Abstract
Propolis is a potent anti-microbial and natural anti-inflammatory by-product obtained from the beehive. Studies have demonstrated the superior biocompatibility and anti-microbial properties of propolis as compared to calcium hydroxide. However, its effect on postoperative endodontic pain is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of Chinese propolis paste as an intracanal medicament on postoperative endodontic pain intensities compared with calcium hydroxide (control) at different time intervals in necrotic teeth with periapical radiolucency. Eighty patients with single-rooted necrotic teeth with visible periapical radiolucency were recruited and randomly allocated to either the calcium hydroxide or propolis groups. After chemo-mechanical preparation and intracanal medicament insertion, patients were given the VAS (visual analogue scale) to record pain scores. Inter-group data were compared and analyzed using two-way repeated measure ANOVA (Bonferroni test). A p-value of < 0.025 was considered significant. In total, >78% of the patients experienced no or only mild post-operative pain in both the groups at all time intervals, without any significant difference in pain scores between the two groups (p > 0.025). An overall flare-up rate of 14.8% was found. The results suggest that either of these medicaments can be used as an inter-appointment medication for the prevention of postoperative pain in necrotic cases.
Highlights
Pain is a common occurrence after endodontic treatment
The study was conducted from 16 November 2017 to 15 October 2018 in a secondary healthcare center, the out-patient department of operative dentistry/endodontics in Dow International Dental College, D.U.H.S, Karachi
Pain scores of the calcium hydroxide group (2.42 ± 2.10) and creosote (1.12 ± 0.66) at 4 h was used from a previous study [21]
Summary
Pain is a common occurrence after endodontic treatment. Up to 40% of patients may experience some level of post-operative endodontic pain [1]. It is especially disturbing when the pain is initiated, or its intensity increases sharply after endodontic treatment. In the literature, such acute exacerbation of pain is coined a “flare-up” [2]. The rate of flare-up varies from 1.5% to 12.3% [3,4,5,6]. The etiology of postoperative pain is multifactorial and complex. It is related to iatrogenic and microbial factors
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