Another Route
Author: Kimberly N. Powell, DDS, MS, FAGD
Some patients cannot take medications by mouth or venous access. Some find it difficult to swallow pills. Intranasal delivery of medication is another route. In a recent article in General Dentistry, it was noted that intranasal administration of medications is noninvasive and painless, has a rapid onset of action, lower dose requirements, and a lower risk of overdose. However, some disadvantages included nasal irritation, nasal drainage, local side effects and irreversible damage of cilia. Some drugs that can be administered via intranasal route are NSAIDS, opioid reversal agents, epinephrine (treating acute allergic reactions), and local anesthetic but it was reported that local anesthetic delivery by this method does not give the same depth of anesthesia for dental treatment as injections. There are other routes to administering these drugs, and that is good for our patients.
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