The Wand - painless dental injections

The Wand is a computer-controlled dental injection device for giving local anesthetic. The flow rate of the local anaesthetic is controlled by the computer, which ensures that it is slow and steady and not forcefull and painful.

the wandMost patients that have had a painful experience with injections and suffer from needle phobia think that it is the needle going into the gum which causes the pain. The most common cause of pain during injection of local anaesthetic is infact due to teh dentist injecting the anaesthetic into the gums too quickly. Obviously, it is possible for the dentist to control the speed with a standard syringe, but the idea of the Wand is to take out the human error.

What does the dental Wand look like?
The Wand does not look like a syringe as you can see in the photo, there is a tower device that is connected to a connects to a cartridge holder, tube and wand handpiece which are all single-use disposable items. The handpiece looks like a pen and is attached to a very small needle. the wand needle

What are the advantages of The Wand?

  • The Wand does not look like a needle and so does not make people feel anxious at first sight like a needle and syringe does. Researchers have found that the Wand induces less anxiety than any other injection method (Kudo et al, 2001).
  • The precise control of the anesthetic flow rate and pressure reliably produces a comfortable injection, even in areas of the mouth where an injection may be slightly more difficult for the dentist such as the palate.
  • Many dentists have commented that The Wand is easier to use and handle becuse it is light-weight and easy to hanle.

What are the disadvantages of The Wand?

  • The Wand is much more expensive than using traditional syringes, both for the machine and the disposables.
  • The Wand takes up more room in the surgery
  • The dentist needs to learn how to use The Wand which he/she may not have the time for,
  • Many dentists have a steady hand and can perform painless injections without The Wand and so say that it is a useless device.