A Double-blind Randomized Split-mouth Clinical Trial on a Hemostatic Dental Material Containing Aloe Vera Nanoparticles: The Effects on Pain and Occurrence of Dry Socket after Tooth Extraction.

Introduction: Pain, infection, and dry socket are the primary complications following tooth extraction. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the pain range and incidence of dry socket after using a hemostatic spongy material containing aloe vera nanoparticles after split-mouth extraction of the mandibular first and second molars, compared to a control sponge without aloe vera nanoparticles in patients referred to the Tabriz Faculty of Dentistry.

Materials and methods: This double-blind, split-mouth clinical study was conducted on 30 patients referred to the Faculty of Dentistry in Tabriz. Patients were selected according to specific inclusion and exclusion criteria and required extraction of two teeth. After tooth extraction, an aloe vera nanoparticle-containing hemostatic sponge was randomly placed in one extraction site, while a sponge without aloe vera nanoparticles served as the control in the other extraction site. Pain levels were measured at 12, 24, 48, and 72 h after extraction using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS), where patients marked their pain level from 1 (lowest pain) to 10 (highest pain) at each time point. Patients received a form to record the required information and instructions on how to do so, which they submitted upon completion. To assess the occurrence of dry socket, patients were asked to come four days after extraction. Data were analyzed using SPSS software with relevant statistical tests, considering a significance level of P<0.05.

Results: In both groups, the average pain levels decreased significantly over 72 h (P=0.001 and P=0.01 for the test and control groups, respectively). Additionally, for 48 h and 72 h time points, the test group showed better pain control results than the control group (P=0.04 and P=0.04 for 48 h and 72 h, respectively). No cases of dry sockets were found in either group.

Conclusion: The aloe vera-containing sponge demonstrated better performance in pain control following tooth extraction compared to the control group. For dry socket occurrence, both sponges showed similar results.