Comparison of Preemptive Effect of Dexamethasone and Methylprednisolone After Third Molar Surgery: A Split-Mouth Randomized Triple-Blind Clinical Trial.

Abstract

The study aimed to compare the efficacy of methylprednisolone and dexamethasone injected into masseter muscle preoperatively in surgical extraction of lower third molars. This study was carried out on 20 patients who reported to the department of Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, Sri Rajiv Gandhi College of Dental Sciences and Hospital Bangalore, requiring surgical removal of bilateral mandibular third molars. The efficacy of corticosteroid was evaluated based on its ability to reduce pain, swelling and trismus following the surgical extraction of impacted lower third molars. There was no statistical difference between the two steroids with both of them achieving equal level of pain control. There was a statistically significant difference on the second postoperative day with dexamethasone showing clinically superior result. The difference in oral aperture was found to be statistically significant with dexamethasone showing a decreased reduction in postoperative mouth opening on both second and seventh day. This study conclusively proves that patient comfort levels are far better with the use of dexamethasone.