Comparative evaluation of efficacy of 15% lignocaine spray and 4% lignocaine gel in reducing the pain during administration of infraorbital injections in orthodontic extractions

Purpose: Pain control serves as a basis for successful oral and maxillofacial surgical practice. However, the commonest method of intraoperative pain control itself is stimulus for pain induction. In spite of various methods to reduce the pain on injection, topical anesthetic application is still most frequently used. This study compares the efficacy of two forms of topical anesthetics prior to nerve block injections. Methodology: 40 patients were divided into 2 groups. Group I- Side of the patients receiving 4% lignocaine gel; Group II - Side of the patients receiving 15% lignocaine spray. On one side 4% Lignocaine gel was applied. Following this an infraorbital nerve block and necessary dental extraction was carried out. Each patient was asked to note the pain during the injection on a 10 mm VAS scale. Similar procedure was repeated on the opposite side after 7 days using 15% lignocaine spray. The data was subjected for statistical analysis. Results: Pain on injection was significant statistically, while others were not significant. Conclusion: This study reveals that 4% lignocaine gel has better reduction in pain during administration of infraorbital nerve block injection comparatively.