According to the findings of a meta-analysis, systemic use of Dexamethasone in individuals diagnosed with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis is associated with improvement in pain control and anesthesia success rate. Researchers thus sought to determine how dexamethasone affected the success of dental anesthesia in pulpitis patients.

Google Scholar and PubMed were used to conduct a search for information. Using Cochrane Collaboration's risk-of-bias tool, the studies' risk of bias was determined. Extraction of anesthetic success rate, pain intensity (visual analog scale [VAS]), and side effects were done. The Mantel-Haenszel test, odds ratio (OR), inverse variance, and standardized mean difference (MD) were used to examine the data.

In comparison to placebo, dexamethasone improved anesthesia outcomes (n = 502; OR = 2.59). Additionally, when compared to placebo, individuals who received dexamethasone exhibited minimized pain levels following 6 hours (n = 302; MD= -1.43), 12 hours (n = 302; MD = -1.65), and 24 hours (n = 302; MD = -1.27). Hence, dexamethasone administration is valuable for pain alleviation in pulpitis.