ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have reported that it is difficult to obtain proper anesthesia in mandibular molars with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis, and supplemental injections are usually unavoidable. The aim of the present study was to determine the anesthetic efficacy of articaine in mandibular first molars with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis with 3 injection methods: an inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB), an IANB with an intraligamentary injection, and an IANB with buccal infiltration before initiating the endodontic treatment. METHODS: Ninety-six patients (54 women and 42 men) with a diagnosis of symptomatic irreversible pulpitis in mandibular first molars were selected and randomly assigned into 3 groups (n = 32) according to the injection method as follows: group 1, a conventional IANB injection; group 2, an IANB injection, and after profound lip numbness after the IANB (after 15 minutes), buccal infiltration was administered; and group 3, an IANB injection, and after profound lip numbness after the IANB (after 15 minutes), an intraligamentary injection was performed, and after 20 minutes from the IANB, the endodontic treatment was initiated. The anesthetic solution was articaine 4% with 1:100,000 epinephrine. Success was defined as no or mild pain on the basis of the visual analog scale recording upon access cavity preparation or initial instrumentation. Data were statistically analyzed using the chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests, and P < .05 was set as significant. RESULTS: The success rate for IANBs with an intraligamentary injection was 75%, and for IANBs with a buccal injection, it was 65.6%. For IANBs alone, the success rate was 28.1%. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the limitations of the present study, in can be concluded that the success rate of IANBs increased with intraligamentary injections and buccal infiltrations with articaine that were performed before initiating treatment. Also, none of the injection methods showed complete success in anesthesia in all patients.
