Dr. Adams' Alabama Headache Blog

T.E.N.S. has been used in dentistry for discomfort and pain control. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of electronic anesthesia (3M Electronic Anesthesia) in reducing pain and discomfort of periodontal sclaing and curettage. 36 subjects (Ss), 18 each sex, were classified according to their clinical condition as follows: Group 1, sensitive teeth; Group 2, periodontal pockets from 1 to 3 mm; Group 3, periodontal pockets 4 to 6 mm. Two operators treated the patients, one treated 13, the other 23. In each of the Ss, two quadrants were chosen at random (an upper and a lower) and were treated using an inactive stimulator, then the other two were treated with an active stimulator. On a 10-point visual analogue scale, Ss first reported pain they recalled from their typical scalings prior to the prior to the experiment (RTS), then they rated pain of treatment after each quadrant treated. There were no significant effects for groups, sex, arches or operators. The mean pain score after the active stimulator for the maxilla (2.9) was significantly lower than that of the inactive group (3.9). Similarly, mandibular pain mean for the active group (2.2) was significantly lower than that of the inactive group (3.6). While mean RTS scores were no different from each other of from pain scores under inactive treatment and correlated significantly (maxillary Pearson r=0.31. p=0.03; mandibular Pearson r=0.54, p=0.0001), they were significantly different for the active groups (maxillary T=2.54 df 35, p=0.01, mandibular T= 4.28 df 35). These findings suggest strongly that electronic anesthesia can produce significantly lower pain levels than past experiences and when directly compared with non-stimulated scaling on the same treatment day. This study was founded by 3M Corporation.