Use of bufferized dental anesthetics in dental surgery

Abstract

Introduction and objective: The addition of epinephrine to the anesthetic solution reduces the pH of the solution to a range between 2.9 and 4.4.The acidity of the anesthetic may delay onset and contribute to injection pain. Objective: to determine the intensity of pain during a mandibular third molar surgery after using buffered 4% articaine with epinephrine 1:100000 in the inferior alveolar nerve block with buccal infiltration. Materials and methods: an observational and descriptive clinical study was performed. The buffered solution was alkalinized with 8.4% sodium bicarbonate with a ratio of 9:1, using a hand-mixing methodology, the sample were patients who required a mandibular third molar surgery. After standardizing the anesthetic technique, it was used the inferior alveolar nerve block followed by buccal infiltration. Results: 32 patients (20 female - 62.5% and 12 male - 37.5%), with an average age of 21.12 years (mean ± standard deviation [SD]: 21.12 ± 3.61) were admitted to the study. When assessing the pain puncture and during the injection, 94% of patients classified it as mild pain according to VAS. When evaluating the latency period, the average time was less than two minutes and the perioral soft tissue anesthesia was 62%. Only a small percentage of patients required complementary anesthesia. Conclusion: buffered 4% of articaine with epinephrine in the inferior alveolar nerve block with buccal infiltration significantly decreased onset time, injection pain and need for complementary anesthesia in third molar surgery.