Effect of Cooled Topical Anesthetic Gel on Pain Perception During Administration of Local Anesthesia: A Clinical Trial

Background: It is crucial to manage pain during both invasive and noninvasive dental procedures because discomfort may cause patients to refuse care or put off getting it altogether. As a result, it is imperative to develop techniques that lessen pain during injections in order to keep patients from skipping dental appointments. Pain is associated with both invasive and noninvasive dental operations, although it is more commonly associated with tooth extractions, surgeries, and other invasive procedures. The use of local anaesthetics is used to prevent and manage pain, and they are thought to be the safest and most effective medications available for these purposes. Aim: To evaluate the effect of cooled topical anesthetic gel on pain perception of pediatric dental patients during the administration of local anesthesia. Material and Method: In present split mouth clinical trail, 30 children between the ages of 6 and 10 year were enrolled. Uncooled topical anaesthetic was applied in one treatment session and cooled topical anaesthesia gel in the other session prior to the administration of local anesthesia. Lignocaine 2% gel was cooled and maintained at 40 C. A small sized topical anaesthetic gel was applied on tissue using a cotton pellet for 1 minute. Similarly in next treatment session uncooled anesthetic gel was applied on injection site. The procedure was followed by infiltration injection of 2% lidocaine with 1:80,000 adrenaline (LOX* 2% ADRENALINE) using a short 27-gauge needle (Dispovan). Visual analog scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the participants’ self-reports of injection pain. Children were asked to make a mark on the line that represented their level of perceived pain intensity, and the score was recorded after the treatment. Analysis of the data was carried out using SPSS version 20.0. In all the statistical tests used in this study the significant level was pre -set at P ≤ 0.05. Result: The mean visual analog score for uncooled anesthetic gel group were 63.12 ± 4.63 and statistically significant lower score in cooled anesthetic gel group 38.23 ± 5.53 group (p< 0.001) Conclusion: The results of the present study showed application of cooled topical anesthetic gel on injection site prior to the injection of local anesthetic agent did significantly reduce the pain perceived during administration of local anesthesia for routine dental procedures.