Oral PowderJect: a novel system for administering local anaesthetic to the oral mucosa.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the feasibility of using an Oral PowderJect (OPJ) to safely deliver a dose of dry powdered anaesthetic to the oral mucosa, producing an analgesic effect.


METHODS
Single centre: Part 1. An open, non-randomised safety study to check for mucosal damage; Part 2. A double blind sham controlled study to test the anaesthetic effect.


METHODS
General practice.


METHODS
Adult, healthy volunteers (4 male, 10 female).


METHODS
Part 1. An OPJ was used to deliver powdered lidocaine hydrochloride to the mucosal surface which was then checked visually for damage. Part 2. An OPJ containing lidocaine hydrochloride (active) or an empty OPJ (sham) was fired at the oral mucosa. The treated area and an untreated (control) site were probed with the back end of a dental needle.


RESULTS
The OPJ delivery caused no visible mucosal damage. The median VAS score for pain on blunt probing was 10 for the OPJ active sites. This was significantly lower than the median VAS score for the sham sites at 30 (P = 0.0033) and the control sites at 58 (P < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
The OPJ can safely deliver powdered lidocaine hydrochloride to the oral mucosa without causing tissue damage. The OPJ delivery of powdered lidocaine hydrochloride can significantly reduce the pain from a blunt needle probe at 1 minute post delivery.
Duckworth
G M
GM
Medical Engineering Unit, University of Oxford.
Millward
H R
HR
Potter
C D
CD
Hewson
G
G
Burkoth
T L
TL
Bellhouse
B J
BJ
D000328:Adult; D000766:Anesthesia, Dental / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003762:Dental Instruments; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D009061:Mouth Mucosa; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011208:Powders / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011229:Preanesthetic Medication / Q000295:instrumentation; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D011208:Powders; D008012:Lidocaine