The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness and acceptance of electronic dental anesthesia in comparison with local anesthesia in restorative procedures in children.Twenty-eight children, aged 6 to 12 years, participated in the study. Each patient had symmetric teeth requiring class I cavity preparations. One tooth was treated with electronic dental anesthesia; the antimere tooth was treated with local anesthesia. The tooth and the method were selected at random, and the two restorations were performed at the same appointment. Pain was assessed by means of two pain scales, the color scale and the sound, eye, and motor scale. Behavior was assessed through use of the North Carolina Behavior Rating Scale. The ratings of pain and behavior were made at 4 separate intervals (after rubber dam clamp placement, with the handpiece operating adjacent to the tooth, during penetration of the dentin-enamel junction of the tooth, and 5 minutes postoperatively). The recorded values for the steps of the restorations completed with electronic dental anesthesia and local anesthesia were analyzed by means of chi(2) analysis to determine any statistically significant difference between the techniques at a level of P <.05.Although the success rate of electronic dental anesthesia was less than that of local anesthesia, there was no significant difference between the two methods. On the other hand, 53.6% of the patients preferred electronic dental anesthesia, whereas 35.7% preferred local anesthesia.In restorative dental care in children, electronic dental anesthesia appears to be beneficial in reducing discomfort, as judged from behavioral observations and self-reports.