Objective: To determine whether the administration of high-volume local anesthesia can influence postoperative pain and swelling, and the degree of patient satisfaction, following dental implant placement.
Material and methods: One hundred patients (45 women and 55 men) between 19 and 80 years old were divided into two groups: group A (n = 50, with placement of an implant using an atraumatic approach in each patient, with sub-periosteal injection of a volume of Ultracain(®) ≤0.9 mL [half a carpule]) and group B (n = 50, involving the same surgical procedure but infiltrating a local anesthetic volume of ≥7.2 mL [four carpules]). Visual analog scales were used in all patients to rate intraoperative pain and postoperative pain and swelling. After the first week, the patients completed a questionnaire evaluating satisfaction with treatment.
Results: The intraoperative pain scores were similar in both groups (p = 0.363), while the postoperative pain and swelling scores were significantly lower in group A at all time points. Patient rated satisfaction with the surgical treatment was higher in group A.
Conclusions: Excess injected volume of local anesthetic in dental implant surgery has a negative impact upon both postoperative pain and swelling, and on patient rated satisfaction.
Keywords: dental implant; local anesthesia; pain; postoperative; swelling.
© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.