Site-specificity of pain sensitivity to intraoral anesthetic injections in children.

A total of 455 children (242 males and 213 females) aged 5-6 years were investigated for their pain reactions to maxillary and mandibular infiltration anesthesia, middle superior alveolar nerve block, posterior superior alveolar nerve block, greater palatine nerve block, nasopalatine nerve block, and inferior alveolar nerve block, and the responses were quantified using the sound, eye and motor (SEM) scale. Administration of nasopalatine nerve block produced maximum pain (median SEM score: 10) while that of posterior superior alveolar nerve block and inferior alveolar nerve block was accompanied by minimum pain (3 and 4, respectively). There was no significant gender-specific difference in pain reactions (P = 0.39). Administration of local anesthesia in the maxilla was more painful than injections into the mandible (7 versus 5, P < 0.05). Furthermore, infiltration into the anterior and posterior segments of the maxilla produced maximum and minimum pain reactions, respectively (8 versus 3, P < 0.001). It seems that the anatomical location of an injection is one of the most important determinants of pediatric pain reaction, and that mandibular injections are generally less painful. Prioritization of treatment by consideration of site-dependent variability in pain sensitivity may help to achieve optimal behavioral control during dental treatment in young children.