Effectiveness of acetaminophen in comparison with ibuprofen for pain control in orthodontic patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of acetaminophen and ibuprofen for pain control in orthodontic patients. Methods: Using the PICO strategy, studies were included without restrictions on publication date or language. PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Virtual Health Library (VHL)/Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were searched, along with gray literature, up to July 2025. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool. A meta-analysis was conducted using R software. Subgroup and leave-one-out sensitivity analyses were conducted for moderate or high heterogeneity. Results: = 0.012). The leave-one-out analysis did not change the combined effect but indicated one study as a source of heterogeneity. Conclusions: Pain control during orthodontic tooth movement did not differ between the two medications.