Optimising the Wand ^® Dental STA for pain minimization in aesthetic procedures

Background: Ensuring effective analgesia is critical for patient comfort and optimal aesthetic outcomes.We present the results of modifying Wand Dental Single Tooth Anesthesia (STA), a computer-assisted local anesthetic (LA) delivery device for pre-procedural anesthesia before aesthetic treatments.Objective: To investigate the efficacy, safety, and clinical utility of the Wand STA for anesthetic delivery in non-surgical aesthetic practice, with the aim of improving patient comfort and procedural outcomes. Methods:The study consisted of 11 patients who were selected to receive 1) LA buffered with sodium bicarbonate administered via a dental syringe with a 30 G needle in the first aesthetic treatment (control) and 2) buffered LA administered with The Wand STA 30 G needle in subsequent treatment (intervention).The aesthetic procedures included Ellanse, Sculptra, and Radiesse biostimulatory treatments.The pain experienced during the aesthetic procedure was recorded using the Wong-Baker Pain Score (WBS).Statistical analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test, with the significance level set at p=0.05. Results:The average age of the patients was 46 years.The aesthetic procedures included five Radiesse plus, three Ellanse, and three Sculptra treatments.The average pain score of the patients in the intervention group was 2 on the WBS, whereas that of the control group was 6.7.This represents a 4.7 point reduction (70%) in the WBS, and a non-parametric Wilcoxon-Signed-Rank test analysis demonstrated the difference in WBS was statistically significant (p=0.05).Most importantly, all patients indicated a preference for the intervention as a pretreatment for future aesthetic treatments.No complications associated with the use of Wand STA were reported in this patient series. Conclusion:The average WBS score experienced by patients receiving STA was 2, which represented a 70% reduction in WBS pain score, and the difference was statistically significant.All the patients indicate a preference for Wand STA administered LA for future aesthetic treatments.