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Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly administered according to protocol for the management of complications such as pain, swelling, and trismus following the removal of the third impacted lower molar; however, treatment with NSAIDs may result in multiple adverse effects. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of kinesio taping (KT) and the use of NSAIDs in the treatment of postoperative complications after extraction of an impacted third lower molar. Material and methods: The study comprised a group of 30 patients, randomly divided into the test group (with KT, n = 15) or the control group (without KT, n = 15). The surgery was performed according to standard procedures. In the test group, KT was applied immediately after surgery. Pain, swelling, and trismus were assessed. The VAS scale was used to assess pain. Swelling was measured based on six reference points on the face using a tailor’s meter, and a caliper was used to measure the distance between the upper and lower medial incisors of the upper and lower teeth to determine the extent of trismus. Measurements were performed three times: on the day of the surgery, on the second day following the surgery, and on the 7th day after the surgery. Results: Pain intensity (day of procedures), maximum mouth opening (on the seventh day after the surgery), and the use of NSAIDs (day of surgery) were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the test group than in the control group. Conclusions: Kinesio taping in addition to NSAIDs was found to be more effective than NSAIDs alone in increasing the degree of jaw opening, decreasing pain intensity, and reducing the non-steroid anti-inflammatory dosage in patients after impacted mandibular wisdom teeth surgery.

The development of medicine is based not only on the introduction of new methods of treatment, but also on the use of increasingly effective drugs, including antithrombotic drugs. Drugs that inhibit the activity of platelets (antiplatelet and anti-aggregating drugs) and pharmaceuticals that inhibit the activity of plasma coagulation factors (anticoagulants) are used in antithrombotic therapy. In our daily practice we encounter patients who take chronic antiplatelet or anticoagulant drugs. However, more and more often we are dealing with patients who are treated with two antiplatelet drugs, an antiplatelet and an anticoagulant or even undergoing triple antithrombotic therapy. When preparing the patient for invasive craniofacial procedures, it should be assessed whether the temporary discontinuation of antithrombotic treatment due to the fear of excessive perioperative bleeding is justified and will not result in life-threatening thromboembolic complications. The authors discuss in detail the medications used in modern antithrombotic treatment and present a perioperative management procedure with a patient who takes l4 z of these medications chronically.

To investigate the prevalence and overlaps of headaches and pain-related temporomandibular disorders (TMD) among the Polish urban population.The study was conducted in four Polish cities (Wroclaw, Lublin, Katowice, and Lodz) between February and November 2017. Participation in the study was voluntary. The examination consisted of two parts: a clinical examination of TMD using the Diagnostic Criteria for TMD Examination Form and the Head-HUNT Study questionnaire filled in by the participants to determine the occurrence and type of headaches. An experienced and qualified clinician trained all the examiners in the clinical examination protocol. Statistical analyses were based on descriptive and nonparametric statistics. In addition, univariate logistic regression was used. The significance level was set at α = .05.Overall, 213 individuals were examined (149 women and 64 men). The mean age of the participants was 37 ± 15.82 years. The diagnosis for 55.9% of the participants was pain-related TMD, including myalgia (47.4%), myofascial pain (14.1%), arthralgia (21.1%), or headache attributed to TMD (10.3%). In the study population, 48.8% were diagnosed with temporomandibular joint disorders, most frequently disc displacement with reduction (47.9%). A total of 73% of the individuals had experienced headaches in the previous 12 months. The majority of the participants described the headache episodes as occurring less than 7 days/month and lasting less than 4 hours. Among people with painful TMD, the frequency of headaches was almost twice as high as that in nondisordered individuals (48.35% and 25.35%, respectively; P.0001). The logistic regression model confirmed a significant overlap between headache and painful TMD (OR = 4.77, 95% CI 2.44-9.32, P = .0000). For the entire studied population, no statistically significant connections were established between the occurrence of identified TMJ disorders and headache reports or diagnoses (P.05).Headaches and pain-related TMD are major problems among the Polish urban population. Headache was a much more frequent problem for participants with painful TMD. This issue requires further research and identification of cause-and-effect relationships. Considering the entire studied population, the relationship between identified TMJ disorders and headache is negligible.