The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the published literature on current educational techniques used to teach local anesthesia administration in U.S. dental schools to determine the methods by which potential complications may be minimized and efficacy maximized. A PubMed search was performed in June 2017 on the following terms: (local anesthesia, education, dental) AND (Humans[Mesh]). Out of 136 articles identified, 13 met the study criteria and were included for review. Of those, the nine with outcome measures were included in the qualitative synthesis. With a quality assessment tool designed for this study, the quality of each included article was assessed independently by three of the authors. Three main pedagogies were identified: didactic instruction based on textbooks and lectures, student-to-student injections, and use of anatomic models. However, the effects of these pedagogies on local anesthesia administration efficacy, patient satisfaction, and student confidence in administering local anesthesia were largely not assessed in these studies. Quality assessment of the reviewed articles yielded a mean score of 62% (range 44-83%) for the observational studies and a mean score of 56% (range 47-63%) for the interventional studies. Due to the heterogeneity of the studies assessed, no meta-analysis could be performed. While the experimental and observational studies reviewed provided some insight into the efficacy of current educational techniques, they had numerous methodological inconsistencies. The inconsistency of the available evidence made it difficult to make fully informed curriculum recommendations based on the existing literature.
Keywords: dental anesthesia; dental education; local anesthesia; nerve block; systematic review.