Experience of using hardware local anesthesia in dentistry

Background. Older adults are characterized by the presence of concomitant somatic pathologies and low pain tolerance. Hardware local anesthetic injection is a modern technology whose key advantages include controlled drug delivery rate and the possibility of a more comfortable technique for maxillofacial tissue infiltration. Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of 4% articaine with a 1:200.000 vasoconstrictor administered via a local anesthetic injection in geriatric dentistry. Material and methods. Sixty patients (26 men and 34 women) aged 56 to 79 years were observed. Patients were randomly assigned to each group, with 30 patients in each. The study group (n=30) underwent buccal nerve block using a computer-controlled syringe and a local anesthetic based on 4% articaine with a 1:200.000 vasoconstrictor, while the control group used traditional administration using a carpule syringe. Heart rate and the level of anesthesia comfort were assessed using the VAS scale. Results. Using the Injecta computerized syringe resulted in a significantly lower stress response, as reflected by an increase in heart rate (+3.9 bpm versus +13.1 bpm with the traditional method), and provided patients with significantly greater comfort during injection (2.9 points versus 5.1 points on the VAS scale). Conclusion. These data confirm the clinical advantage of this new technology, which is changing the paradigm of pain-free treatment.