The use of cryotherapy (cooling technique) is a safe and effective method for anesthetic injections in routine pediatric dental techniques.
In comparison with just topical anesthetic, pre-cooling the injection site plus the use of topical local anesthesia can be beneficial in decreasing the pain perception of injection administration during pediatric dental procedures, a recent study published in Nov 2023 deduced. This randomized controlled trial by Rabia Zafar et al. examined the effect of pre-cooling the soft tissue of injection sites along with Benzocaine 20% used topically on the pain perception of pediatric patients.
Overall, 80 children included in this study were divided into two groups:
The sound, eye, motor (SEM) was used to estimate the pain response. Univariate analysis revealed no statistically noteworthy difference between the two groups, whereas multivariate analysis revealed a noteworthy difference, as shown in Table 1:
There were no adverse events reported. Hence, cooling the site with a local anesthetic gel before a dental injection considerably reduces perceived pain during routine dental procedures.
The Professional Medical Journal
Effect of pre-cooling injection site along with topical 20% Benzocaine on pain perception in pediatric dentistry: “A randomized clinical trial”.
Rabia Zafar et al.
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