An evaluation of intraoral lidocaine patches in reducing needle-insertion pain.

Intraoral lidocaine patches have recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the production of topical anesthesia before superficial dental procedures and for the reduction of pain associated with local anesthetic injections. The results of this 5-center clinical study showed that lidocaine patches were significantly more efficacious than matching placebo patches in reducing the pain associated with 25-gauge needle insertions to the level of bone in the maxillary premolar region. Anesthetic onset occurred within 5 minutes and was present for the entire 15-minute period that the patches were in contact with the oral mucosa. In addition, the patches were safe and well tolerated by study participants. Other potential clinical applications of this novel delivery system are also discussed in this article.