RESUMEN
Introduction: one of the complications following root canal therapy in some patients is the post treatment endodontic pain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of oral administration of a single dose of betamethasone prior to treatment on the incidence of post - treatment endodontic pain
Materials and Methods: in this study, 100 patients with single canal teeth with vital pulps undergoing root canal therapy were selected. One hour before treatment, patients were randomly given either 4mg of betamethasone or a placebo identical in appearance to the test drug. Root canal therapy was accomplished with the current standardized technique and evaluated for the incidence of pain, using the visual analog scale approach 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours after the treatment
Results: the results of this study indicated that oral administration of betamethasone in comparison with placebo at all periods significantly reduced post treatment endodontic pain
Conclusion: according to the above findings, oral administration of a single dose of prophylactic betamethasone could significantly reduce post treatment endodontic pain in vital teeth