Trial reportClinical oral investigations2021
Do length and gauge of dental needle affect success in performing an inferior alveolar nerve block during extraction of adult mandibular molars? A prospective, randomized observer-blind, clinical trial.
Trial report in Clinical oral investigations, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Optimal needle characteristics for classical inferior alveolar nerve block anesthesia: a systematic review.Head & face medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Comparison of five anesthetic delivery systems for palatal infiltration: A randomized clinical trial.Medicina oral, patologia oral y cirugia bucal · 2026Trial
- Influence of Local Anesthesia Techniques on the Microstructural Integrity of Dental Injection Needles: A Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy Analysis.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The effect of replacing dental needles between subsequent inferior alveolar nerve blocks on pain and trismus - a double blinded, randomised split-mouth study.Journal of clinical and experimental dentistry · 2025Article
- Observational and descriptive analysis of broken dental needles: a case series.Oral and maxillofacial surgery · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveAssociation between length and gauge of dental needle and success rate and pain perception during an inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) has not been investigated using a randomized clinical trial (RCT). This RCT aimed to compare the success rate of IANB and perceived pain using 27- or 30-gauge needles for the extraction of adult mandibular molars. MATERIAL AND
methodA prospective RCT was conducted on two hundred and twelve adult patients requiring extraction of mandibular molars using standard methods as described by Malamed with 1.8 ml of 2% lidocaine with 1:80,000 adrenaline. One hundred six patients received IANB using 27-gauge needles (32 mm × 0.2 mm) and one hundred six patients received IANB using 30-gauge needles (25 mm × 0.15 mm). Predictor variables were 27-gauge and short and 30-gauge. Outcome variables were the success rate of IANB and pain perception during injection using a visual analogue scale.
resultsThere was a highly significantly increase in the success of IANB using 27-gauge needle (95.28%) versus 30-gauge needle (41.51%) (P = 0.001). There was a significant increase in pain perception for patients who received IANB by shorter and thinner needle (30-gauge) when compared to the long and thicker needle (27-gauge).
conclusionThis RCT demonstrated that 27-gauge needle seems to be associated with a higher success rate of IANB and lower pain perception during injection when compared to 30-gauge needle in the extraction of adult mandibular molars when compared to 30-gauge needles. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: For adult patients, when thickness of soft tissue to be penetrated is essential to achieve bony contact, long or large gauge dental needle is preferred to get a higher success rate of IANB with less pain perception during injection.
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