An interesting article titled “Evaluation of the efficacy of topical rifamycin application on postoperative complications after lower impacted wisdom teeth surgery” appears in the Journal of Stomatology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery written by Levent Cigerim and et. al. (online 11 May 2023, 101501). The article explores the efficacy of a single-dose of topical rifamycin application to reduce complications after wisdom teeth surgery. Rifamycin has been shown to be effective in the inflammatory phase of wound healing by inhibiting prostaglandins, TNF-α and IL-8.
In the study the authors included 35 patients with bilaterally impacted lower wisdom teeth that were removed for orthodontic reasons. The patients were split into two groups where the extraction sockets were irrigated with 3 ml/250 mg of rifamycin or with saline. The patients had their pain intensity measured daily for 7 days using a visual analog scale. Mouth opening ability and swelling were observed on the 2nd and 7th day after surery by calculating any changes in maximum mouth opening and the mean distance between reference points of the face.
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The authors found thost patients in the rifamycin group had a significantly lower amount of complications after wisdom teeth surgery. The authosr found no statistically significant difference with regards to mouth opening ability and swelling measurements on the 2nd and 7th days after surgery. It was found that the visual analog scalescores were significantly low in the rifamycin group on the first and fourth day after surgery. In addition, rifamycin application helped to prevent infection, reduce the incidence of alveolitis, and provide analgesic effects after wisdom teeth surgery. The authors state:
“These results indicate that due to its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, a single dose of topical rifamycin application may be preferred as an alternative to systemic antibiotics for controlling postoperative complications in lower impacted wisdom teeth surgery.”
The authors say that a single-dose of topical rifamycin application is an effective and safe way to reduce complications after surgery of impacted lower wisdom teeth. However it is noted that although the study incuded enough patients to observe a 50% difference in the study variables with a type 1 error of 5% and a power of 80%, the number of patients was relatively small and thus more research should be conducted to explore the findings. Further the study did not investigate any potential long-term effects of topical rifamycin.