Reducing pain using vibrating device during local anesthesia among Indian pediatric dental patients

Abstract

The administration of local anesthesia constitutes one of the most anxiety-inducing and painful stimuli in pediatric dentistry. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the effectiveness of vibrating device in comparison to the conventional method for mitigating discomfort while administration of local anesthesia. A total of 30 children aged between 6 and 10 years, requiring local anesthesia for routine dental treatment, were allocated into two groups: a control group and an experimental group, with 15 children in each cohort. In the experimental group, a vibrating device was concurrently placed over the cheek during the administration of the local anesthesia. Pain and discomfort were assessed using both the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale (WBFPRS) and the FLACC (Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, CONSOL ability) scale. It was observed that use of the vibrating device was found to be effective in reducing pain and discomfort during the administration of intraoral local anesthesia.