Comparison of effectiveness of 4% articaine associated with 1: 100,000 or 1: 200,000 epinephrine in inferior alveolar nerve block

Abstract

This comparative study using 20 healthy volunteers evaluated the anesthetic efficacy of 4% articaine in association with 2 different concentrations of epinephrine, 1:200,000 (G1) and 1:100,000 (G2). The first premolars were tested with a pulp tester to verify the anesthesia induced by the inferior alveolar nerve block. The following parameters were measured: period of latency (PL; interval between the end of anesthetic injection and absence of response to the maximum output--80 reading--of the pulp tester); complete pulpal anesthesia (CPA; period in which the subject had no response to maximal output of the pulp tester 80 reading); partial anesthesia (PA; interval between the first reading below 80 and the return to basal levels); and the anesthesia of the soft tissues (AST; period of time from onset of anesthesia until the return to normal sensation of the lip). The Wilcoxon test (alpha = 0.05) was used to analyze the data. No significant difference was found regarding PL (P = .47), CPA (P = .88), PA (P = .46), and AST (P = .85). The results indicated that both solutions presented the same clinical effectiveness in blocking the inferior alveolar nerve.