Background: Lidocaine, the first commercialized amide local anesthetic, is still the most widely used anesthetic in some countries. It is considered as a reference for new local anesthetics. Bupivacaine, an amide-type local anesthetic, provides prolonged analgesia and is indicated when post-operative pain is anticipated. Aim: To compare efficacy of lidocaine with and without bupivacaine as a dental anesthetic for oral surgical procedures. Materials and method: The study was conducted in the department of Oral and Maxillofacial surgery o the dental institution. A total of 20 patients were included in the study. The patients were randomly grouped into two groups, Group 1 and Group 2 with 10 patients in each group. Each patient was given the anesthetic preparation according to the group. The operator was blinded to the preparation in the injection. For the evaluation of serum, blood was drawn from the pedis artery of the patients. Results: The maximal serum concentration attained in Group 1 was 1.91 + 0.6 µg/ml and in Group 2 was 1.02 + 0.32 µg/ml. The difference in the results was significant. Conclusion: The combination of lidocaine + bupivacaine has long-lasting local anesthetic effect as compared to lidocaine alone.
Keywords: Bupivacaine, dental anesthesia, local anesthetic, lidocaine.