Evaluation of the effectiveness of local anesthetics articaine, bupivacaine, lidocaine and mepivacaine for impacted lower third molars removal

Introduction: dental procedures are commonly related to pain and discomfort leading most patients to have different degrees of anxiety and fear that may impair the performance of treatment. Aiming to control the pain and anxiety of these patients, more and more studies are being developed related to drugs used in Dentistry, among them local anesthetics. Objective: to compare the effectiveness of local anesthetics Articaine, Bupivacaine, Lidocaine and Mepivacaine for lower third molar removal according to: time to onset, period of duration of the anesthesia, number of cartridges and intensity of postoperative pain. Methods: sixty patients underwent removal of symmetrically positioned lower third molars in accordance to the classifications of Winter and Pell and Gregory, through panoramic radiographs. The patients were divided into 4 groups of 15 patients. Each group received randomized one of the four types of local anesthetics. The surgeries were realized by two oral and maxillofacial surgeons. The data related to time to onset, number of cartridges and time of the beginning and end of the surgeries were written down. Additional information was reported by the patients through a questionnaire. Results: The variable "pain" did not present statistically significant differences among the groups. Articaine and bupivacaine presented the shortest and the longest time to onset, respectively. Articaine was the local anesthetic which employed the smallest number of cartridges, considering that bupivacaine employed the highest number of cartridges. Bupivacaine presented the longest period of anesthesia, followed by articaine, lidocaine and mepivacaine. The parameter "intensity of postoperative pain" did not present statistically significant differences. Conclusions: according to the analyzed parameters we conclude that postoperative pain does not depend on the local anesthetics employed; Bupivacaine is the local anesthetic with the longest period of anesthesia; Articaine is the most indicated anesthetic for this type of procedure.