Two King Saud University researchers have invented an innovative syringe that reduces or completely nullifies the pain of syringe insertion into live tissue during dental anesthetizing procedures.

Dubbed the DimOba injector syringe, a combination of the names of its inventors, Mohiddin Dimashkieh of the Prosthetic Dental Science (SDS) division in KSU’s College of Dentistry, and Mohammad Al Obaida of the College’s Endodontics Division. The invention is a “dual-use painless syringe”, which is a radical improvement of the traditional syringe that has been used in dental medicine applications for more than a century. The two researchers have succeeded in designing the syringe based on the Pain Gate Control Theory, which was proposed by Canadian psychologist Ronald Melzack and British physiologist Patrick Wall in 1965.

Melzack and Wall provided a physiological basis for the phenomenon of pain, which said that pain is transmitted from the peripheral nerve through the spinal cord, and modulated by both conducting cells of the nervous system and controls emitted by the brain.

The DimOba injector syringe employs local-use anesthetic paste to anesthetize oral tissues without causing the patient to see the needle or feel its pricking, and thus allows the dental work to proceed without any pain.

KSU has submitted International Patent Application no. PCT/US2010/002195 for this invention, described as a “dual-use anesthetic injector syringe”.

Dr. Al Obaida further explained: “The anesthetizing process has generally been a source of worry and fear for patients of all ages, and the traditional syringe in dental clinics is one of the main reasons why patients avoid dental clinics or discontinue their treatment”.

The two researchers believe that the new invention will reduce people’s fear of the dentist’s office. Because of this fear, many people choose not to see a dentist in the early stages of their dental problems, which ultimately makes the problem more difficult to treat.

Dr. Al Obaida explained that since the gum tissue covering the jaw bone is thick and strongly matted to the bone, gentle pressure placed on it by the blunt head of the injector syringe will largely reduce the acute pain incidental needle penetration.

The new syringe has the following advantages:
1. The needle of the syringe is completely hidden. This reduces patient consternation.
2. Anesthetizing steps are reduced.
3. Inadvertent injuries to the mouth and lips during needle insertion and extraction of the syringe are significantly reduced.
4. Patients, doctors and medical personnel are less susceptible to contamination as the needle of the syringe does not protrude.
5. Unlike traditional syringes, pain caused by syringe penetration into the live tissue is limited, due to the simultaneous release of the anesthetic paste at the same time as insertion of the syringe.
6. The new syringe is economical as it uses readily available sealed anesthetic cartridges and anesthetic paste available in all dental clinics.