Abstract
BACKGROUND: One of the biggest barriers to successful delivery of quality dental care to paediatric patients is fear related to injection of local anaesthetic. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a computer-controlled local anaesthetic delivery (CCLAD) system when compared with a traditional anaesthetic injection. The two systems were compared with respect to reducing pain-related fear and anxiety. METHODS: Eighty children in the age group between 6 and 13 yrs requiring minor paediatric dental procedures on both sides of the dental arch were administered local anaesthesia using a CCLAD system and traditional injection system in two consecutive treatment sessions. The anxiety and fear related to the injection before and after the procedure was evaluated using Children's Fear Survey Schedule - Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS). The pain perception was evaluated using Wong-Bakers pain scale. RESULTS: The percentage wise distribution of pain rating as filled out by the subjects after being administered the local anaesthesia using CCLAD system, and the conventional injection system showed that pain levels experienced by the subjects was lower with the CCLAD injection system than with the conventional injection system. The comparison of CCLAD and conventional groups pretest and post-test CFSS-DS scores showed significantly lower values for CCLAD group indicating lower anxiety levels. CONCLUSION: This study showed that the CCLAD system could be an useful alternative in administration of local anaesthesia. However, its effectiveness could be tested when used in highly anxious children. The disadvantages of CCLAD systems is that it requires a longer time during administration and cost.