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.

Background: Postoperative analgesia (POA) is an important determinant of successful treatment. Dexmedetomidine (DEX) has recently gained attention as a promising adjuvant to local anesthetics (LA). The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of levobupivacaine (LB) as an adjuvant during inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) in the extraction of lower impacted third molars (LITM). Methods: A prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, triple-blind, parallel-arm, and clinical study was performed on 50 systemically healthy participants who required removal of an asymptomatic LITM. Using a 1:1 distribution, the participants were randomized into two groups (n = 25). Group L (control group) received 1.8 mL of 0.5% LB and 0.2 mL normal saline (placebo) and Group D (study group) received a blend of 1.8 mL of 0.5% LB and 0.2 mL (20 µg) DEX. The primary outcome variable was the duration of POA and hemodynamic stability, and the secondary variable was the total number of analgesics required postoperatively for up to 72 h. The participants were requested to record the time of rescue analgesic use and the total number of rescue analgesics taken. The area under the curve was plotted for the total number of analgesics administered. The pain was evaluated using the visual analog scale. Data analysis was performed using paired students and unpaired t-test, Mann–Whitney U test, Chi-square test, and receiver operating characteristic analysis. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: The latency, profoundness of anesthesia, and duration of POA were statistically significant (P < 0.05).The differences between mean pain scores at 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h were found to be significant (each P = 0.0001). Fewer analgesics were required by participants in group D (2.12 ± 0.33) than in L (4.04 ± 0.67), with a significant difference (P = 0.0001). Conclusion Perineurally administered LA with DEX is a safe, effective, and therapeutic approach for improving latency, providing profound POA, and reducing the need for postoperative analgesia.