Combination of Buffered Anesthetic to Treat Mandibular Molars

Buffered vs Unbuffered Local Anesthesia Using Lidocaine, Carbocaine, and Articaine in Mandibular Molars Diagnosed With Symptomatic Irreversible Pulpitis

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a combination of anesthetics (numbing medicine) will adequately anesthetize teeth over a different combination. A second purpose is to see if the time needed to numb the nerve in a tooth is different between the two anesthetics.

60 human subjects with Symptomatic Irreversible Pulpitis (SIP) in mandibular molars will be randomly allocated into 2 groups. One group will receive a combination of: 1 cartridge of buffered 2% lidocaine w/ 1:100k epi via inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) followed by 1 cartridge of 3% mepivacaine via IANB. This will be followed by 0.5 cartridges (0.9mL) of buffered 4% articaine with 1:100k epi via buccal infiltration and 0.5 cartridges of buffered 4% articaine with 1:100k epi via lingual infiltration. All IANB injections will include a lingual block. The second group will be provided an unbuffered version of the same combination. An electronic pulp tester (EPT) will be used to determine the vitality of the treated tooth. Endodontic treatment will be initiated after two consecutive EPT readings of 80, displaying pulpal anesthesia. Profound pulpal anesthesia is described by the patient's report on the visual analog scale after the pulpotomy.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Be between the ages of 18 and 80 years old
• Have the ability and willingness to independently consent to treatment and study participation
• Have an uncomplicated medical history (ASA I and II)
• Not be pregnant
• Have no allergies local anesthetics/sulfites (confirmed or self-reported)
• Not be taking any medications that may affect the proper assessment of the anesthetic (no acetaminophen or short-acting NSAIDs such as ibuprofen within the previous 6 hours; no long-acting NSAIDs such as naproxen within the previous 16 hours)
• Not require nitrous oxide during treatment, and the injection area should appear healthy with no other pre-existing conditions or infections that may compromise an accurate collection of data
• Be experiencing signs of irreversible pulpitis (an exaggerated response to cold that lingers longer than 10 seconds) in a mandibular molar at the time of conducting the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• A negative response to cold in the proposed treatment tooth
• A radiographic periradicular pathosis more advanced than a widened periodontal ligament or have an intraoral swelling