Two of the most frequently used pain relievers i.e. 400 mg Acetaminophen and 500 mg Ibuprofen were found to affect the pulpal response to the cold sensibility test but not the electric pulp test (EPT), especially in teeth with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis, as revealed in a recent study published in the “Journal of Endodontics”.

Aidin Soooratgar et al. performed the CONSORT randomized clinical trial which evaluated the effect of Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen on 2 pulp sensitivity tests, namely, cold pulp test and EPT in 41 people with lingering or spontaneous pain as a result of pulpitis. Two sensitivity tests were executed in people's teeth with SIP, and for the tooth with healthy pulp in contralateral quadrant. These people were given Acetaminophen 500 mg, Ibuprofen 400 mg, or the placebo.

The cold test and EPT were recited at different time points (20 minutes, 40 minutes and 1 hour) following the use of pain-relievers, and the outcomes were differentiated from the values before the treatment. The cold test findings considerably lowered 40 minutes, and 1 hour following analgesic use in teeth with SIP and following 40 minutes in the teeth with healthy pulp as observed in the Acetaminophen group.

Whereas, the cold test findings considerably lowered at three-time points under consideration following analgesic intake in teeth with SIP and following 40 minutes in healthy pulp in the Ibuprofen arm. The results for EPT were not significant. No profound differences concerning sex were found among the study groups.