Age limit for infiltration anaesthesia for the conservative treatment of mandibular first molars. A clinical study on a paediatric population.

AIM The aims of this study were to assess the age limit for infiltration anaesthesia as an effective technique in treating carious lesions of first permanent molars in the paediatric age and if differences exist between males and females. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 51 teeth from 48 different patients aged between 6 and 14 years were included in the study. The anaesthetic solution used was 1.8 ml of 2% mepivacaine with 1:100000 epinephrine. The effectiveness of anaesthesia was assessed by electrical pulp test after 3, 5, 7 and 10 minutes. RESULTS In 56.9% of the treated cases a single mandibular infiltration was sufficient to induce complete pulpal anaesthesia of the tooth to be treated. Under 10 years of age, the infiltration technique was effective in 85.2% of cases. The success rate of anaesthesia also decreased significantly and not linearly in function of age. The success of infiltration anaesthesia was not related to gender. CONCLUSION Mandibular infiltration anaesthesia is a successful technique for most patients under 10 years (success rate: 85.2%) especially for the younger ones, with no differences between males and females. After this age that success rate dramatically drops.