Aims: Etoricoxib is a second-generation selective COX-2 inhibitor. There are a few researches investigating analgesic effect of Etoricoxib in dentistry.
Methods: This randomized, double-blind, active-control study included sixty patients with clinical pulpal diagnosis of necrosis of the first mandibular molar and an associated periapical radiolucency who experienced severe pain (more than 60 out of 100 in scale of Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The patients were equally randomized into four groups, who received 60 mg etoricoxib (group 1), 90 mg etoricoxib (group 2), 120 mg etoricoxib (group 3), and 400 mg ibuprofen (group 4). All patients randomly received a single dose of the drug after the first session of the root canal therapy. Using VAS, the severity of pain was recorded 2, 4, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after the drug was administered.
Results: Changing trends of pain over the time was significant for all groups (P=0.003). In addition, there was not a significant difference between various study arms (P=0.146).
Conclusion: The results showed that ibuprofen had a comparable effect with various dosage of etoricoxib and may remain as the choice analgesic for dental pulpal pain.