Evaluation of Three Block Anesthesia Methods for Pain Management During Mandibular Third Molar Extraction: A Meta-analysis

A patient’s pain during mandibular third molar extraction often creates problems for a dental surgeon and can also cause immense patient discomfort, such as decreased quality of life, serious complications, or even danger to the patients’ lives. Effective pain management is therefore of great importance. Conventional block anesthesia method often fails to control such pain completely during an operation. Therefore, two available alternatives, Gow-Gates (G-G) and Vazirani-Akinosi (V-A) methods, have been developed. However, the results of current studies regarding their effectiveness and safety are somewhat ambiguous. The use of G-G and V-A techniques is therefore restricted. This study did a comprehensive review of the relevant research and finally 7 RCTs were included. The results of this meta-analysis indicate that both G-G and V-A techniques have a lower risk of positive aspiration. G-G technique also evidenced a higher success rate than the conventional method. V-A was faster while the G-G technique in contrast had a slower onset time than the conventional technique. In terms of the measurement of analgesic success, however, the V-A method was statistically indistinguishable from conventional techniques. These findings will hopefully endow clinicians with the knowledge required to make appropriate choices for effective anesthesia during lower third molar extraction.