title: A comparison of topical anaesthesia and electronic nerve stimulation for reducing the pain of intra-oral injections.
abstract: This paper describes a model for investigating the efficacy of different methods of alleviating the pain of intra-oral injections. The efficacies of the topical anaesthetic EMLA cream and electronic nerve stimulation as means of reducing the discomfort of palatal injections prior to the extraction of maxillary teeth were investigated using the model in one hundred patients. EMLA reduced the pain of injection compared with placebo (P < 0.05) whereas the pain reported after electronic nerve stimulation did not differ significantly from placebo. It is concluded that EMLA is useful in reducing the pain of palatal injections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Surgery, Dental School, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Meechan
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Winter
mesh_terms: D000278:Administration, Buccal; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000766:Anesthesia, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections / Q000009:adverse effects; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000077442:Lidocaine, Prilocaine Drug Combination; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011318:Prilocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004561:Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D004338:Drug Combinations; D000077442:Lidocaine, Prilocaine Drug Combination; D011318:Prilocaine; D008012:Lidocaine