AbstractA modification of the technique of maxillary nerve block (via the greater palatine canal) is discussed. This technique has been employed in the Exodontia and Oral Surgery Clinics of the United Dental Hospital of Sydney for more than 40 years. Clinical experience in that time has shown that once the greater palatine canal has been negotiated successfully, the palatal canal approach to the maxillary nerve is safe and reliable.The value of being able to anaesthetize the maxillary nerve and its branches is illustrated by the presentation of two clinical cases where local anaesthesia was achieved and the extractions performed in patients who would otherwise have required a general anaesthetic for the procedures.