Assessing the Pain Reaction of Children and Evaluation of Efficacy of Buccal Infiltration with Articaine and Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block with Lignocaine for Pulp Therapy in Primary Mandibular Second Molars

INTRODUCTION: Pain-free operating is of obvious benefit to the patient, it also helps the operator as treatment can be performed in a calm, unhurried fashion. Articaine hydrochloride has steadily grown in popularity, and studies have shown that articaine hydrochloride performs better than lidocaine due to an enhanced anesthetic efficacy. AIM AND OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of buccal infiltration with articaine in achieving anesthesia for pulp therapy in primary mandibular second molars as compared with inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) with lignocaine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty patients (4–8 years) with an indication of pulp therapy in at least two primary mandibular second molars were selected. Patients were randomly assigned to receive nerve block with lignocaine on the first appointment and buccal infiltration with articaine on the second appointment spaced 1 week apart. A single researcher injected local anesthetic for all the patients. Two researchers standing at a distance of 1.5 m recorded the pain scores and sound, eye, motor (SEM) scores. After the completion of the procedure, the patient was asked to record facial image (FI) score and Heft-Parker visual analog score (HP-VAS). RESULTS: The pain-related behavior scores were higher for IANB when compared with infiltration. Facial image and HP-VAS scores were higher for the lignocaine IANB group when compared with the articaine infiltration. CONCLUSION: With the increasing use of new delivery systems such as single tooth analgesia, a buccal infiltration with articaine provides an effective alternative, with minimal discomfort which would allow clinicians to avoid the use of IANB in children. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Daneswari V, Venugopal Reddy N, Madhavi G, et al. Assessing the Pain Reaction of Children and Evaluation of Efficacy of Buccal Infiltration with Articaine and Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block with Lignocaine for Pulp Therapy in Primary Mandibular Second Molars. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2021;14(3):335–339.