SECTION OVERVIEW The most common complaint causing a person to seek the services of a health care provider is pain or the closely associated symptom, discomfort. Consequently, the primary obligation and ultimate responsibility of every practitioner of the healing arts is not only to restore health but also to relieve pain. The intent of this course is to present clinicians a rational strategy for the medical management of acute odontogenic pain and to discuss current recommendations for the use of local anesthetic agents and analgesics.
SECTION OBJECTIVES Participants in this course will be introduced to evidence-based information that will help them to select the most appropriate therapeutic intervention for the management of acute odontogenic pain and when pharmacotherapy is indicated, to prescribe dose enough, soon enough, often enough, long enough---to prescribe, as they would receive.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completion of this course the practitioner should be able to:
Discuss the basic mechanisms of acute pain.
Discuss the pharmacological basis of and factors to be considered in the selection of a local anesthetic agent.
Discuss the pharmacological basis of and factors to be considered in the selection of a COX inhibitor.
Discuss the pharmacological basis of and factors to be considered in the selection of a combination analgesic.