Experiences of students and interns with success rate of inferior alveolar nerve block during surgical and endodontic procedures

Abstract

Aim: This study aims to assess the opinion of dental students and interns about the success rates of inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB). Materials and methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among dental students and interns in the College of Dentistry, King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Before the conduct of the study, ethical approval was taken from the Scientific Research Committee, King Khalid University, Abha. A questionnaire containing two sections was formulated; the 1st section included questions of age, gender, and academic year, while the 2nd section included 10 questions related to IANB. Results: About 70% of the interns and 50.6% of dental students said that they always administered IANB while doing surgical and endodontic procedures in mandibular posterior teeth. When the respondents were asked about their awareness about alternative techniques (such as Gow–Gates technique and Vazirani–Akinosi) to classical IANB, the majority of interns (81.4%) and dental students (82%) were aware about these techniques although only theoretically, while 14.3% of interns and 11.2% of the dental students had practically used these alternative techniques. Conclusion: It was concluded that IANB was the most frequently used technique during various surgical and endodontic procedures. About 52.9% of the interns and 42.7% of dental students had rarely faced IANB failure in clinics. Both the students as well as interns were aware of other alternative techniques, such as Gow–Gates and Akinosi techniques of mandibular block anesthesia although they did not practice these techniques much in their day-to-day practice. Clinical significance: Effective IANB by interns and students for pain-free dentistry.