Effectiveness of Prophylactic Gelophen and Advil in Reducing Post-endodontic Pain

Due to the association of post- and pre-endodontic pain, using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) before root canal therapy could interfere with the subsequent inflammatory process and reduce post-endodontic pain. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of prophylactic gelophen, Advil (two types of NSAIDs), and placebo in controlling the pain after root canal therapy.
This triple-blind clinical trial was conducted on 48 patients with a vital, single root canal anterior tooth. The teeth samples were divided into three groups. The patients in each group received one capsule as pre-treatment prophylaxis, which contained gelophen, Advil or placebo depending on the codes. Standard root canal therapy was performed by a general dental practitioner. Level of pain in each patient was recorded before the treatment and at 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after the treatment using the visual analog scale (VAS). After collecting the data, mean pain score was compared in the study groups. Data analysis was performed using Chi- square and repeated measures ANOVA.
In the patients administered with Advil and gelophen, pain reduction was more significant than the placebo group at all the intervals after the treatment compared to the pre-treatment phase. However, no statistically significant difference was observed between the intervals in this regard (P>0.05).
According to the results, the prophylactic use of Advil and gelophen is effective in the reduction of post-endodontic pain, while there is no significant difference in their efficacy.