Evaluation of Corticosteroid Administration Following Impacted Third Molar Surgery Using 3-Dimensional Facial Analysis

Summary

The purpose of this prospective, randomized, controlled, single-blind clinical trial is to compare the efficacy of local submucosal administration of dexamethasone versus methylprednisolone on postoperative morbidity following impacted lower third molar surgery. The study evaluates postoperative pain using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and quantifies three-dimensional facial edema using a mobile smartphone-based scanning workflow (Qlone aligned in CloudCompare). Patients requiring unilateral extraction of fully bone-impacted mandibular third molars are randomly allocated into three parallel groups: Control (no injection), Methylprednisolone (40 mg), and Dexamethasone (8 mg).

Timeline

Start

2026-03-02

Primary completion

2026-04-01

Completion

2026-04-09

Publications

• Results Lim D, Ngeow WC. A Comparative Study on the Efficacy of Submucosal Injection of Dexamethasone Versus Methylprednisolone in Reducing Postoperative Sequelae After Third Molar Surgery. J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2017 Nov;75(11):2278-2286. doi: 10.1016/j.joms.2017.05.033. Epub 2017 Jun 8.
• Results Fernandez-Martin U, Lisbona-Gonzalez MJ, Vallecillo-Rivas M, Mallo-Magarinos M, Herrera-Briones FJ. Effect of Preoperative Administration of Dexamethasone vs. Methylprednisolone in Surgical Extraction of Impacted Lower Third Molars: Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. J Clin Med. 2024 Aug 7;13(16):4614. doi: 10.3390/jcm13164614.
• Results Ngeow WC, Lim D. Do Corticosteroids Still Have a Role in the Management of Third Molar Surgery? Adv Ther. 2016 Jul;33(7):1105-39. doi: 10.1007/s12325-016-0357-y. Epub 2016 Jun 10.

Drugs

Indications