Abstract

*Dr. Vinayak G. Naik, Dr. Kirthi Kumar Rai and Dr. Prakruti Adhyaru,

ABSTRACT

Background and objectives: Surgical extraction of impacted lower third molar is one of the most frequent interventions in oral surgery. This procedure is often associated with significant post-surgical pain that may have both psychological and social impact. In this study, two different local anesthetic agents, articaine & lignocaine were compared for their anesthetic efficacy. Study Design: This study was conducted on an outpatient basis in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere. 100 patients requiring surgical removal of mandibular third molars were randomly divided into two groups of 50 patients each. Articaine 2% with 1:1,00,000 adrenaline and lignocaine 2% with 1:80,000 adrenaline were used in a double blind manner in each group respectively. All the required parameters were measured during surgery & questionnaires were given to all the patients to assess the time of complete disappearance of numbness, pain perception & analgesic requirement postoperatively. Results: The results of present study showed early onset of anesthesia, longer duration of action, longer period without pain, lesser pain intensity & in turn lesser postoperative analgesic requirement for articaine group than lignocaine group. Conclusion and interpretation: It appeared that more effective pain control was obtained with articaine solution as compared to lignocaine which may be attributed to increased time of numbness, less postoperative pain perception & less need for postoperative analgesics by the patients with articaine solution.