Efficacy of Premedication with Oral Dextromethorphan and Ibuprofen for Pain Relief After Root Canal Therapy in Patients with Irreversible Pulpitis

Background and Aim: Researchers have been in search of medications with less side effects to relieve pain after root canal therapy. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of premedication with oral dextromethorphan and Ibuprofen to decrease pain after endodontic treatment. Materials and Methods: This double blind clinical trial was conducted on 45 patients. The selected teeth had irreversible pulpitis and spontaneous pain with no periapical lesion. The patients were randomly divided into three groups of 15. One-session treatment was scheduled for them and after signing informed consent forms, the patients received a single dose of dextromethorphan, ibuprofen or placebo one hour preoperatively. The severity of pain was measured before and two, four, eight and 12 hours after endodontic treatment using a visual analog scale (VAS). Two endodontists performed the treatments. The data were analyzed using the Mann Whitney, Kruskal Wallis and Friedman test. Results: The mean severity of pain in the dextromethorphan and ibuprofen groups was significantly different from that in the placebo group at the five assessment time points (P<0.05). The mean severity of pain was not significantly different between the dextromethorphan and ibuprofen groups at any time point (P>0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that the analgesic efficacy of dextromethorphan and ibuprofen was equally greater than that of placebo.