The intraoral use of EMLA cream in children: a clinical investigation.

The use of 5 percent EMLA (an eutectic mixture of local anesthetics comprised of a mixture of prilocaine and lidocaine) as an intraoral topical anesthetic in children has been assessed in a clinical investigation. In a split-mouth study in twenty children there was no difference in the efficacy of EMLA and 5 percent lidocaine ointment in alleviating the pain of maxillary buccal infiltration injections of local anesthetics. EMLA did not differ significantly from placebo in the changes in pulpal responses of maxillary primary teeth to electrical stimulation before and after application in a double-blind split-mouth study in twenty children.