Awareness On Prilocaine Usage In Dental Surgery Among Dental Undergraduates

Abstract

Introduction: A local anesthetic (LA) is a type of medication that prevents pain sensation. A local anesthetic creates an absence of pain or loss of sensation in a specified location of the body without loss of consciousness. The aim of this study was to assess the awareness of prilocaine usage in dental surgery. Materials and method: A survey was conducted among 100 dental undergraduates, to evaluate their awareness on prilocaine usage in dental surgery. The survey instrument was a questionnaire that was prepared after extensive review of the existing literature. The validated questionnaire consisted a total of 14 questions. The questionnaire was shared to the participants using online survey platform. The responses obtained were tabulated and reliability of the data was checked. The statistics were done using SPSS software and Chi square test was done to check the association with a p value of 0.05 said to be statistically significant. Results: A total of 100 dental undergraduate students have taken the survey in which 27% were 2nd year students, 71% students were in 3rd year and 2% were in 4th year. 98% were aware about amide and ester based. 79% of the students responded that the maximum dosage of prilocaine is 8mg/kg. 96% of the students responded that prilocaine has less toxicity than lignocaine. 92% of the students believe the main problem caused by overdosage of prilocaine is Methemoglobinemia. Chi-square analysis was done between the year of study and onset of action time of prilocaine where p<0.05(pvalue- 0.019), which was statistically significant. Conclusion: Most of the students were aware about prilocaine and its uses and side effects and how it differs from lignocaine and this study helps in understanding it.