Could Electrical Currents Spell the End of Dental Injections?
Scientists in Brazil have developed a new technique that could spell an end to dental injections.
Many patients feel anxious about going to the dentist because they have a fear of needles or injections, but a new method of preventing pain could make dental trips a lot less daunting in the future.
Scientists at the University of Sao Paolo, Brazil, have recently been working on creating a new form of pain-saving treatment using lidocaine hydrochloride and prilocaine hydrochloride (both of which are commonly used anaesthetic medicines) along with a polymer to produce a new hydrogel. The hydrogel has been formulated to enable it to stick to the moist lining of the mouth and once it’s in place, an electrical current is passed through the hydrogel in a process called iontophoresis.
The results of trials suggest that the process increases the efficacy of the prilocaine hydrochloride by up to 12 times. Research claimed that the drug not only worked faster, but also lasted for longer.
Researchers are now working on developing a device to deliver the current, designed specifically for oral treatment.
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