Effectiveness of digital anesthesia in the management of pain and anxiety in pediatric patients attending the Dr. René Puig Bentz Dental Clinic of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU).
Description
Anxiety is one of the emotions that are often reflected in children when they go to the pediatric dentist's office, especially at the time of anesthesia placement, due to the pain it causes, because with the traditional anesthesia technique, the pressure exerted on the tissues is not so easy to control, nor the flow of the anesthetic solution. In order to reduce the patient's sensation of pain and promote greater comfort, professionals have developed a method of digital anesthesia, whose main characteristics are the precise administration of the amount of anesthetic by injection without excessive pressure, creating a painless procedure. In the area of pediatric dentistry at the Dr. René Puig Bentz Clinic, the children who are treated show anxiety before and during the procedures, even more so when the use of conventional anesthesia is necessary. Currently, digital anesthesia is not used in pediatric dentistry; therefore, it is important to know the benefits of using this anesthesia in terms of children's emotional health, reduction of pain and work time. The objective of this research was to determine the effectiveness of digital anesthesia in the management of pain and anxiety in pediatric patients attending the Dr. René Puig Bentz Dental Clinic of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña. To achieve this objective, a sample of 50 children was analyzed (25 conventional and 25 digital); dental anxiety was assessed before anesthesia using the VENHAM scale. Pain was assessed using the Wong and Baker facial scale, and the VENHAM scale was used again to assess anxiety after placement. Results showed that with the conventional technique (56%) had mild pain, (16%) moderate and severe pain, while with the digital technique (52%) had no pain, (28%) very mild pain, and (0%) moderate or severe pain. Forty-four percent reported mild anxiety after being anesthetized with the conventional technique and (8%) reported no anxiety. Those anesthetized with the digital technique (64%) had no anxiety, (36%) had mild anxiety, and (0%) had moderate or severe anxiety. It was concluded that there is a difference in terms of pain and anxiety in the application of both anesthesia techniques in pediatric patients.
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We began by informing the children's guardians or parents about the purpose of the study. Once they were informed of the process and of their participation in the study, they signed the consent form and the correct collection of the samples began. The data collection sheet was used to measure the effectiveness of digital anesthesia for pain and anxiety management in pediatric patients who attended the Dr. René Puig Bentz dental clinic. The pediatric patient's fear on arrival at the clinic was evaluated using the children's fear survey schedule - dental subscale (CFSS-DS), while anxiety was evaluated using the VENHAM Picture Test Modified (VPTM) and the perception of pain was evaluated using the Wong-Baker scale. These scales have a specific range, being in the children's fear survey schedule - dental subscale (CFSS-DS), 1 (no fear), 2 (a little fear), 3 (with fear), 4 (quite fearful) and 5 (very fearful); VENHAM Picture Test Modified (VPTM) 0 (no anxiety), 1-3 (mild anxiety), 4-6 (moderate anxiety) and 7-8 (severe anxiety). While in the Wong-Baker scale 0 (no pain), 2 (hurts a little), 4 (hurts a little more), 6 (hurts even more), 8 (hurts a lot) and 10 (worst pain). The first phase began with the correct filling out of the form and then the items of the CFSS-DS were used, where the child indicated on the visual scale the figure with which he/she identified his/her reaction to these questions most , followed by the evaluation of anxiety before being administered the anesthetic using the VENHAM Picture Test Modified (VPTM) image scale, where the child chose the figures that seemed closest to his/her state of anxiety. In a second phase, the anesthetic was placed in each group: Group A: conventional technique. Group B: digital technique. In both groups the pain was evaluated by means of the Wong and Baker facial scale, in the that the patient indicated the face that best represented the intensity of his/her pain at the moment of anesthesia placement and again the scale of images VENHAM Picture Test Modified (VPTM) was used to evaluate the anxiety after the placement of the anesthetic. Subsequently, the patient was attended with the treatment he/she needed at that moment, thus concluding this part of the study.
Institutions
- Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Urena