An Analysis of Current Analgesic Preferences for Endodontic Pain Management

A descriptive, cross sectional survey was developed to determine the preferences of endodontists when prescribing analgesics. Eleven clinical scenarios describing common endodontic diagnoses or procedures with specified severity of pain were provided. A survey was sent to 310 AAE members and 63 responded, providing a 20% response rate. Respondents were given various choices for analgesic prescription including various dosages of ibuprofen or acetaminophen (APAP), or combination narcotic medications. Data were analyzed by χ2 tests. Non-narcotics were preferred over narcotics for all clinical situations. Significantly more respondents selected ibuprofen 600 mg (4× a day) regardless of the severity of preoperative or postoperative pain (p < 0.001). Educators and board-certified AAE members were less likely than nonboard certified AAE members to manage their patient’s perceived severe pain with narcotic analgesics.