BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study was developed to investigate anesthesia-related discomfort during dental procedures. This procedure often generates major anxiety, which increases pain. Fear of injection has been reported as a determining factor for not looking for dental treatment. This study aimed at comparing the level of pain during perforation, penetration and anesthetic solution deposition during inferior alveolar block by the Direct and Vazirani-Akinosi techniques. METHODS: Randomized, crossover, double-blind clinical trial involving 30 patients seen by the Dentistry Department of the Federal University of Sergipe (DOD-UFS) who needed dental treatment and were submitted to bilateral inferior alveolar nerve block. Patients were asked about pain intensity during the following stages: perforation, penetration and local anesthetic deposition. Pain intensity was measured by the 10-cm visual analog scale (VAS), without predefined marks. Data were tabulated and submitted to statistical Friedman and Wilcoxon tests with statistical significance of 5%. RESULTS: Data have not shown statistically significant differences (Wilcoxon, p > 0.05) between VAS values of both anesthetic techniques in all operatory moments. For both techniques, penetration-induced pain was higher (Friedman, p < 0.05) as compared to pain induced by the two other operatory moments, being the absolute majority for both techniques classified as mild pain. CONCLUSION: Vazirani-Akinosi and Direct techniques had levels of pain sensitivity characterized as mild during the three anesthetic stages, being the second stage, penetration, the most painful as compared to remaining stages.
Anesthesia; Block; Pain; Technique
