Warming or buffering local anaesthetic solutions prior to injection has bee
n shown to reduce the pain experienced by patients. Although clinical pract
ice varies widely, this practice has been commonplace within dental surgery
for many years. A postal survey was carried out to ascertain the current p
ractices of a group of general surgeons and maxillofacial surgeons with reg
ard to their local anaesthetic technique. Significant differences existed b
etween the two groups in both their practice and knowledge of this subject.