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Effectiveness of buccal infiltration anaesthesia compared to inferior alveolar nerve block anaesthesia in primary mandibular molar extractions: a randomised controlled study

British Dental Journal (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Aim The current study assessed the efficiency of buccal infiltration (BI) and inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) during the extraction of deciduous mandibular molars.

Subjects and method A total of 112 children aged between 5-8 years with mandibular molar indicated for extraction were divided into two groups at random. The BI group was injected with 4% articaine using BI, while the IANB group was injected with 2% lidocaine using IANB. The effectiveness of both techniques was examined using the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale (W-BFPRS); Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability (FLACC) scale; and pulse oximetry.

Results Using the W-BFPRS scale, success rates were 83.9% and 75.0% for the BI group and 82.1% and 71.4% for the IANB group during the injection and extraction, respectively, while using the FLACC scale, success rates were 83.9% and 92.9% for the BI group and 78.6% and 89.3% for the IANB group. In terms of pulse rate and oxygen saturation, there was no significant difference between the two groups.

Conclusions BI with articaine is as efficient as IANB with lidocaine in the extraction of deciduous mandibular molars.

Key points

  • Articaine infiltration was equivalent to the success of inferior alveolar nerve block with lidocaine and was considered an effective alternative in the extraction of deciduous mandibular molars.

  • The duration and time to onset of articaine infiltration are favourable for clinical usage in paediatric dentistry.

  • Regarding post-operative complications, few cases reported pain in both groups, while lip biting was reported significantly in the inferior alveolar nerve block group.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to take this opportunity to thank the children who participated in the study, and the statistician.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lecturer of Paediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Cairo University, Egypt

    Marwa Aly Elchaghaby, Mariam Mohsen Aly & Yasmin Mohamed Yousry

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  1. Marwa Aly Elchaghaby
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  2. Mariam Mohsen Aly
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  3. Yasmin Mohamed Yousry
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Contributions

Marwa Aly Elchaghaby, Mariam Mohsen Aly and Yasmin Mohamed Yousry all contributed to the study's conception and design, data collection and analysis. All authors participated in writing the manuscript draft and read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mariam Mohsen Aly.

Ethics declarations

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Scientific Research, Faculty of Dentistry, Cairo University with approval number 13221. The research was carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

The children's parents provided informed consent to participate after receiving a thorough description of the treatment procedure, its advantages and potential risks.

The datasets that support the findings of the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Elchaghaby, M., Aly, M. & Yousry, Y. Effectiveness of buccal infiltration anaesthesia compared to inferior alveolar nerve block anaesthesia in primary mandibular molar extractions: a randomised controlled study. Br Dent J (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-6063-7

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