Comparison of latency and efficacy of twin mix and modified twin mix in impacted mandibular third molar surgery – A Preliminary Randomized Triple Blind Split Mouth Clinical Study

The effect of pre-operative submucosal administration of dexamethasone, tramadol, articaine on the success rate of inferior alveolar nerve block on mandibular molars with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis: A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial

AIM

To establish the effects of submucosal tramadol, dexamethasone and articaine on the success of inferior alveolar nerve blocks (IANB) during root canal treatment of mandibular molars with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis (SIP).

METHODOLOGY

In this randomized double-blind, controlled clinical trial, 120 patients with the diagnosis of SIP in their mandibular first or second molars were included and randomly divided into four groups (n = 30). The control group received normal saline and three experimental groups received a single dose of dexamethasone (8 mg/2 mL), or tramadol (100 mg/2 mL) or articaine (4% / 2 mL). The pre-operative pain levels of the patients were measured with the Heft-Parker visual analogue scale (HP VAS). All patients received standard IANB of 4% articaine with 1:200000 epinephrine. Following the observation of lip numbness, submucosal injections were administered into the mucobuccal fold adjacent to the mandibular molars. After 15 min, standard root canal treatment was initiated, and the pain intensity levels recorded from the access cavity preparation to pulp extirpation were measured with HP VAS. The duration of the anaesthesia was also evaluated. The experimental groups were compared using one-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis H-test. The groups that were significantly different were compared pairwise using the Tukey Multiple Comparison test. The Chi-square test was used to compare the categorical variables.

RESULTS

The submucosal administration of articaine significantly increased the success rate to 63% in comparison with the control group that received submucosal saline (p < .05). The success rate of pulpal anaesthesia was 37% in the control group, 57% in the tramadol group and 47% in the dexamethasone group, with no significant difference in the success rate among these groups. In the dexamethasone group, the duration of the anaesthetic effect of IANB was significantly longer than those in the other groups (p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with SIP, pre-operative submucosal administration of articaine increased the success rate of IANB, while administration of dexamethasone increased the duration of anaesthesia. These agents can be used in cases where effective anaesthesia cannot be obtained during root canal treatments.

Twin Mixed Local Anesthesia in Third Molar Surgery - Randomized Controlled Trial

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of injection of 2 long-acting amide local anesthetic agents - bupivacaine and ropivacaine with and without 4 mg dexamethasone in patients undergoing third molar extraction.

METHODS

A prospective randomized double blind controlled trial was conducted among 68 patients with impacted mandibular third molars. Group A and B were the control groups and received 1.8 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine hydrochloride and 0.75% ropivacaine hydrochloride, respectively. Group A1 and B1 were experimental groups and received modified twin mixes which were 1.8 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine hydrochloride + 1mL/4mg dexamethasone and 0.75% ropivacaine hydrochloride + 1 mL/4mg dexamethasone, respectively. Visual analog pain scale, mouth opening measurement and facial swelling were assessed at the time of injection and postoperative days 1, 3, and 7.

RESULTS

The mean visual analogue scale score for pain on local anesthesia injection was found to be less in both experimental groups- Group A1 (2.94) and B1 (2.41) as compared to control groups- Group A (3.59) and B (3.06). The durations of soft tissue anesthesia were higher as compared to their respective controls for both Group A1 and B1. Patients in both control groups A and B had an increased postoperative swelling, pain and trismus.

CONCLUSIONS

Intraoperative and postoperative comfort in both the experimental groups were higher than those for control groups, thereby establishing the clinical efficacy of both modified twin mixes for use in surgical extraction of mandibular third molars.

Effectiveness of anesthetic solutions for pain control in lower third molar extraction surgeries: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials with network meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effectiveness of different anesthetic solutions for pain control immediately after the extraction of lower third molars.

METHODS

Nine databases were used to identify randomized clinical trials, without restriction of language or year of publication. The "JBI Critical Appraisal Tools for Systematic Reviews" was used to assess the risk of bias in the studies. The network meta-analysis was performed to compare the effectiveness of different anesthetics to control the pain immediately after the surgery of lower third molars, using the standardized mean difference (SMD) as the effect estimate. The GRADE approach was used to assess the certainty of evidence.

RESULTS

The search presented 13,739 initial results, from which 45 met the eligibility criteria and presented low to moderate risk of bias. Thirteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. The 2% lidocaine + clonidine presented the lowest pain scores (SMD = - 1.44; - 2.72 to - 0.16) compared to 4% articaine + adrenaline, followed by 0.5% bupivacaine + adrenaline (SMD = - 1.36; - 2.13 to - 0.59). The certainty of evidence varied between very low to moderate.

CONCLUSION

2% lidocaine + clonidine and 0.5% bupivacaine + adrenaline were the anesthetics with the highest probability for pain control immediately after the surgical procedure of removing impacted lower third molars.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The use of an adequate anesthetic with effective pain control can contribute to a more comfortable postoperative period.

Does the Use of Articaine Increase the Risk of Hypesthesia in Lower Third Molar Surgery? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to assess the risk of hypesthesia with the use of articaine in comparison with other local anesthetics in lower third molar surgery, through a systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHODS

MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library (CENTRAL), Web of Science, and SCOPUS databases were searched. Gray literature and manual searches were also performed.

RESULTS

Altogether 342 articles were found; only 13 met the eligibility criteria. A total of 886 third molars were removed; 436 using articaine, 430 using other local anesthetics, and 20 using an anesthetic mixture. Altogether 5 cases of hypesthesia were found in the articaine group, with 4 temporary and 1 with no mention of nerve involved; there was no case of permanent confirmed hypesthesia. A total of 9 articles demonstrated a low risk of bias, and 4 articles showed some concern. The meta-analysis demonstrated a 3.96 relative risk for hypesthesia with the use of articaine compared with other local anesthetics, but this result was not statistically significant. The heterogeneity of the studies was low from a clinical, methodological, and statistical point of view.

CONCLUSIONS

Thus, this systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that the use of articaine does not increase the risk of hypesthesia compared with other local anesthetics in lower third molar extraction, and when present, this complication is temporary.