Controlling postoperative pain after third molar extraction with a dexamethasone and articaine injection: a double-blind randomized controlled trial.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

To evaluate the benefits of submucosal administration of a dexamethasone and articaine mixture on postoperative pain after mandibular third molar extraction.

METHOD AND MATERIALS:

This was a double-blind randomized controlled pilot trial of consecutive patients requiring surgical removal of mandibular third molars. Immediately post extraction, the surgeon administered a submucosal injection. The surgeon was masked to the content of the injection, which contained either a mixture of 10 mg dexamethasone and 68 mg articaine ("study group") or the same volume of saline only ("control group"). Pain severity was assessed by questionnaire (postoperative symptom severity [PoSSe] scale) 7 days after the procedure.

RESULTS:

Sixty subjects were enrolled. Patients in the study group had significantly lower PoSSe pain intensity scores than subjects in the control group (P = .004). The combined postoperative PoSSe pain score was significantly lower in the study group than in the control group (P = .016). There was no significant difference in pain duration between the two groups (P = .237).

CONCLUSION:

Submucosal injection of dexamethasone/articaine solution after surgical extraction of mandibular third molars is effective in reducing pain intensity.

• Authors: Murad Abdelraziq, Michael V Joachim, Cory M Resnick, Ephraim Winocur, Amir Laviv, Imad Abu El-Naaj
• Journal: Quintessence international (Berlin, Germany : 1985) (Quintessence Int) Vol. 54 Issue 1 Pg. 24-32 (Jan 13 2023) ISSN: 1936-7163 [Electronic] Germany
• PMID: 36268946 (Publication Type: Randomized Controlled Trial, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Dexamethasone
• Carticaine

Topics

• Humans
• Dexamethasone
• Carticaine
• Molar, Third (surgery)
• Tooth, Impacted (surgery)
• Pain, Postoperative (drug therapy, prevention & control)
• Tooth Extraction (methods)
• Double-Blind Method