title: Comparison of topical anesthesia of 20% benzocaine and 60% lidocaine gel.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacies of 2 topical anesthetics commonly used in dentistry.
  
  
  METHODS
  The alveolar mucosa of the upper incisor apices of 20 healthy male volunteers was applied for 20 minutes with either 20% benzocaine gel or nothing as a control. The second part of experiment was done with 60% lidocaine gel and vehicle as control. Three methods of stimulation were given, and the pain rating score and visual analog scale were measured after each stimulation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty percent benzocaine did not significantly alter pain perception as measured by the pain rating score and visual analog scale with these 3 methods of stimulation. In contrast, 60% lidocaine significantly reduced pain perception according to these measurements. We conclude that 60% lidocaine gel is effective for topical anesthesia before infiltration anesthesia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Restituion, Division of Oral Health Services, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan. fukayama.anph@tmd.ac.jp
authors.forename: Haruhisa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukayama
authors.forename: Nagaaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Umino
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000539:Alveolar Process / Q000187:drug effects; D000766:Anesthesia, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D000772:Anesthesia, Local / Q000379:methods*; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001566:Benzocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005782:Gels; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects; D009779:Occlusive Dressings; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000187:drug effects; D014677:Pharmaceutical Vehicles; D010919:Placebos; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D005782:Gels; D014677:Pharmaceutical Vehicles; D010919:Placebos; D008012:Lidocaine; D001566:Benzocaine