Abstract
Objective: This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of a single pre-operative sub-mucosal injection of dexamethasone after third molar surgery to see the effects on post-operative discomfort. Methods: This study was a prospective, double-blind, randomized, clinical trial. The subjects were forty patients who underwent surgical removal of the mandibular impacted third molar under local anesthesia and after being randomly assigned to receive either an 8 mg dexamethasone as submucosal injection or a normal saline injection into the lower buccal vestibule adjacent to the third molar. The maximum interincisal distance and facial contours were measured at the baseline and post-surgically on Day 2 and 7. Post-operative pain was evaluated subjectively using a visual analog scale and objectively by counting the number of analgesic tablets used. All subjects were operated upon by the same investigator to minimize the difference from inter-operator variability. Results: There was a significant difference in the measurements of the degree of swelling and trismus between the two groups on the 2 nd post-operative day. In contrast, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups on the 7 th post-operative day. The test group also used fewer analgesics post-operatively. Conclusions: Submucosal injection of dexamethasone after third molar surgery is effective in reducing postoperative swelling and trismus. It also delays the onset of post-operative pain.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 72-78 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of the Nepal Medical Association |
Volume | 51 |
Issue number | 2 |
Publication status | Published - 01-04-2011 |
Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Medicine(all)