Local anesthesia in adolescents with high anxiety levels

Abstract

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of local anesthesia in the treatment of acute forms of caries, pulpitis, and periodontitis in adolescents with a high level of baseline anxiety. Materials and Methods: 1.7 ml of local amide anesthetic from the articaine series was used. The assessment of anxiety was carried out according to the method of Ch.D. Spielberger - Y.L. Khanina. Pain intensity was measured on the VAS scale. Statistical data processing was carried out in the program “MS Excel 7” Windows and “STATISTICA” v. 6.0. Results: Complete pain relief was observed during anesthesia in 5.0% (4 cases) after 10 minutes and in 56.9% (45 cases) after 15 minutes for acute medium caries; in 3.9% (5 cases) after 5 minutes, in 19.6% (25 cases) after 10 minutes, and in 43.8% (56 cases) after 15 minutes for acute deep caries; in 29.0% (18 cases) after 10 minutes and in 45.2% (28 cases) after 15 minutes for acute pulpitis; and in 34.8% (8 cases) after 10 minutes and in 65.1% (15 cases) after 15 minutes for acute periodontitis. Conclusions: The reduction in pain syndrome during the treatment of acute forms of medium and deep caries, pulpitis, and periodontitis was significant compared to premanipulation values (p<0.05). Complete pain relief was observed during anesthesia in 5.0% (4 cases) after 10 minutes and in 56.9% (45 cases) after 15 minutes for acute medium caries; in 3.9% (5 cases) after 5 minutes, in 19.6% (25 cases) after 10 minutes, and in 43.8% (56 cases) after 15 minutes for acute deep caries; in 29.0% (18 cases) after 10 minutes and in 45.2% (28 cases) after 15 minutes for acute pulpitis; and in 34.8% (8 cases) after 10 minutes and in 65.1% (15 cases) after 15 minutes for acute periodontitis.