SynthesisBMC oral health2026
The effect of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions on pain control after orthodontic treatment: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC oral health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPain is a common side effect of orthodontic treatment, affecting both patient experience and treatment outcomes. At present, a combination of pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies is used to alleviate post-orthodontic pain. This study aimed to compare and rank the effectiveness of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for post-orthodontic pain management using a Bayesian network meta-analysis.
methodsFollowing PRISMA 2020 guidelines, we searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library up to April 2025 for randomized controlled trials evaluating pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions for orthodontic pain relief. Studies were included if they assessed pain using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at 24–48 h. Two reviewers independently screened studies and extracted data, and risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane RoB 2.0 tool. A Bayesian network meta-analysis was performed to estimate weighted mean differences and rank interventions using SUCRA values.
resultA total of 37 RCTs involving 2,430 participants and 16 intervention arms were included. Pharmacological therapies showed greater efficacy than non-pharmacological methods. Etoricoxib and naproxen ranked highest for pain reduction at both 24 h and 48 h, while structured telephone calls, vibration therapy, and low-level laser therapy demonstrated moderate benefits. DISCUSSION: Pharmacological interventions—particularly etoricoxib and naproxen—were associated with the greatest pain reduction following orthodontic treatment. Structured behavioral and physical approaches may provide additional benefits. Study limitations included variations in intervention parameters and study quality, which may limit the certainty of evidence.
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