RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Topical anaesthetics are important to provide pain control at dental injection. AIM: The aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the intraoral topical anaesthetics lidocaine 20% patch (DentiPatch) and lidocaine 5% gel. DESIGN: The randomized unblinded cross-over study included 31 patients (ten boys, 21 girls) aged 13.5 +/- 2.5 years. Application of lidocaine patch or gel was randomly used at first and second visit in the upper premolar region. Heart rate was measured before and at each needle insertion after 2.5, 5, and 15 min and at injection after 15 min. Discomfort and pain were expressed in visual analogue scales (VAS). Paired t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test were used for statistic analyses. RESULTS: Heart rate at buccal injection decreased more when the patch was used (P = 0.0149). Heart rate was lower at the second visit (P = 0.0287). Patients expressed less discomfort when the patch was used on both buccal (P = 0.0150) and palatal (P = 0.0391) site. Boys had lower heart rate and VAS pain scale ratings than girls. CONCLUSIONS: Good pain control can reduce the patients' anxiety level--expressed in heart rate--at the second appointment. The patch and gel seem to provide similar pain reduction at needle stick and injection of local anaesthetics.