Chewing Gum Effect in Reducing Orthodontic Pain After Separator and Initial Arch Wire Placement

Pain is the most claimed complaint from orthodontic treatment. Fear of pain has contributed to patients\' avoidance of seeking orthodontic treatment, affects patients\' compliance to treatment and even becomes the main reason for discontinuing orthodontic treatment. For years, orthodontic patients have reported using analgesics during orthodontic treatment to ease the pain. However, analgesics have many side effects such as allergic reactions, bleeding disorders, gastric ulcers, liver toxicity and their potential influence in slowing down tooth movement. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of chewing gums in pain reduction in Malaysian multi-ethnic orthodontic patients and to explore the possibility of chewing gum to be recommended as a suitable substitute for analgesics in our future practice.