Does the use of topical anesthetics reduce the perception of pain during needle puncture and anesthetic infiltration? Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

The objective of this systematic review was to assess whether the use of topical anesthetics reduces the perception of pain during puncture and anesthetic infiltration. Twenty-two randomized controlled clinical trials, published in English on or before August 6, 2020, were found in the PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases. Risk of bias was determined for randomization and other issues. A total of 1029 patients were evaluated using parameters such as type of topical anesthetic, application site, and pain (measured on a scale). Some studies assessed more than one topical anesthetic. Seventeen of them showed a reduction in pain from needle puncture and four from infiltration. Meta-analyses for some results showed considerable statistical heterogeneity. Regarding pain during needle puncture of the maxilla, statistically significant differences were observed in the topical anesthetics group, in both the vestibular (P = 0.0002) and palatal (P = 0.005) region. This was different from the mandible, for which there was no statistically significant difference (P = 0.07). With regard to pain caused by anesthetic infiltration in the maxilla, there was no difference in the use of anesthetic in relation to the control group (P = 0.11). Given these findings, using topical anesthetics only relieves pain during needle puncture and in the maxilla. PROSPERO 2020: CRD42020206362.

Retrospective study of 289 odontogenic tumors in a Brazilian population.

BACKGROUND: Odontogenic tumors (OTs) are considered important among oral lesions because of their clinicopathological heterogeneity, and variable biological behavior. This paper aims to determine the frequency and distribution of OTs, over a period of 10 years, at a public university in Northeastern Brazil and compare this data with previous reports. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We reviewed all cases of OTs from oral pathology laboratory of University of Pernambuco (UPE), from 2004 to 2014. Diagnoses were re-evaluated and the tumors were classified according to the latest (2005) World Health Organization Classification of Tumors. In addition, we searched in the English-language literature retrospective studies on OTs that used the same classification. RESULTS: Within the total of 6028 oral biopsies, 289 (4.79%) were OTs. Of these, 287 (99.3%) were benign and 2 (0.7%) were malignant. The overall incidence was 31.1/million. Mandible-maxilla ratio was 2.5:1 and mean age 35 years. Keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT) (34.6%) was the most frequent lesion, followed by ameloblastoma (AMB) (32.9%) and odontoma (ODO) (11.4%). CONCLUSIONS: OTs are uncommon neoplasms with geographic variation. Our clinicopathological features are according to literature. In the present study, KCOT was the most frequent one, showing that the new classification of OTs altered the distribution of these lesions and possibly made KCOT the most common OT observed in diagnostic services worldwide.