For fixed orthodontic treatment, chewing gum was substantially more efficacious than both pharmacologic agents and placebo in minimizing orthodontic pain twenty-four hours following archwire placement, as deciphered from a recent systematic review and meta-analysis. Mahmoud Mando et al. and investigators sought to examine the impact of chewing gum on the intensity of orthodontic pain at its peak intensity.

The use of electronic databases such as PubMed, EBSCO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), ScienceDirect, and Scopus was part of a search strategy that also included manual searching. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were encompassed. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, each study was evaluated independently. Using GRADE, the degree of certainty in the evidence was assessed. With the aid of the Cochrane risk of bias tool, the likelihood of bias within the incorporated studies was explored.

A total of 16 RCTs were included. As found, chewing gum considerably minimized the intensity of pain when compared to pharmacologic agents (mean difference [MD] -0.50). In comparison with a placebo, chewing gum remarkably diminished pain severity (MD -0.60), while bite wafer and chewing gum groups illustrated similar levels of drop in pain severity (MD -0.15). Hence, chewing gum appears to be effective to reduce orthodontic pain.