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Home > TJO > Vol. 34 (2022) > Iss. 2 (2022)

 

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the effect of benzocaine and menthol patches on pain alleviation following elastomeric separator placement.
Patients and Methods: This triple-blind split-mouth trial was conducted on healthy 14-25 years old patients of orthodontic department. Eligibility criteria included presence of second premolar, first and second molars in both sides of the mandible, no chronic pain in oral cavity, or chronic consumption of analgesic drugs. Elastomeric separators were placed mesial and distal of first mandibular molars and patients were randomized into two groups: 1) menthol/ placebo patches, 2) benzocaine/ placebo patches. The mucosal patches were placed randomly on the buccal area of mandibular first molars on both sides. Main outcome was pain level reported by patients on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) in seven-time intervals in three following days. Data were analyzed by linear mixed model. P-value was set to be 0.05.

Results: Sixty-four patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio with no loss to follow-up. Both benzocaine and menthol patches significantly reduced mean pain level compared to placebo patch (P< 0.001). Benzocaine patch had more analgesic effect; however, the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.115). Time interval had a significant effect on recorded pain except the first time interval. Age and gender had no significant effect on pain. No adverse event was reported in patients.

Conclusions: Both benzocaine and menthol patches were effective in alleviating pain. Therefore, they can be recommended to be used for reducing pain following orthodontic elastomeric separator placement.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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