Awareness of Using Articaine in Children by Dentists in Chennai- A Questionnaire Survey

Abstract

Articaine is a short acting local anesthetic agent which is used for minor surgeries. Although there is reluctance to use it on children, studies have shown that it is safe to use it in pediatric patients above the age of 4 years. This survey aimed to analyse the awareness on the use of articaine in children among dentists. A questionnaire containing questions about articaine, it’s properties and the participant’s general view about the local anesthetic was distributed to the dental students and private practitioners in Chennai. The results were statistically analyzed using Chi Square test. Moreover, 65% of the participants were using articaine in children, 26.51% preferred using articaine in children below the age of 4. On the other hand, 43.18% were unsure about the choice of articaine as their default local anesthetic agent. This survey showed that dental students and the participants with 0-5 years of experience used articaine as a local anesthetic in children with the difference being statistically not significant(p>0.05). Moreover, male dentists showed more willingness to prefer articaine as their default local anesthetic agent compared to females, however the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05).