Background: Articaine hydrochloride, with its high diffusion ability, could potentially be an alternative to Inferior alveolar nerve block in children due to its effectiveness in mandibular infiltration anesthesia.
Aim: Evaluating the effectiveness of Articaine infiltration versus conventional inferior alveolar nerve block in anesthetizing the second primary mandibular molars indicated for pulpotomy and stainless steel crown treatment, evaluating pain during injection and assessing any side effects occurred within 24 hours.
Materials and Methods: Fifty-two healthy children aged 5-6 years, showing cooperative behavior, having at least one mandibular second primary molar indicated for pulpotomy were randomly and equally allocated into two groups according to the technique of anesthesia used. Group I (n =26) was assigned to Articaine infiltration anesthesia, while group II (n = 26) was assigned to the conventional IANB injection. Pain was assessed with physiological method (Heart rate), subjective method modified face pain scale (FPS).
Result: There was statistically significant difference in pain between group I and II during injection: the mean HR scores in group I was 109.0±8.45 compared to 117.0±10.26 in group II (p=0.006), and the modified FPS results showed that 50% of the children in group I were satisfied, compared to 0% in group II (p < 0.001*). There was no statistically significant difference in pain during pulpotomy and SSC preparation between group I and II either by HR scores or modified FPS.
Conclusions: Articaine infiltration LA was as effective as IANB in pulpotomy procedures and SSC preparation of mandibular second primary molars and offered significantly less painful injections.