“COMPARISON OF IBUPROFEN WITH CHEWING GUM ON PAIN REDUCTION AFTER INITIAL ARCH WIRE PLACEMENT IN ORTHODONTIC PATIENTS”

Objectives: The objective of this study was to ascertain whether chewing gum provide pain relief of equivalent or greater magnitude to ibuprofen after initial arch wire placement in orthodontic patients.
Methods: This randomized clinical trial study included 42 patients, 21 girls and 21 boys, between the ages of 12 and 17 years classified into 3 groups of 14 each: group A (placebo treated). Group B (ibuprofen treated) and group C (given chewing gum). The patients in each group were treated after placement of the initial arch wire and every 8 hours if they experienced pain. Visual analog scale was used to record pain perception at 2 hours, 6 hours, bedtime, 24 hours,2 days, 3 days, and 7 days after arch wire placement during chewing,biting,fitting front and posterior teeth. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey tests were used for data analysis.
Results: There were significant decrease in pain perception of chewing function between the placebo group and the chewing-gum group at 6 hours and 3 days(P <0.05) , between the placebo group and chewing gum group in pain severity when fitting posterior teeth at 24 hours (P <0.05) and between chewing gum group and ibuprofen group during biting and fitting anterior teeth at 24 hours and 7 days. No significant differences were recorded at other times and with other functions.
Conclusions: Chewing gum is effective for pain reduction in orthodontic patients and can be recommended as suitable substitutes for ibuprofen.