The Wand computer-controlled local anesthetic system from Milestone Scientific caused no more or less pain than conventional injections in a study reported in the European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry (June 2009, Vol. 10:2, pp. 77-82).
In the Wand, a microchip guides the delivery of the anesthetic through the needles so that a constant flow rate is achieved, regardless of resistance in the tissue.
For the study, researchers from Leeds Dental Institute in the U.K. randomly assigned 20 children to receive local anesthesia through the Wand and 18 to receive conventional anesthesia.
The children were between 3 years and 10 years old. They rated their pain on a visual analogue scale and their anxiety using the Venham scale.
The researchers found no statistical difference in pain sensation and anxiety when the Wand was used, compared with the conventional technique (p = 0.710, p = 0.976).
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