Effects of various analgesics on the level of prostaglandin E2 during orthodontic tooth movement

Abstract

AIM: The aim of this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study was to evaluate the analgesic effects of preoperative/postoperative ibuprofen and acetaminophen use after bonding and to find a relation between the pain level and the amount of prostaglandin released.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-eight patients were included and randomly divided to three equal groups that received either ibuprofen, acetaminophen or placebo for pain relief. The pain levels were measured before bonding, after bonding, at first, second, third, and seventh days on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples were collected at the same time intervals to measure the amount of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) released. PGE2 levels were determined with ELISA test. The results were evaluated with Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests with Bonferroni correction.

RESULTS: Acetaminophen and placebo groups showed similar pain levels during the first 2 days, whereas ibuprofen group showed lower pain levels during the first day after bonding. PGE2 levels did not show statistically significant difference in time within the analgesic groups. No significant relation between the pain perceived and PGE2 released was found.

LIMITATIONS: The biggest limitation of this study is the subjective nature of pain and its method of evaluation.

CONCLUSIONS: The perception of pain by patients taking ibuprofen and acetaminophen at pre/post appliance placement was not different from patients taking placebo. No time-related differences in PGE2 level were found between the groups and no significant correlation was found between the perception of pain and PGE2 levels.