A comparison of warmed and room-temperature anesthetic for local anesthesia in children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Dentistry
• Anesthesiology
• Pain Management

Background:

• Dental anxiety is common in children.
• Local anesthesia injections can be a source of pain and anxiety during dental procedures.
• Warming anesthetic solutions is sometimes proposed to reduce injection discomfort.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare children's reactions and sensations to warmed (37°C) versus room temperature (21°C) local anesthetic solutions during dental procedures.
• To evaluate the impact of anesthetic temperature on pain and behavioral responses in pediatric patients.

Main Methods:

• A randomized crossover design was used with 44 children (ages 6-11).
• Each child received both warmed and room temperature local anesthesia in separate visits.
• Pain and behavioral responses were assessed using the Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS), Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale (FPS), and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).

Main Results:

• No statistically significant differences were found in children's reactions or pain scores between warmed and room temperature local anesthetic injections.
• Both warmed and room temperature injections were generally perceived positively by most children, with no significant difference in VAS scores.
• Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS) and Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale (FPS) showed similar outcomes for both anesthetic temperatures.

Conclusions:

• Warming local anesthetic solutions to 37°C prior to dental injections does not offer a significant advantage in reducing pain or improving patient acceptance in children.
• The temperature of the local anesthetic solution does not appear to influence children's experience of dental injections.
• Current findings suggest that warming anesthetic is not necessary for pediatric dental procedures.