ANESTHETIC PROPERTIES OF TWO SOLUTIONS ADMINISTERED BY A COMPUTERIZED INJECTOR USING THE ALVEOLAR CREST SPONGY BONE AREA TECHNIQUE: A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL

Abstract

Most dental procedures require the use of local anesthetics. The Morpheus™ anesthetic computerized injector (Morpheus™ injector) provides painless needle insertion and satisfactory anesthesia with lower volumes of local anesthetic. The use of the intraseptal Alveolar Crest Spongy Bone Area (ACSBA) anesthesia technique with the Morpheus™ injector is an alternative to painless treatment. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the anesthetic properties of the ACSBA technique using two different anesthetics, lidocaine and articaine. This randomized, split-mouth, triple-blind clinical trial included 31 volunteers who required restorative treatment of the lower first molars. In two sessions, 2% lidocaine with 1:100000 epinephrine and 4% articaine with 1:100000 epinephrine solutions were administered using the ACSBA technique. Patient physical parameters, pain perception, and degree of anxiety as well as anesthetic properties were evaluated. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups or time points for systolic (p = 0.928) and diastolic (p = 0.450) blood pressure or heart rate (p = 0.624). Moreover, there were no statistically significant differences between the treatments for needle insertion (p = 0.741) or anesthetic deposition (p = 0.810). Both of the anesthetic protocols had a 9.7% failure rate. The Mann-Whitney test showed no statistically significant differences between the groups in anesthesia latency (p = 0.758) or duration (p = 0.791). Articaine and lidocaine were safe drugs, and there was no change in their influence on the evaluated physical parameters. Articaine was similar to lidocaine for anesthesia duration with means of 70.7 and 61.1 min, respectively. The intraseptal ACSBA anesthesia technique was effective, provided sufficient anesthesia duration to perform medium-term dental procedures with articaine and lidocaine, and produced painless anesthesia that provided greater patient comfort.