Pain-free oral surgery

Much routine dento-alveolar surgery can be performed comfortably under local anaesthesia. If this is not possible, and the patient's health permits, day-case general anaesthesia is a suitable alternative, thus reserving valuable inpatient facilities for patients who require more major surgical procedures or for medically compromised patients. Although anaesthetic techniques are becoming increasingly effective, improvement in postoperative pain relief has been less than satisfactory. The misconception that pain is an inevitable consequence of surgery and the difficulty in measuring pain have impeded progress in postoperative pain control. Despite these limitations, pain-free oral surgery is a real prospect for most patients, and the aim of this article is to highlight those factors which contribute to its achievement.