Local electroanesthesia in dentistry

The combined effect of nitrous oxide and oxygen and electrical stimulation during restorative dental treatment

A total of 124 adult patients were treated with nitrous oxide (N2O) and oxygen (O2), an electrical analgesic, or a combination of N2O/O2 and an electrical analgesic during restorative dental procedures. The use of electrical analgesic or N2O/O2 without local anesthetics resulted in a high failure rate and poor patient acceptance. However, combining N2O/O2 sedation with electrically induced analgesia resulted in a statistically significant improvement over either technique used alone, and provided an overall 81% success rate when used during restorative dentistry.

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.

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.