Efficacy of preoperative ibuprofen and meloxicam on the success rate of inferior alveolar nerve block for teeth with irreversible pulpitis.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether premedication with ibuprofen or meloxicam increases the success rate of anaesthesia in teeth with irreversible pulpitis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this parallel, double-blind clinical trial, 92 patients diagnosed with irreversible pulpitis were randomly divided into four groups of 23 patients. The first group (the no-premedication group) received no premedication, the second group (the meloxicam group) received 7.5 mg of meloxicam, the third group (the ibuprofen group) received 600 mg of ibuprofen, and the fourth group (the placebo group) received placebo 1 hour before intervention. Before taking the medication, electrical pulp testing (EPT) and the Heft-Parker visual analogue scale (VAS) were used to evaluate sensitivity and pain at baseline. Then, local anaesthesia was injected, and after 15 minutes, EPT was used again to evaluate tooth sensitivity. The pain during access preparation was also recorded using the Heft-Parker VAS.

RESULTS: Ninety-two patients were analysed. The success rates of local anaesthesia were 21.7%, 34.8%, 78.3% and 73.9% in the no-premedication, placebo, ibuprofen and meloxicam groups, respectively, according to the EPT values. Considering the Heft-Parker VAS values, no premedication gave a 21.7% success rate, placebo gave a 34.8% success rate, ibuprofen gave an 82.6% success rate and meloxicam gave a 65.2% success rate. The ibuprofen and meloxicam groups showed significantly better results than the placebo and no-premedication groups (P < 0.001). However, the difference between meloxicam and ibuprofen groups was not significant.

CONCLUSIONS: Premedication with meloxicam and ibuprofen significantly increased the success rates of inferior alveolar nerve block anaesthesia for teeth with irreversible pulpitis; however, neither drug provided profound anaesthesia.