OBJECTIVES: The objective of this meta-analysis was to assess the effect of 0.2% chlorhexidine gel in preventing alveolar osteitis following mandibular third molar extraction(s). METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, Science Direct and the references of identified articles were searched for relevant studies that met our eligibility criteria. Treatment effects were combined by meta-analysis using RevMan 5.3 and Stata 12.0 software. RESULTS: We included 11 trials in this meta-analysis. Compared to the control, 0.2% chlorhexidine gel reduced the risk of alveolar osteitis by 62% (RR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.28-0.53, P < 0.00001) following mandibular third molar extraction(s). The subgroup analysis results indicated that 0.2% chlorhexidine gel reduced the risk of alveolar osteitis after mandibular third molar extraction(s) by 75% (RR = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.11-0.58) and 56% (RR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.30-0.63) compared to no treatment and placebo, respectively. However, the occurrence of alveolar osteitis following mandibular third molar extraction(s) was not significantly different between 0.2% chlorhexidine gel and 0.12% chlorhexidine mouthwash (RR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.06-1.00). CONCLUSION: The results showed that 0.2% chlorhexidine gel was effective in preventing alveolar osteitis after lower third molar extraction(s).
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