CBD isolate shows effectiveness for dental pain
Here's a "randomized, placebo-controlled, triple-arm, phase IIA clinical trial with double masking which investigates the effectiveness and safety of Cannabidiol (CBD) as an analgesic for acute dental pain." It was published in the journal Evidence-Based Dentistry in April 2024.
These types of clinical trials are usually considered the best evidence for the effectiveness of a medicine. The authors used the U.S. FDA-approved medicine, Epidiolex. It is a purified CBD isolate oral solution with 100mg CBD per milliliter.
61 patients diagnosed with either of the following conditions were included:
- moderate-severe dental or tooth pain with a diagnosis of irreversible pulpitis
- pulp necrosis (death) and symptomatic apical periodontitis
Participants were given single doses of either CBD10 (10 mg/kg), CBD20 (20 mg/kg), or a placebo and then monitored for 3 hours. Their average age was 44.
The actual doses for a 150 lb. person would be:
- CBD10: 682 mg CBD
- CBD20: 1364 mg CBD
The primary outcome measured was pain level using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS): 0 (no pain) to 10 (horrible pain). It was recorded 7 times over the 3 hour monitoring period. They also collected data on bite force changes and several other indicators.
Results:
Compared to baseline VAS, significant pain relief was seen 30 min after drug administration for CBD10, versus after 15 min for CBD20 (p < 0.05)
Pain reduction reached 50% at 60 min for CBD10 and at 120 min for CBD20
Both [CBD groups] reported maximum pain reduction of 73% of baseline at 180 min
Bite force increase was seen in both CBD10 and CBD20 groups at 90 and 180 min, versus no significant differences between time points in the placebo group.
pain reduction was significantly associated with increasing time in the CBD groups (p < 0.001), versus no significant association with the placebo group (p = 0.0521).
The higher concentration CBD solution (20mg/kg) started relieving pain 50% faster (15 minutes) than the 10mg/kg solution (30 minutes). Interestingly, while CBD20 began working faster, it also took longer to reach 50% pain reduction (2 hours versus 1 hour for CBD10).
After 3 hours, both CBD10 and CBD20 achieved a 73% reduction in pain scores versus a 33% reduction for the placebo.
The authors' concluded:
Based on this randomised clinical trial, pure CBD drug Epidiolex demonstrates effective analgesia against acute toothache.
The article preview is here at PubMed.
Source:
Murphy S, Hayes E. Cannabidiol - an effective analgesic for toothache? Evid Based Dent. 2024 Apr 22. doi: 10.1038/s41432-024-01007-5. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38649735.