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.