamol, and codeine are the most frequently prescribed medicines, but a range of other medicines are available such as oxycodone, tramadol and tapentadol. Unfortunately, it is not always clear how to choose between these medicines, when to use them alone or in combination, or how to tailor the choice and doses used to different types of pain and patient populations. In this presentation, Dr Moses will discuss how to tailor use of pain medicines to patients with different types of pain, comorbid medical conditions, the very young, the very old, and in pregnancy and breastfeeding. We will also discuss prescribing pain medicines for patients who are already on polypharmacy or medicines for chronic pain discussed.