Smithson 2nd J, Fowler S, Drum M, Nusstein J, Reader A, Ni A. Articaine Infiltrations of the Mandibular Lateral Incisor-Is It Volume or Location of the Infiltrations That Affect Success? A Prospective, Randomized Crossover Study. J Endod 2023; DOI: 10.1016/j.joen.2023.07.026.

The location of the infiltrations was more important than volume when considering pulpal anaesthesia success for the mandibular lateral incisor.

The purpose of this prospective, randomised crossover study was to determine the anaesthetic efficacy of a labial infiltration of a 3.6 mL volume of 4% articaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine compared with labial infiltration (1.8 mL) plus lingual infiltration (1.8 mL) of 4% articaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine in the mandibular lateral incisor. One hundred subjects randomly received two sets of injections, using 4% articaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine, consisting of labial and lingual infiltrations of 1.8 mL (3.6 mL total) and two labial infiltrations of 1.8 mL (3.6 mL total) of the mandibular lateral incisor in two separate appointments. Electric pulp testing was used to determine anaesthetic success (highest 80/80 reading). The labial and lingual combination had a significantly higher anaesthetic success rate (97%) when compared with the two labial infiltrations (74%) and had significantly higher 80/80s readings from 1 minute to 58 minutes.