Effectiveness of Preoperative Chlorhexidine Mouthwash on Pain After Lower Posterior Teeth Removal: A Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Trial

Background: Pain is one of the most common complications after tooth extraction and pain control is a crucial part of the procedure. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of 0.2% (w/v) chlorhexidine (CHX) gluconate mouth rinse on the severity of post-extraction pain. Methods: A prospective, randomized, double-blind trial was conducted among 170 subjects. Subjects were instructed to rinse with 15 mL of CHX mouth rinse (study group) or placebo (control group) 0.5 to 1 hour before extraction. Post-operative pain was evaluated considering the number of taken rescue analgesics and using a visual analog scale (VAS) that each case completed 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours after the surgery. The Mann-Whitney U test was performed in this regard. Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding demographic variables (P 0.05). The preoperative use of CHX mouth rinse showed a better performance in mitigating the perceived pain. A significant difference in the pain level (P=0.001) was found only at the 6th hour postoperatively although there was no significant difference in the pain level between the two groups (P 0.05) at all other times (12th, 24th, 48th hours). The total number of analgesics that were taken by the study group was significantly lower compared to the control group (P=0.042). Conclusions: The preoperative CHX mouth rinse could be a beneficial choice for reducing pain after simple tooth extractions.