Anxiety and stress toward treatment can hamper treatment completion in patients with dental caries and pulpitis. Therefore, effective management of post-treatment pain is important because poor pain management can lead to patient dissatisfaction. Ultrasound-guided nerve blocks provide good postoperative analgesia in maxillofacial surgeries. These surgeries can be performed under general or local anesthesia without complications. Here, we present the case of a patient with dental phobia who was successfully treated with these techniques. The patient was a 22-year-old woman with a history of manic-depressive illness who presented with 23 decayed teeth. She had previously undergone vital pulp therapy; however, post-treatment pain led to treatment-related stress, and the patient discontinued the dental treatment. She preferred the dental treatment to be completed with as little pain as possible and wanted to avoid a pulpectomy. The patient's history of heavy use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) made her resistant to NSAIDs. As a result, the analgesic effect of NSAIDs could not be expected. After intravenous midazolam and propofol sedation, an ultrasound-guided inferior alveolar nerve block was performed bilaterally, and 0.375% ropivacaine was used as a local anesthetic. The patient did not complain of post-operative pain, and no post-operative analgesics were required.
Keywords: anesthetics; dental caries; inferior alveolar nerve block; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory; ultrasound-guided.
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