Effectiveness of digital anesthesia in the management of pain and anxiety in pediatric patients attending the Dr. René Puig Bentz Dental Clinic of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU).

Anxiety is one of the emotions that are often reflected in children when they go to the pediatric

dentist's office, especially at the time of anesthesia placement, due to the pain it causes,
because with the traditional anesthesia technique, the pressure exerted on the tissues is not
so easy to control, nor the flow of the anesthetic solution.
In order to reduce the patient's sensation of pain and promote greater comfort, professionals
have developed a method of digital anesthesia, whose main characteristics are the precise
administration of the amount of anesthetic by injection without excessive pressure, creating a
painless procedure.
In the area of pediatric dentistry at the Dr. René Puig Bentz Clinic, the children who are
treated show anxiety before and during the procedures, even more so when the use of
conventional anesthesia is necessary. Currently, digital anesthesia is not used in pediatric
dentistry; therefore, it is important to know the benefits of using this anesthesia in terms of
children's emotional health, reduction of pain and work time.
The objective of this research was to determine the effectiveness of digital anesthesia in the
management of pain and anxiety in pediatric patients attending the Dr. René Puig Bentz
Dental Clinic of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña. To achieve this objective, a
sample of 50 children was analyzed (25 conventional and 25 digital); dental anxiety was
assessed before anesthesia using the VENHAM scale. Pain was assessed using the Wong
and Baker facial scale, and the VENHAM scale was used again to assess anxiety after
placement. Results showed that with the conventional technique (56%) had mild pain, (16%)
moderate and severe pain, while with the digital technique (52%) had no pain, (28%) very mild
pain, and (0%) moderate or severe pain. Forty-four percent reported mild anxiety after being
anesthetized with the conventional technique and (8%) reported no anxiety. Those
anesthetized with the digital technique (64%) had no anxiety, (36%) had mild anxiety, and
(0%) had moderate or severe anxiety. It was concluded that there is a difference in terms of
pain and anxiety in the application of both anesthesia techniques in pediatric patients.