Clinical evaluation of the use of three anesthetics in endodontics

Abstract

This study compared three anesthetics widely used in endodontics and analyzed the following variables: amount necessary to achieve adequate anesthesia; anesthetic efficacy, defined as no sensation during endodontic treatment; anesthetic duration; and cost-benefit. Sixty patients diagnosed with irreversible pulpitis of a mandibular molar were selected at the Dental Emergency Center of Universidade de Fortaleza, Brazil. Patients were randomly divided into three groups of 20 and were administered one of three anesthetic solutions for conventional regional block: 2% lidocaine with 1:2500 phenylephrine; 2% mepivacaine with 1:100,000 adrenaline and 4% articaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine. The following variables were studied: number of cartridges necessary to obtain anesthetic success; anesthetic efficacy, defined as no sensation during endodontic procedures; anesthetic duration; cost-benefit ratio for each anesthetic. Mean number of cartridges necessary to obtain anesthetic success was 2.76, and there was no statistically significant difference between the anesthetics used. Lidocaine had the best cost-benefit ratio. All anesthetics used were clinically efficient and had equivalent results for endodontic treatment.