Etidocaine HCl local anesthetic for periodontal flap surgery.

Long acting local anesthetics have been used successfully during third molar extractions and endodontic procedures. They were shown to provide longer duration of anesthesia and contribute to less postoperative pain. This study evaluated the effectiveness of one long acting local anesthetic agent (etidocaine) for periodontal flap procedures. A double-blind, split mouth design treated 17 matched contralateral pairs of posterior sextants. One region was treated following administration of 1.5% etidocaine HCl with 1:200,000 epinephrine. The matched control region was treated following administration of 2% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine. The results indicate that, while etidocaine provided a longer duration of anesthesia (P less than 0.005), no difference was noted in the number of pain pills patients took or the period of time over which they took them. Inadequate hemostasis was a recurrent problem with etidocaine anesthesia. The use of 1.5% etidocaine HCl with 1:200,000, epinephrine offers no significant advantages over traditional anesthetic solutions.