Pain management during needle insertion with low level laser.

AIM: To date, there is no safe, effective, and rapid method to eliminate the pain associated with needle insertion. It is noticed that using a low-energy laser before intradermal and intramuscular injection would help rapid local anaesthesia with a lidocaine product. However, there is no valuable data on the effect of the concomitant use of laser and benzocaine as a pre-treatment option, compared to local application of benzocaine products alone before needle insertion.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective single-blind clinical trial was designed to assess pain perception during needle insertion into mucosa in 66 healthy volunteer dental students. They received a topical anaesthetic agent on one side (control) applied for one minute and a topical anaesthetic agent plus low-power laser on the other side (experimental) prior to needle insertion. The first pre-treatment method was chosen based on block randomisation table. A dentist recorded the subjects' reaction based on the visual analogue scale (VAS) during insertion of needle in the two groups. SPSS version 15 was used for data analysis. The statistical significant level was defined at P-value< 0.01.

RESULTS: The mean scores of VAS for the experimental and control groups was 21± and 19± 2.70 respectively, with a statistically significant higher VAS score in the experimental group, although it was not clinically significant.

CONCLUSION: Simultaneous application of laser with local anaesthetic products containing benzocaine in the buccal mucosa before dental needle insertion does not reduce pain perception.