More than seven out of 10 patients said they would pay extra if their dentist used a faster, less painful local anesthetic, according to a survey by pharmaceutical company Balanced pHarma, with more than half saying they would pay at least 10% more for the procedure.
Also, nine out of 10 of those surveyed said they would pay more for the less painful anesthetic for a child or loved one, and three-fourths willing to pay at least 10% more for the procedure.
“The survey responses were a wonderful reminder of just how much people care about others,” said Dr. Scott Keadle, chief medical officer at Balanced pHarma.
“Clearly, people want dental injections to be less painful, but they really want their loved ones to have less painful injections,” Keadle said.
Most of those surveyed said they feared painful injections most about dental visits, which Balanced pHarma said could be why more than a third said they would switch dentists to find one who offered a less painful anesthetic options.
“These survey findings show that dental practices might be able to help patients and save time by offering a buffered local anesthetics,” Keadle said.
The survey also found that fear of injections kept 12% of patients from visiting the dentist as often as they should, and a painless injection was a “must-have when selecting a dentist” for 47% of respondents.
According to the company, the survey shows that most patients want a less painful dental injection, which buffered anesthetics can provide.
Neutralizing the acidity of local anesthetics, or buffering, makes the pH-balanced drugs less toxic and painful, while enabling them to act faster and be more likely to achieve successful anesthesia than conventional injections, Balanced pHarma said.
With quicker onset times and more reliable anesthesia, pH-balanced anesthetics also offer more efficiency for dental service providers, said Balanced pHarma, which added that practices could increase productivity 12% by using them.
According to Keadle, “pH-balanced anesthetics not only help patients survive the injection, but they also give clinicians a faster-acting and more reliable drug that increases productivity.”
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