Regional electroanalgesia and its potentialities in control of orofacial pain

Use of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in dentistry

The literature on the use of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in dentistry is reviewed, and what effect, if any, this method has on the dentist's ability to control pain is considered.

Estimulação percutânea dos nervos sensitivos periféricos nas crises agudas da trigeminalgia essencial

A eletroestimulação de fibras sensitivas periféricas tem sido usada com bons resultados no controle da dor. Acredita-se que a moderna teoria da fisiologia da dor ofereça bases científicas para explicar o seu mecanismo de ação. Este método foi utilizado em 21 pacientes com trigeminalgia essencial, sendo estimulados continuamente durante 30 minutos com voltagens variáveis, os nervos infra e supra-orbitário, assim como mentoneiro, de acordo com a região atingida. Obteve-se, como resultado, o alívio imediato da dor por espaços de tempo que variaram entre 6 e 48 horas.

An evaluation of an electroanesthetic device

An electroanesthetic device exported from the Soviet Union was tested for its usefulness in controlling pain during tooth cutting procedures. Indexes to measure patient anxiety levels and predicted pain perception were designed, and their validity was tested. For the study, 170 patients were separated into subgroups who knew that an electroanesthetic device was being tested and those who did not. Results showed a greater pain reduction for those procedures that usually elict high pain levels and little benefit of anesthesia for procedures with low pain levels. The responses of the subgroup of persons who know the purpose of the device were higher than average for all pain levels.