The use of an iced cotton bud as an effective pre-cooling method for palatal anaesthesia: A technical note

The palatal injection of anaesthesia is more painful for the patient when compared to other sites of the oral cavity. Pre-cooling (cyro anaesthesia) is a well-known method practiced to reduce pain, with the use of ice or refrigerant spray on the affected site. The already known methods of ice application to the palatal site have few practical drawbacks. Therefore, this technical note highlights the use of an iced cotton bud as a novel way of providing effective pre-cooling for palatal anaesthesia. Commercially available cotton buds were dipped in clean water and then placed in the freezer. Next the frozen cotton bud was placed on the proposed anaesthetic site for one minute and anaesthesia less than 0.5CC local anaesthetic solution was delivered at a slow pace while maintaining pressure using the iced-cotton cotton bud. All patients tested showed a 0 pain response to a visual analogue scale of 0-10. This technique can be valuable to dental practitioners who are aiming for a pain free anaesthetic experience for their patients. There is potential for further research and evaluation of this technique.