title: Influence of calcium hydroxide on the post-treatment pain in Endodontics: A systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pain of endodontic origin has been a major concern to the patients and the clinicians for many years. Post-operative pain is associated with inflammation in the periradicular tissues caused by irritants egressing from root canal during treatment. It has been suggested that calcium hydroxide intra-canal medicament has pain-preventive properties because of its anti-microbial or tissue altering effects. Some dispute this and reasoned that calcium hydroxide may initiate or increase pain by inducing or increasing inflammation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effectiveness of calcium hydroxide in reducing the post-treatment pain when used as an intra-canal medicament.
  
  
  METHODS
  THE FOLLOWING DATABASES WERE SEARCHED: PubMed CENTRAL (until July 2013), MEDLINE, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Bibliographies of clinical studies and reviews identified in the electronic search were analyzed for studies published outside the electronically searched journals. The primary outcome measure was to evaluate the post-treatment pain reduction when calcium hydroxide is used as an intra-canal medicament in patients undergoing root canal therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The reviews found some clinical evidence that calcium hydroxide is not very effective in reducing post-treatment pain when it is used alone, but its effectiveness can be increased when used in combination with other medicaments like chlorhexidine and camphorated monochlorophenol (CMCP).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Even though calcium hydroxide is one of the most widely used intra-canal medicament due to its anti-microbial properties, there is no clear evidence of its effect on the post-treatment pain after the chemo-mechanical root canal preparation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Saveetha Dental College, Velappanchavadi, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Anjaneyulu
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Saveetha Dental College, Velappanchavadi, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Malli Sureshbabu
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Nivedhitha
keywords: Calcium hydroxide; inter appointment pain; intra-canal medicament; post-treatment pain; root canal medicament; root canal therapy