Exame - Researchers in Brazil and Texas have begun testing a new strategy to increase the effectiveness of topical dental anesthesia in humans .
The theme was featured on Thursday morning (9/21) during the FAPESP Week Nebraska-Texas symposium in the United States.
As pointed out by Harvinder Gill, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas Tech University (UTT) in Lubbock, topical anesthesia is used by dentists to decrease the discomfort of their patients during the application of injectable anesthesia, necessary for more invasive procedures such as treatment of cavities, extraction of teeth or surgeries.
"A very deep injection is needed to numb the area being treated or to block a nerve. And this injection is usually painful, since conventional topical anesthesia methods have little penetration and effectiveness, "Gill said.