Efficacy of Pre-cooling and Sweet-tasting Solution on Pain Related to Local Anesthesia Injection in Children

September 16, 2026 updated by: Nada Mohammed Farouk, British University In Egypt

Efficacy of Pre-cooling and Sweet-tasting Solution on Pain Related to Local Anesthesia Injection in Children: A Randomized Control Trial

The study aims to determine whether pre-cooling and sweet-tasting solutions, alone or combined with topical anesthesia, provide better pain control during dental local anesthesia in children.

It has two phases:

Phase 1: Identify the children's preferred sweet-tasting solution among xylitol, monk fruit, erythritol, and honey.

Phase 2: A randomized controlled trial comparing 7 groups involving pre-cooling, sweet solution, topical anesthesia, and their combinations.

The primary outcome is pain measured by VAS, while secondary outcomes include SEM behavioral response, heart rate, and oxygen saturation. The planned sample is 220 children.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
224

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Egypt
    • El Sherouk
      • Cairo, El Sherouk, Egypt
        • Recruiting
        • Faculty of Dentistry, British University in Egypt
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
          • Ola A Abd El-geleel, Associate Professor
          • Phone Number: +21006086830
          • Email: ola@dent.asu.edu.eg
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Noha S Kabil, professor
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Nada M Farouk, bachelors degree
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Ola A Abd El-Geleel, associate professor

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

7 years to 11 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age group 7-11 years
  2. Patients requiring infiltration anesthesia to fulfill dental therapeutic needs
  3. Frankl behavior scale 3 and 4

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Failure to provide assent or consent
  2. Allergy from local anesthetic solution
  3. Systemic diseases such as diabetes that could affect pain perception
  4. History of abscess or fistula at site of injection

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Precooling group
Behavioral: Dental anesthesia

The intervention consists of pre-cooling and/or a sweet-tasting solution, used alone or in combination with topical local anesthesia, before administration of the dental local anesthetic injection.
Experimental: Precooling + topical anaesthesia group
Behavioral: Dental anesthesia

The intervention consists of pre-cooling and/or a sweet-tasting solution, used alone or in combination with topical local anesthesia, before administration of the dental local anesthetic injection.
Experimental: Precooling + sweet tasting solution group
Behavioral: Dental anesthesia

The intervention consists of pre-cooling and/or a sweet-tasting solution, used alone or in combination with topical local anesthesia, before administration of the dental local anesthetic injection.
Experimental: Precooling + sweet tasting solution + topical anaesthesia
Behavioral: Dental anesthesia

The intervention consists of pre-cooling and/or a sweet-tasting solution, used alone or in combination with topical local anesthesia, before administration of the dental local anesthetic injection.
Experimental: Sweet tasting solution group
Behavioral: Dental anesthesia

The intervention consists of pre-cooling and/or a sweet-tasting solution, used alone or in combination with topical local anesthesia, before administration of the dental local anesthetic injection.
Experimental: Sweet tasting solution + topical anaesthesia group
Behavioral: Dental anesthesia

The intervention consists of pre-cooling and/or a sweet-tasting solution, used alone or in combination with topical local anesthesia, before administration of the dental local anesthetic injection.
Active Comparator: Topical anaesthesia group
Behavioral: Dental anesthesia

The intervention consists of pre-cooling and/or a sweet-tasting solution, used alone or in combination with topical local anesthesia, before administration of the dental local anesthetic injection.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Visual Analog Scale (VAS)
Time Frame: Immediately after intervention

Pain Intensity assessed by visual analogue scale
Immediately after intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Phase 1 outcome
Time Frame: After intervention

The preferred sweet tasting solution based on number of patients
After intervention
Heart Rate
Time Frame: Heart rate (beats per minute) measured immediately before needle insertion (baseline) and during needle injection and after needle injection

Heart rate (beats per minute) measured immediately before needle insertion (baseline) and the maximum heart rate recorded during needle injection and after needle injection
Heart rate (beats per minute) measured immediately before needle insertion (baseline) and during needle injection and after needle injection
Sound, eye and motor scale (SEM) scale
Time Frame: During needle injection

Behavioral pain response during local anesthetic injection assessed using the Sound, Eye, and Motor (SEM) Scale. Sound, eye, and motor responses are each scored from 1 to 4, with 1 indicating comfort and 4 indicating a painful response. The three component scores are summed to obtain a total SEM score ranging from 3 to 12, with higher scores indicating greater behavioral response to pain.
During needle injection
Oxygen saturation
Time Frame: Immediately before needle injection (baseline), during needle injection, and immediately after completion of injection. Recorded as percentage

Peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO₂) will be measured using a pulse oximeter and recorded as a percentage at three time points: immediately before local anesthetic needle injection (baseline), during needle injection, and immediately after completion of the injection.
Immediately before needle injection (baseline), during needle injection, and immediately after completion of injection. Recorded as percentage

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
British University In Egypt

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
October 6, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
January 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
April 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
September 7, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 16, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 16, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 24-028

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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