Effect of an Anesthetic Chewing Gum on the Initial Pain or Discomfort from Orthodontic Elastomeric Separator Placement

Abstract

Aim:The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a formulated anesthetic chewing gum (ACG) on the initial pain/discomfort resulting from the placement of orthodontic separators. Materials and methods: The preparation of ACG formulation was investigated using food and drug administration (FDA)-certified ingredients. Sixty subjects were recruited and randomly allocated to three groups: (1) ACG, (2) chewing gum (CG) without anesthetics or (3) control (no CG) group. All subjects received an orthodontic elastomeric separator that was placed between the maxillary right or left first molar and second premolar. For all groups, the registration of pain/discomfort experienced immediately after separator placement (0 hour), then after 1, 4, and 8 hours was carried out using the visual analog scale. Results: Regarding the pain/discomfort perception, there was a statistically significant difference (p value <0.0001) between the three groups (ACG, CG, and controls) at each of the three-time points (1, 4 and 8 hours). There were no harms reported by both groups except for temporary mild muscle soreness from gum chewing that was reported by four subjects from the ACG group and two subjects from the CG group. Conclusion:The ACG can significantly decrease and eliminate the initial pain/discomfort resulting from the placement of the orthodontic elastomeric separators. Furthermore, the ACG may decrease the need for a systemic analgesic. Clinical significance: Orthodontic elastomeric separator placement can be uncomfortable. The ACG significantly decreased the initial pain/ discomfort from orthodontic separators during the 8 hours. Therefore, the ACG can be used by the patients as needed whenever pain/discomfort is experienced from the placement of elastomeric separators. Consequently, this may reduce the need for systemic analgesics.

Effect of Chewing Gum on Pain Following Orthodontic Elastomeric Separators Placement: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…In this RCT, we chose 10 min duration of chewing haphazardly. The duration of CG in our study was consistent with Delavarian et al [20] and Elvina et al [21], but not consistent with Alqareer et al [24], Farzanegan et al [12], Benson et al [19], and Al-Melh et al [23]. Further research should be done to determine the optimal duration of CG to reduce the orthodontic pain.…”

“…On the other hand, the results of this RCT were not compatible with Otasevic et al [22], Al-Melh et al [23], Alqareer et al [24], and Farzanegan et al [12]. The different results might be attributed to the variability in study designs and methods, patients' characteristics, duration of the outcome assessment, and duration of CG.…”

“…In this RCT, we assessed the pain along a duration of 1 week according to some reports [12], [25], which demonstrated that this duration was enough for the pain to diminish. However, the week duration was not compatible with Alqareer et al [24] and Al-Melh et al [23] who investigated the effect on pain for 10 days and 8 h, respectively. On the other hand, the week duration was consistent with Farzanegan et al [12], Benson et al [19], Delavarian et al [20], and Elvina et al [21].…”

“…Al-Melh et al [23] used a wide age range, which was different from this study, investigated the pain along a duration of 8 h which was very short, and asked the patients to chew gum every 25 min without specifying the duration of chewing. Farzanegan et al [12] assessed pain experienced with the placement of fixed orthodontic appliance during biting, chewing, fitting front teeth, and fitting back teeth in patients with age range that was different as compared to this RCT and asked the patients to chew gum for 5 min.…”

Flavor Microencapsulation for Taste Masking in Medicated Chewing Gums—Recent Trends, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

“…Shaikh et al [16] attempted to formulate a chewing gum for dolasetron containing a gum base with fillers, sweeteners, coloring agents, plasticizers, and antioxidants that provide elegance and stability. Almelh et al [17] patented an anesthetic chewing gum to alleviate pain from orthodontic surgical treatment, which contains Prilocaine HCl and Lidocaine HCl as the anesthetic components, sweeteners, anti-adherents, lubricants, opacifiers, glidants, and flavoring agents. Birth control pills are being developed for women as spearmint flavored medicated gum, Femcon-Fe [18].…”