The narcotic drugs like Vicodin or Percocet, that are often prescribed for pain, can be highly addictive to the humans, so having alternatives can be critical to make sure addiction does not become a problem.

Elaine Lockhard's son Johnny took an alternative to the narcotics when he had his wisdom teeth removed. The rate of drug overdoses made her hesitant to have him treat his pain with the prescription painkillers.

Opiates often can be a gateway to the harder drugs, as like heroin, that is much cheaper than pills, extremely addictive and also hard to kick.

But some procedures are painful and require the pain management and also over-the-counter analgesics like Tylenol or ibuprofen may not be strong enough.

“There's also ways to use local anesthetics so they don't feel pain at all, and one of them is the newer local anesthetic which is called Exparel, and it’s a long-lasting anesthetic,” said a Virginia-area dentist Dr. Timothy Gocke. “It basically dissolves over 48 to 72 hours and it keeps the area numb so the patient doesn't really need the heavier narcotic pain pills.”

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The Virginia area dentist Dr. Timothy Gocke started offering Exparel to his patients in the last year and also gave Exparel to Johnny Lockhard when he extracted his wisdom teeth.

In the last summer, in a response to the drug crisis in country, the American Dental Association president urged the dentists to closely review patient prescriptions for painkillers, that means some are seeking safer pain relief alternatives.

Although Johnny Lockhard had a prescription for 10 Percocet in addition to the Exparel, he managed his pain with only Ibuprofen and a extra strength Tylenol.

Elaine Lockhard has also tried Exparel and is also spreading the word about it.

Mrudula Duddempudi.