Anesthetic efficacy and safety of 2% lidocaine hydrochloride with 1:100,000 adrenaline and 4% articaine hydrochloride with 1:100,000 adrenaline as a single buccal injection in the extraction of maxillary premolars for orthodontic purposes.

Background: Palatal injection of local anesthetics is the most painful injection. To obviate the need for palatal injections, local anesthetic agents with diffusibility are being investigated. Hence the present study was designed to analyze the anesthetic efficacy of 2% lidocaine hydrochloride (HCl) with 1:100,000 adrenaline and 4% articaine hydrochloride (HCl) with 1:100,000 adrenaline using single buccal infiltration for the extraction of maxillary premolars.

Methods: A prospective, double-blind, crossover, randomized clinical study was performed on 60 consecutive systemically healthy patients with an age range of 15-30 years, requiring extraction of asymptomatic bilateral maxillary premolars for orthodontic purposes. They received 1ml buccal infiltration of 4% articaine HCl with 1:100,000 adrenaline on one side and 2% lidocaine HCl with 1:100,000 adrenaline on the other side. The extraction procedure on either side was scheduled 14 days apart. Parameters assessed were the time of onset of anesthesia, intraoperative discomfort, hemodynamic parameters, and the duration of analgesia. Analysis of the data was done using the Mann-Whitney test, the Wilcoxon test, the Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA test, and the chi-square test. Statistical significance was established at P < 0.05.

Results: Articaine showed a faster time of onset and longer duration of analgesia than lidocaine. However, the difference in the intraoperative discomfort and hemodynamic parameters was statistically insignificant.

Conclusion: Within the limitations of the study, it can be concluded that the extraction of maxillary premolars can be performed with a single buccal infiltration of 2% lidocaine HCl with 1:100,000 adrenaline, which is one of the most commonly used local anesthetic agent.