Supplemental Postoperative Bupivacaine Following Non-Surgical Endodontic Treatment
Pain Assessment · Quality of Life (QOL) · Analgesic Use
What this study involves
The registry says this study is recruiting. Individual locations may have different availability.
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 2
- Age range
- 18 years - Not specified
- Sex eligible
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Participants
- 150 Estimated
These are starting points, not an eligibility decision. The research team must review the full requirements.
About the research
The study will investigate the impact of an additional injection of long-acting anesthetic on pain level, quality of life, and use of pain medication after a nonsurgical endodontic treatment. The long-acting anesthetic will be compared to a mock injection group and a group with no additional anesthetic to determine any differences in effects.
Read the full description
The study will investigate the impact of postoperative supplemental long-acting bupivacaine on patient's pain, quality of life, and analgesic use following treatment for symptomatic irreversible pulpitis on patients with pre-operative pain levels of 5 or above (on a 0-10 analog scale). Bupivacaine will be compared to a placebo/mock injection and no injection to determine the difference in effect.
Who may be able to participate?
The list below is the sponsor’s full registry wording. It can include conditions, prior treatment, test results and other requirements. A match in search does not mean you qualify.
Inclusion Criteria:
1. Medical ASA Class I or II
2. Patients above 18 years old
3. Patients with a blood pressure below 160/100
4. Patients who are treatment planned and have agreed to have emergency endodontic therapy or non-surgical root canal therapy with a pulpal diagnosis of symptomatic irreversible pulpitis according to the AAE Glossary of Endodontic Terms.
5. Patients must be able to comprehend and complete all study protocols, written consent, and questionnaires in English.
Exclusion Criteria:
1. Medical ASA III or above
2. Patients who reported the use of tobacco or nicotine-containing products such as vapes, e-cigarettes, gums, or pouches and will not in the 48 hours following treatment
3. Patients who reported the use of any marijuana products or illicit drugs in the 48 hours prior to treatment and will not in the next 48 hours.
4. Patients who have taken opioids to control pain.
5. Pregnant patients
6. Patients with a blood pressure of 160/100 or greater
7. Patients with a known hypersensitivity or allergy to any local anesthetic agent of the amide group, or any other components of the two anesthetic solutions such as epinephrine, sodium metabisulfite used in the study.
8. Patients who have more than one tooth with odontogenic pain at the time of the screening.
9. Patients who are unable to consent and do not understand or are unable to read the questionnaires.
10. Patients who have had 4 1.7 ml carpules or more of anesthetic (Lidocaine and/ or Septocaine, 1:100,000) during standard care of treatment.
Treatment, groups and participation
The registry may describe treatments and study duration without a complete visit calendar. Ask the study team for the exact schedule, procedures, risks, costs and alternatives. Keep your usual care plan unless your treating clinician tells you otherwise.
- Assignment
- Random assignment
- Masking
- Single masked
Supplemental Postoperative Bupivacaine
An additional injection, 1 carpule (1.8 mL) of 0.5% bupivacaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine, will be given to patients in this treatment arm, after their standard endodontic procedure is complete.
Drug: Supplemental Postoperative Bupivacaine
Mock/Placebo Injection
If assigned to this arm, the patient will be shown the removal of a needle cap for an anesthetic syringe. The tip will be bent and placed in the patient's mouth, but no tissue penetration will occur. No solution of anesthetic will be delivered.
Drug: Placebo Injection
No Additional Injection
After standard endodontic procedure, no additional injection will be given.
Supplemental Postoperative Bupivacaine DRUG
This is the intervention of interest. A supplemental injection of bupivacaine will be given postoperatively to patients who are assigned this intervention.
Placebo Injection DRUG
This intervention will appear to give patients an additional injection, but no additional drug will be given.
What researchers are measuring
Outcome measures describe what is being studied. They are not proof that a treatment works.
Primary measures
Quality of life (scored based on the OHIP-14 questionnaire)
Time frame: Day of operation and daily for four days immediately following endodontic treatment
Quality of life will be measured with a modified version of the OHIP-14 questionnaire.
For each question, the answers correspond with a scale that runs from 0-4. A higher score corresponds with a lower quality of life, with 0 being great quality of life and 4 being very poor quality of life.
Secondary measures
Postoperative pain level
Time frame: Day of operation and daily for four days immediately following endodontic treatment
Pain level as measured by the visual-analog scale (VAS) will be collected for four days following endodontic treatment.
The scale is from 0-10, with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain possible.
Analgesic use
Time frame: Day of operation and daily for four days immediately following endodontic treatment
Use of self-administered analgesics including opioids will be measured postoperatively.
The measure is binary- either usage of self-administered analgesics or no usage of self-administered analgesics.
Review the complete result tables and limitations in the official record.
Open official results ↗Research locations (1)
The overall study status and a local site’s status can differ. Confirm that location’s availability before traveling.
1 locations
New York University College of DentistryNew York, New York, United StatesRecruiting
Study team and timeline
- Lead sponsor
- New York University
- Study start
- Nov 1, 2024 Actual
- Primary completion
- May 31, 2027 Estimated
- Study completion
- May 31, 2027 Estimated
- First posted
- Oct 23, 2024 Actual
- Last updated
- Nov 10, 2026 Actual
Official study contacts
Official study title
The Effects of Supplemental Postoperative 0.5% Bupivacaine With 1:200,000 Epinephrine Following Non-Surgical Endodontic Treatment on Patients' Quality of Life, Pain, and Analgesic Consumption
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Source: ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Information is submitted by sponsors and investigators. NLM does not approve the safety or science of all listed studies. Registry disclaimer.
Retrieved: Nov 12, 2026 · Last registry update: Nov 10, 2026
