The efficacy of topical anesthetics in reducing intraoral discomfort

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the effectiveness of three gels in reducing discomfort due to denture irritation. Forty-five subjects experiencing denture soreness were randomly selected. A double-blind format was used. Two of the gels contained 20% of the known pain reliever, while the third gel contained 10%. An unweighted-means and a least-squares analysis of variance were done for the type of gel and pretreatment pain. The results show that the gels were effective in reducing perceived pain for 66% of the subjects. As a result of the analyses, no significant differences were found between gels.