title: Impacted lower third molars: Can preoperative salivary pH influence postoperative pain?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The literature focuses little attention on factors that influence third molar post extraction pain (PEP). One factor that may play a role in PEP is saliva. We undertook a study in patients subjected to third molar extraction with the aim of assessing the influence of salivary pH on PEP.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-one healthy patients with one impacted inferior lower third molar with mean age of 21.02 ± 2.05 years, underwent surgery for similar impactions. The process of pH measuring was carried out without delay after saliva collection, with a combination electrode connected to a PHM 62 pH meter. Pain assessment was done at 4, 8, 12, 18 and 24 hours on the first day. The scale ranged from 0 to 10 in which 0 and 10 denoted 'no pain' and 'maximum pain,' respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The multivariate analysis suggests that the factors that influence pain are patients' sex (B = - 0.466) and the saliva pH (B = - 1.093). According to the findings of our study, PEP intensity is assumed to have a reverse correlation with salivary pH and is also assumed to be greater in females.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Due to the fact that no previous study has indicated such findings so far, further studies are needed to assess the importance of preoperative pH value and its clinical significance on the level of PEP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Mehdi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.forename: Mohammad Hosein Kalantar
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Motamedi
authors.forename: Mehrdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.forename: Shervin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tabeshfar
authors.forename: Mehryar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.forename: Mohammad Mehdi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Naghizadeh