Year : 2016

Volume : Volume 6

Issue : Issue 2

Address for correspondence :
Dr. Snigdha Gowd
snigdhagowd@gmail.com

Abstract

Background:  Pain has been reported to be the most common reason for patient to dislike or discontinue the treatment. The aim of the present study is to compare the effects of administration of pre-operative piroxicam and ibuprofen on pain after placement of separators in orthodontic treatment.  Materials and methods: For the study, we selected 22 patients scheduled to receive fixed orthodontic treatment. Subjects included in the study belonged to the age group of 18-30 years with mean age of 23.43 years, scheduled for orthodontic treatment for the first time or re-treatment requiring the placement of atleast two separators in each of the four quadrants. The subjects were asked to rate their expectation of pain consequent to separator placement using a 10 cm VAS. Anchors of "no pain at all" (0 cm) and "worst pain imaginable" (10 cm) were used.  Results: After the placement of separators, repeated comparisons at 2 h, 6 h, Bedtime, Awakening and 24 h between two groups were done. It was observed that Piroxicam group experienced less ''pain on chewing'' compared with patients in the ibuprofen group (P< .05). After the placement of separators, repeated comparisons at 2 h, 6 h, Bedtime, Awakening and 24 h between two groups were done. It was observed that significant differences are present between two groups at the 2-hour and 6-hour intervals (P<0.05). Comparison of mean pain scores at Bedtime and 24- hour after placement of separator did not show significant difference between the both groups.  Conclusion: There is no significant difference in the discomfort perceived by the subjects during initial separator placement among two groups and Piroxicam 20 mg is significantly more effective as an analgesic in orthodontic treatment compared to Ibuprofen 400 mg.

Keywords: Ibuprofen, piroxicam, orthodontic treatment, separators, pain.