The effectiveness of topical anesthesia and vibration in alleviating the pain of oral injections.

The goal of the research was to compare the effectiveness of vibration with that of a topical anesthetic in reducing the pain of local anesthetic injections. Injections were given adjacent to maxillary premolars in four locations in 61 patients. Before injection, sites received either placebo or topical anesthetic with or without vibration. Patients rated the injection pain on a five-point scale. The topical anesthetic caused a statistically significant decrease in pain values; however, the amount of decrease was of questionable clinical significance.