In comparison with just topical anesthetic, pre-cooling the injection site plus the use of topical local anesthesia can be beneficial in decreasing the pain perception of injection administration during pediatric dental procedures, a recent study published in Nov 2023 deduced. This randomized controlled trial by Rabia Zafar et al. examined the effect of pre-cooling the soft tissue of injection sites along with Benzocaine 20% used topically on the pain perception of pediatric patients.

Overall, 80 children included in this study were divided into two groups:

• First group: 40 children (23 boys, 17 girls); Mean age 6.3 years; These children were given local anesthetic gel + ice applied for 2 minutes before infiltration at the injection site
• Second group (Control): 40 children (21 boys, 19 girls); Mean age 6.6 years; These children were given Benzocaine 20% at the site of injection before giving an injection

The sound, eye, motor (SEM) was used to estimate the pain response. Univariate analysis revealed no statistically noteworthy difference between the two groups, whereas multivariate analysis revealed a noteworthy difference, as shown in Table 1:

There were no adverse events reported. Hence, cooling the site with a local anesthetic gel before a dental injection considerably reduces perceived pain during routine dental procedures.