Comparative Evaluation of Hemostatic Gel vs Gelatin Sponge on Bleeding and Pain After Primary Teeth Extraction: An In-vivo Comparative Study

Background- In pediatric dental practice, extraction is one of the common procedures whether it’s a case of over-retained deciduous teeth or carious and traumatic teeth with poor prognosis. In pre-cooperative patients or patients with special health care needs, post extraction bleeding must be managed very effectively and quickly too, as such patients are unable to follow the post-extraction pack instructions properly. Hence, aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of hemostatic gel and gelatin sponge on post-extraction bleeding and pain following extraction of primary teeth and whether the root length of the primary teeth draws any impact over the post-extraction bleeding time and flow. Materials & Methodology- It was a prospective, randomised clinical trial of sample size 20 teeth in each group. Inclusion criteria were ASA class-I patients in the age group 6-12 years, patients with at least 1 primary tooth to be extracted under LA local infiltration. After extraction, a pressure pack of normal saline soaked gauge was given for 2 minutes and then hemostatic agent was applied as per the groups allocated either hemostatic gel or gelatin sponge to the extraction socket. Results- Gelatin sponge performed better in controlling the bleeding from extraction socket at 5 minutes and 10 minutes interval as the mean data of bleeding code was statistically significant but it was not significant at 15 minutes interval means both the material performed equally better at the end of 15 minutes in controlling bleeding. Conclusion- Placing Gelatin sponge pack post primary teeth extraction significantly reduces the bleeding time at 5 minutes and 10 minutes interval and hastens the blood clot in comparison with hemostatic gel. Keywords- Post-Extraction Bleeding, Gelatin Sponge, Hemostatic Gel