Use of Three Pre-Injection Procedures to Reduce Pain Perception of Intraoral Injections in Eight- to 12-Year-Old Children: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the efficacy of laser phototherapy, Buzzy®, and lignocaine gel in minimizing pain during intraoral injections. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, the efficacy of standard lignocaine gel (Group A) was compared with Buzzy® (Group B) and laser phototherapy (Group C) as pre-anesthetic agents in 15 children aged eight to 12 years undergoing intraoral local anesthesia (LA). Pain perception during needle insertion was assessed objectively using the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) scale and subjectively using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Statistical analysis included chi-square and analysis of variance tests (P<0.05). Results: Objective assessment of pain perception using FLACC scores demonstrated that Buzzy® resulted in the highest comfort levels; 60 percent of the subjects treated with Buzzy®, 40 percent treated with laser phototherapy, and 6.7 percent treated with lignocaine topical anesthetic were judged to be relaxed and comfortable or exhibiting mild discomfort, respectively. Subjective pain assessment (self-reported using the VAS) was significantly lower in Buzzy® (0.67±0.82 standard deviation) followed by laser phototherapy (1.00±1.13) and Lignocaine gel group (2.13±1.51). Conclusions: The Buzzy® and laser phototherapy effectively reduced intraoral injection pain compared to the standard control, lignocaine gel. However, Buzzy® showed better efficacy.