Comparative evaluation of a novel herbal anesthetic gel and 2% lignocaine gel as an intraoral topical anesthetic agent in children: Bilateral split-mouth, single-blind, crossover in vivo study

Abstract

Topical anesthetics have an intrinsic part to reduce pricking pain sensation due to needle stick before injection in children. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of a novel herbal anesthetic gel used as a topical anesthetic before an inferior alveolar nerve block. This was a bilateral split-mouth, single blind, crossoverin vivo study. Atotal number of 30 children were selected for this study design. After the application of the topical anesthesia, a 26-gauge needle was inserted in the mucobuccal fold and local anesthetic solution was deposited. Assessment of pain perception was done before the procedure and at the time of needle penetration using hemodynamic parameters such as blood pressure and heart rate. The objective and subjective pain assessment was recoded through sound eye motor scale and Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R). As the data followed a normal distribution, parametric tests were used to analyze these data. The independent sample t-test and paired sample t-test were used to check the mean differences. The data showed no statistically significant differences in the objective and subjective pain assessment values of the novel herbal anesthetic gel compared to the 2% lignocaine gel. However, the intragroup comparisons of the before and during treatment results showed statistically significant results (P < 0.05). The novel herbal anesthetic gel was effective and safe in reducing the pain from needle insertion. Thus, setting up scientific evidence for the therapeutic usage of herbal products can, therefore, assist to develop a more efficient and alternative topical anesthetic.