An analysis of current analgesic preferences for endodontic pain management

J Endod. 2006 Dec;32(12):1146-54. doi: 10.1016/j.joen.2006.07.015. Epub 2006 Oct 19.

Abstract

A descriptive, cross sectional survey was developed to determine the preferences of endodontists when prescribing analgesics. Eleven clinical scenarios describing common endodontic diagnoses or procedures with specified severity of pain were provided. A survey was sent to 310 AAE members and 63 responded, providing a 20% response rate. Respondents were given various choices for analgesic prescription including various dosages of ibuprofen or acetaminophen (APAP), or combination narcotic medications. Data were analyzed by chi2 tests. Non-narcotics were preferred over narcotics for all clinical situations. Significantly more respondents selected ibuprofen 600 mg (4x a day) regardless of the severity of preoperative or postoperative pain (p<0.001). Educators and board-certified AAE members were less likely than nonboard certified AAE members to manage their patient's perceived severe pain with narcotic analgesics.

MeSH terms

  • Analgesics / therapeutic use*
  • Analgesics, Opioid / therapeutic use
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / therapeutic use
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Drug Combinations
  • Drug Utilization / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Ibuprofen / therapeutic use
  • Pain, Postoperative / drug therapy*
  • Practice Patterns, Dentists' / statistics & numerical data*
  • Root Canal Therapy*
  • Toothache / drug therapy*

Substances

  • Analgesics
  • Analgesics, Opioid
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
  • Drug Combinations
  • Ibuprofen