Jaw Muscle Pain Post Wisdom Molar Surgery

Not Applicable

Not yet recruiting

• Conditions: Muscle Pain; Post Operative Pain; Impacted Third Molar Tooth
• Interventions: Drug: Oral Pain Medications only; Drug: Temporo-masseteric Nerve Block Injection

• Registration Number: NCT07094542
• Lead Sponsor: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Brief Summary

The proposed design is a triple-blind, placebo-controlled randomized prospective phase II trial to assess the feasibility of employing the Temporo-masseteric Nerve Block (TMNB) injection to decrease jaw muscle pain, overall pain, improve mouth opening and minimize pain medication consumption. 80 participants undergoing lower third molar removal under sedation will be enrolled. Those who develop significant jaw muscle pain on the following day will be randomized to receive either the TMNB injection or a placebo. Daily ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) will be collected reflecting elements of patient experience for all participants. On Day 8, participants return for an end-of-study evaluation and return their unused pain medications. Up to 40 participants who are randomized to receive TMNB/placebo will be recruited to participate in a qualitative interview regarding their experience.

Detailed Description

The study is designed as a parallel, blinded, randomized phase II pilot study to assess the ability of the Temporo-masseteric Nerve Block (TMNB) injection to reduce post-operative pain in patients who undergo removal of lower third molar/s under sedation. It is not known how often and in whom jaw muscle pain significantly contributes to post-operative pain, limitation in mouth opening, and function. and develop significant jaw muscle pain. Hence the study is designed to assess the development of such jaw muscle pain before testing the placebo-controlled TMNB intervention. Accordingly, 80 subjects who undergo lower third molar extractions under intravenous sedation are randomized to receive either the TMNB (standard-of-care local anesthetic, 1.8 ml 2% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine), or a placebo (TMNB injection technique, but with 1.8 ml of sterile isotonic saline instead) the day following their extraction/s should they report significant pain (≥5 on a scale of pain rating from 0 to 10) when the jaw muscles are 'palpated' or examined with firm finger pressure. The assessment will be repeated 15 minutes after the injection. On the other hand, those who report less pain (\<5) to jaw muscle palpation will not receive any injection. The participant, TMNB administrator and the evaluator will be blinded from randomization assignment. All participants will fill out daily remote surveys administered through REDCap® that will assess peak NRS pain score for the previous 24 hours, limitation in mouth opening and function, oral health related quality of life, pain medication consumption, and adverse effects from pain medications. Patient responses will be collected remotely and will include patient-uploaded cropped selfies of spontaneous mouth-opening with a disposable millimeter ruler (Orastretch®) propped between the upper and lower incisors.

It is anticipated that approximately 50% of patients will develop significant jaw muscle pain following the procedure. Hence, of the 80 participants, 40 are anticipated to be eligible for randomization, with 20 participants receiving the placebo or the TMNB injection, respectively.

Participants will return for an in-person assessment on Day 8, will return unused medications and will get an opportunity to participate in a qualitative interview to interrogate their experience receiving the injection (those randomized to TMNB/placebo), and their recovery experience. The duration of participation is a week from undergoing the procedure.

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2025-07
• Study First Submitted: 2025-07-23
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-07-23
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-07-29
• Study First Posted: 2025-07-30
• Last Update Posted: 2025-08-01
• Study Start: 2025-11-01
• Primary Completion: 2029-11
• Study Completion: 2030-05-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 80

Inclusion Criteria

All patients recommended extraction/s of at least 1 lower wisdom (third) molar that is partially/fully 'impacted' under intravenous sedation, are eligible to participate in this study so long as they

• are 18 years or older,
• are healthy,
• have no cognitive/intellectual disability,
• have no past/recent pain or reduced range of motion in their jaw joint/ muscle complex, no trauma or surgery in their jaw region.
• have an electronic device such as a smart phone or a tablet/ computer with internet connection.
• are willing to participate in the study and not be excluded by the following criteria below.

Exclusion Criteria

An individual who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from participation in this study:

• Compromised ability to guard their self-interest, for e.g., prisoners, children, pregnant women, patients with intellectual/cognitive disability are not enrolled in the study.
• Those patients who present with infection/inflammation involving the third molars slated for extractions, on the day of their procedure, may not take part in the study.
• Those who have had opioid pain medication/s in the past 3 months to address short term or long-standing pain, or those who are on long term prescription of anti-inflammatory pain medication, are unable to participate.
• Those with long standing painful limitation of movement of the jaw joint or muscles.
• Those patients who are allergic to/unable to tolerate either the dental local anesthetic or its components, opioids, acetaminophen or ibuprofen also may not take part in the study

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Control	Oral Pain Medications only	Participants whose jaw muscle pain to palpation is \<5 on Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NRS) the day after lower wisdom molar removal under sedation will be recommended post-operative pain management with a fixed interval dosing of ibuprofen 600 mg along with acetaminophen 325 mg taken every 6 hours for the first 72 hours post-procedure, after which they are encouraged to take prn dosing.
TMNB with Placebo	Temporo-masseteric Nerve Block Injection	Participants whose jaw muscle pain to palpation is 5 or higher on on Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NRS) the day after lower wisdom molar removal under sedation will be randomized to either placebo (sterile saline) or to the dental local anesthetic. The placebo will be delivered as the Temporo-masseteric Nerve Block injection. The randomization is blind to the participant and to the investigator administering the injection. The participants will be recommended post-operative pain management with a fixed interval dosing of ibuprofen 600 mg along with acetaminophen 325 mg taken every 6 hours for the first 72 hours post-procedure, after which they are encouraged to take prn dosing.
TMNB with dental local anesthetic	Temporo-masseteric Nerve Block Injection	Participants whose jaw muscle pain to palpation is 5 or higher on on Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NRS) the day after lower wisdom molar removal under sedation will be randomized to either placebo (sterile saline) or to the dental local anesthetic. The dental local anesthetic (2% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine) will be delivered as the Temporo-masseteric Nerve Block injection. The randomization is blind to the participant and to the investigator administering the injection. The participants will be recommended post-operative pain management with a fixed interval dosing of ibuprofen 600 mg along with acetaminophen 325 mg taken every 6 hours for the first 72 hours post-procedure, after which they are encouraged to take prn dosing.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Jaw Muscle Pain Reduction on palpation post-TMNB injections	Day 2 15 minutes post TMNB injection	To assess the effect of TMNB injection on the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NRS) corresponding to Jaw muscle pain-to-palpation reported by the participant, when assessed 15 minutes post-injection.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Sustained Benefit from TMNB Injection- pain reduction	24-, 48-, 72-, and 96- hours post-injection	Comparison of peak NRS pain score, the highest pain level as perceived by the participant collected for the preceding 24 hours.
Sustained Benefit from TMNB Injection- mouth opening	24-, 48-, 72-, and 96- hours post-injection	Comparison of spontaneous maximum mouth opening, measured in millimeters
Opioid consumption to 'rescue' pain poorly responsive to recommended pain medication regimen	8 Days	Compare need for rescue opioid medication among the three groups

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Rutgers School of Dental Medicine; 🇺🇸 Newark, New Jersey, United States