Abstract
To clarify the effect that anesthesia or no anesthesia has no facial expression changes in children (their eyelids, eyebrows and forehead), a comparative analysis was made of different age groups during restoration. Altogether 40 children and their parents agreed to cooperate in the experiment: 20 preschool children aged 3 to 6, and 20 school-age children aged 6 to 10. Cavity preparation and plastic filling were performed on the subjects having slightly carious primary molars, with with and without anesthesia. At the same time, facial expression changes in the children at each step in the treatment were noted for a total of 80 cases: 40 for those who received infiltration anesthesia (numb group) and the same 40 when they did not (normal group).
A summary of the results is as follows:
1. Comparison during treatments in the normal group. For all subjects in the three regions of the eyelids, eyebrows and forehead, a significant difference was observed in expression changes during the use of the art-turbine, engine, vacuum suction and the air syringe. The changes during drilling were large but during supplementary treatment they were small. It was the same for all ages.
2. Comparison during treatment in the numb group. For all of the subjects a significant difference was observed in the forehead between drilling and supplementary treatment, and for both age groups in the eyebrow region between turbine and air treatments, although the items of significant difference were fewer than in the normal group.
3. Comparison between the numb and normal groups. Effective control of facial expression changes was obvious in the low score of of the numb group compared with the normal group. The same trend could be observed for both age groups although the control of expression changes in the preschool group was very evident.
4. Comparison of the drilling treatment between those who received infiltration anesthesia and those who did not. The score for those who did not receive anesthesia was much higher than that of those who did in almost all regions of the eyelids, eyebrows and forehead in the preschool children. Changes in the forehead and eyebrow regions for the preschool children were larger at the time of infiltration anesthesia than those of the normal group during the use of the turbine or engine.
