COMPARING CONTROLLED FLOW DELIVERY DENTAPEN® TECHNIQUE TO TRADITIONAL SYRINGES ON PAIN PERCEPTION DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF ANESTHESIA AMONG A GROUP of PEDIATRIC DENTAL PATIENTS: A Split-Mouth Randomized Clinical Trial

Objectives: To compare the effect of the controlled flow delivery Dentapen® technique to traditional syringes on pain perception during dental procedures among a group of pediatric dental patients.Methodology: A split-mouth study design was employed, involving twenty children aged 6-8 years who required Class I restorations on bilateral maxillary first primary molars. Participants' teeth were randomly allocated to two treatment groups. Group A received infiltration injection technique using the Dentapen® technique on one maxillary primary first molar, while group B received traditional syringe-based infiltration anesthesia on the contralateral maxillary first primary molar. Pain perception during the procedure was evaluated using the Wong-Baker Faces Rating Scale, heart rate monitoring, and the Sound, Eyes, and Motor Scale. Parametric data (heart rate) were analyzed using paired t-tests, while non-parametric data were analyzed using the signed-rank test. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.Results: The Dentapen group exhibited significantly lower pain perception scores (2.80±1.51) compared to the traditional anesthesia group (7.50±0.89) (p<0.001). Both anesthesia methods resulted in a significant post-anesthesia increase in heart rate. However, traditional anesthesia induced a more significant increase (106.35±11.50) compared to Dentapen (p=0.006). Additionally, the Dentapen group exhibited significantly lower Sound, Eyes and Motor scores (1.30±0.66) compared to the traditional anesthesia group (2.80±0.41) (p<0.001).Conclusion: The Dentapen system can be effectively employed to reduce pain perception during restorative procedures on maxillary primary molars in children compared to traditional syringe techniques. The Dentapen group demonstrated significantly lower pain perception scores compared to the traditional syringe group during local anesthesia administration.