Efficacy of Pulpal Anesthesia Using a Needle-less Syringe

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Anesthesiology
• Dental Technology

Background:

• Effective local anesthesia is crucial for dental procedures.
• Novel devices aim to improve patient comfort and anesthetic efficacy.
• The Numbee device offers a needleless approach to intraligamentary injection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of the Numbee needleless intraligamentary injection device.
• To compare the Numbee device with the traditional inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) for mandibular teeth anesthesia.
• To assess patient-reported pain and anesthesia profoundness.

Main Methods:

• A randomized, split-mouth study involving 15 adult subjects.
• Comparison of Numbee device versus IANB for restorative procedures on mandibular teeth.
• Pain assessment using Visual Analog Scale (VAS); anesthesia efficacy measured by electric pulp testing.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in injection pain (VAS scores) between Numbee and IANB (p = .078).
• Profound anesthesia incidence: 46% for IANB vs. 0% for Numbee.
• Rescue anesthesia required: 20% for IANB vs. 60% for Numbee.
• Subject preference was evenly split (50/50%) between techniques.

Conclusions:

• The traditional inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) demonstrated superior efficacy in achieving profound anesthesia compared to the Numbee device.
• The Numbee device required significantly more rescue anesthesia, indicating lower effectiveness for single tooth anesthesia.
• While patient preference was divided, the clinical outcomes favor the IANB for reliable anesthesia in restorative dental procedures.