Dr. Jeff Dalin interviews Dr. Mic Falkel of Onpharma

By Jeffrey B. Dalin, DDS, FACD, FAGD, FICD

Dr. Dalin: I get excited when I find a new technology that is one-of-a-kind and will deliver something special for patients. At this year’s Chicago Midwinter Meeting, I met Dr. Mic Falkel at the Onpharma^® booth. This company has developed a method of buffering local anesthetic that will allow the delivery of anesthetic injections in a more comfortable and effective way. Dr. Falkel, would you give the readers a summary of the chemistry involved with local anesthetics?

Dr. Falkel: Local anesthetics are powders that are insoluble in water. Because the anesthetics are weak bases, they must be packaged as an acid so they will stay in solution. If the anesthetic has a vasoconstrictor, the overall pH is in the range of 3 to 4 or the equivalent of lemon juice. At this pH, the anesthetic is more than 99% in the charged or “cationic” form, which cannot cross the nerve membrane.

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