Efficacy Hero.svg

EXPAREL Provides Pain Relief When It Matters Most

EXPAREL in Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery

Patients Fear Dental Pain—But Opioids Aren’t The Answer


1 Out of 3 Americans Avoids the Dentist Due to Dental Fear1*

What patients fear most is pain

70% of Patients

are prescribed opioids for postsurgical pain after a third molar extraction2

They also fear opioids because of the related risks

33% Increased Risk

of future opioid use in patients prescribed opioids legitimately in 12th grade3

With EXPAREL, You Can Make Patients Comfortable With Less Reliance On Opioids


Non-opioid EXPAREL is a proven, long-lasting anesthetic that controls pain for the first few days after surgery—when your patients need relief most. In third molar extraction, dental implants, and orthognathic and craniofacial procedures, opioid-sparing EXPAREL consistently demonstrates4-7:

Less Need for Opioids

Third molar extraction4‡

  • 59% reduction in total prescribed opioids 
in MMEs4; 47.1 vs 113.8 MMEs; rate ratio, 0.41 
(0.39–0.44) (P<0.0001)
  • 57% reduction in opioid prescription refill rate; 3.3% vs 7.7% (P=0.028)

Less Pain

Craniofacial procedures

  • 97% reduction in pain scores in the first 4 hours 
of the postsurgical period 0.1 ± 0.5 (SD) vs 3.7 ± 3.5 (SD) (P<0.001)
  • Significant reduction in pain scores in the first 
24 hours of the postsurgical period; 12 (P=0.010), 
16 (P=0.002), 20 (P=0.006), and 24 (P=0.009) hours

*According to a 2018 global survey by DentaVox

The clinical benefit of the decrease in opioid consumption was not demonstrated in the pivotal trials

Results from a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of patients undergoing third molar extraction (N=600) receiving local infiltration with EXPAREL (n=300) compared with patients who did not receive EXPAREL (n=300)4

§Results from a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing alveolar bone grafting with an open iliac crest bone harvest (N=38) receiving EXPAREL at the hip donor site (n=17) compared with patients receiving bupivacaine HCl at the hip donor site (n=21)5

MME, morphine milligram equivalent.

Societies Recommend Opioid-Minimizing Pain Management Platforms


Leading medical societies recommend opioid-minimizing pain management strategies to enhance recovery after oral and maxillofacial procedures

AAOMS

The oral and maxillofacial surgeon should avoid starting treatment with long-acting or extended-release opioid analgesics.8

AAOMS, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

Related Resources

Clinical Study

Adductor Canal Block
TKA Clinical Study