Transpapillary injection technique as a substitute for palatal infiltration: A split-mouth randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Aim and objective: To assess and compare the degree of pain during local anesthesia administration and to evaluate the efficacy of transpapillary injection as a substitute for palatal injection in simple maxillary tooth extractions. Materials and methods: A split-mouth study was conducted among children aged 7–11 years who required bilateral extraction of maxillary molars. The individuals were subjected to conventional buccal and palatal infiltration for the first extraction. The transpapillary injection was administered for the subsequent extraction in place of palatal administration. 2% lignocaine with 1:100,000 adrenaline was used for both techniques. Faces pain score scale and visual analog scale were utilized to record pain during injection administration and during the extraction process. A p < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: The difference in pain scores was observed during injection administration and was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05) whereas pain scores for extraction were insignificant (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The transpapillary injection technique was efficacious in eliminating the pain of the palatal injection technique for maxillary extractions. Clinical significance: Owing to the results of this study, the transpapillary injection technique can be used as a distinguished substitute for conventional palatal infiltration, thereby lessening the level of distress experienced by a pediatric patient during local anesthesia administration.