Effect of pre-cooling injection site along with topical 20% Benzocaine on pain perception in pediatric dentistry: “A randomized clinical trial”.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of pre-cooling the soft tissue of injection sites along with topical 20 Benzocaine on the pain perception of pediatric patients. Study Design: Randomized Clinical Trial. Setting: Department of Pediatric, Ibn-e-Sina Hospital. Period: September 2021 to January 2022. Material & Methods: The study participants were divided into two groups by using lottery method, each group consisting of 40 participants. The first group was given local anesthetic gel and ice applied at site for two minutes before infiltration at the site of injection and the second group was given plain 20% benzocaine at site of injection before giving injection (control group). Pain response assessed by SEM (sound, eye, motor). Results: The present study group (topical anesthesia gel with ice + infiltration) had 40 children 23 boys and 17 girls with mean age 6.3 years and control group (plain topical anesthesia + infiltration) 40 children 21 boys and 19 girls with mean age 6.6 years. No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in univariate analysis and multivariate analysis showed significant difference between two groups. No adverse events were reported in both groups. Conclusion: Topical anesthetic gel along with ice is more effective in reducing pain experience during local anesthetic injection administration during dental procedures.