Introduction: Effective management of endodontic pain represents a continuing challenge. Many of the dental professionals are facing significant problems associated with postendodontic pain. Hence, the postendodontic pain has to be prevented at its primary stage without waiting for its occurrence. This trial was carried out to evaluate the use of a preoperative, single oral dose of diclofenac sodium for the prevention and control of postendodontic pain.
Materials and methods: Fifty patients were randomly assigned to two groups, placebo and diclofenac sodium (100 mg). The medications were administered 30 min before the start of standard endodontic treatment. Postoperative pain was assessed after 6, 12, and 24 h by using a visual analog scale.
Results: Postendodontic pain showed a statistically significant difference between both groups at 6 and 12 h (P < 0.05) and there was no significant difference at 24 h.
Conclusion: Postendodontic pain was substantially reduced by preoperative administration of single oral dose of diclofenac sodium. It is thus possible to conclude that these favorable results might help to prevent postendodontic pain, especially in patients with a low pain threshold.
Keywords: Diclofenac sodium; postendodontic pain; pretreatment analgesic; visual analog scale.