Assessment of postoperative pain following the use of dexamethasone intracanal rinse for irreversible pulpitis

A recent study has shown that dexamethasone is superior to saline in relieving postoperative pain when utilized as the final intracanal rinse after root canal instrumentation. This study's findings were published in the Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan.
Sixty patients aged 18 to 50 years, who had been diagnosed with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis were specifically chosen based on set criteria. Root canal therapy (RCT) was initiated under rubber dam after obtaining informed consent. The treatment included a pulpectomy followed by canal preparation. Patients were divided into two groups: Group A (the experimental group) received dexamethasone (4 mg/mL in a 5-mL syringe) as a final rinse, and Group B (the control group) received saline as the final rinse. They were followed up after 1 week to determine the improvement of their pain. Following data collection, teeth were filled, and permanent restoration was placed. The Chi-square test was utilized for the analysis of the data.
Dexamethasone showed a significantly higher efficacy compared to saline as a final intracanal rinse, 86.67% and 20.0%, respectively (p value < 0.05), in alleviating postoperative pain in teeth diagnosed with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis.
The above study demonstrated that dexamethasone has greater efficacy compared to saline in alleviating postoperative pain when utilized as the final intracanal rinse following root canal instrumentation.