Comparative evaluation of two different topical anesthetic agents in controlling pain during intraoral local anesthetic administration in children: A split-mouth triple-blinded randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Ab s t r ac t​ Aim: To compare the efficacy of lignocaine and benzocaine when applied as a topical anesthetic before intraoral local anesthetic administration in children. Materials and methods: Forty-four patients aged between 4 years and 10 years indicated for pulp therapy of primary teeth under inferior alveolar nerve block were selected for this study. The participants were randomly allocated into two groups of 22 each. Group I (lignocaine gel) and group II (benzocaine gel) were applied before inferior alveolar nerve block. The pain scale was assessed by a trained examiner using the visual analog scale (VAS) and sound eye motor scale. Results: Lignocaine when used as a topical anesthetic agent showed lower mean scores under both the pain scales when compared with benzocaine but the results were statistically insignificant. Conclusion: Lignocaine and benzocaine are equally effective when applied as a topical anesthetic agent. But lignocaine was more preferred in taste when compared with benzocaine.