Effect of an Anesthetic Chewing Gum on the Initial Pain or Discomfort from Orthodontic Elastomeric Separator Placement

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a formulated anesthetic chewing gum (ACG) on the initial pain/discomfort resulting from the placement of orthodontic separators. The preparation of ACG formulation was investigated using food and drug administration (FDA)-certified ingredients. Sixty subjects were recruited and randomly allocated to three groups: (1) ACG, (2) chewing gum (CG) without anesthetics or (3) control (no CG) group. All subjects received an orthodontic elastomeric separator that was placed between the maxillary right or left first molar and second premolar. For all groups, the registration of pain/discomfort experienced immediately after separator placement (0 hour), then after 1, 4, and 8 hours was carried out using the visual analog scale. Regarding the pain/discomfort perception, there was a statistically significant difference (p value <0.0001) between the three groups (ACG, CG, and controls) at each of the three-time points (1, 4 and 8 hours). There were no harms reported by both groups except for temporary mild muscle soreness from gum chewing that was reported by four subjects from the ACG group and two subjects from the CG group. The ACG can significantly decrease and eliminate the initial pain/discomfort resulting from the placement of the orthodontic elastomeric separators. Furthermore, the ACG may decrease the need for a systemic analgesic. Orthodontic elastomeric separator placement can be uncomfortable. The ACG significantly decreased the initial pain/discomfort from orthodontic separators during the 8 hours. Therefore, the ACG can be used by the patients as needed whenever pain/discomfort is experienced from the placement of elastomeric separators. Consequently, this may reduce the need for systemic analgesics. How to cite this article: Al-Melh MA, Nada A, Badr H, et al. Effect of an Anesthetic Chewing Gum on the Initial Pain or Discomfort from Orthodontic Elastomeric Separator Placement. J Contemp Dent Pract 2019;20(11):1286-1292.