Effectiveness of Kinesio Taping on Pain, Swelling, and Trismus After Mandibular Third Molar Surgery: A Split-Mouth,...

Kinesio taping is a simple, non-invasive technique that may reduce postoperative discomfort. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Kinesio taping in reducing pain, swelling, and trismus after mandibular third molar surgery.

A split-mouth, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted involving 17 patients requiring bilateral mandibular third molar surgery. Kinesio tape was applied to one surgical side, while placebo tape was applied to the contralateral side. Postoperative pain was assessed using a 10-point Visual Analog Scale (VAS), facial swelling was measured using predefined anatomical landmarks, and mouth opening was evaluated by measuring the interincisal distance. Data were collected preoperatively and on postoperative days 1, 2, and 3.

The Kinesio group showed significantly lower pain intensity and greater mouth opening at all postoperative time points compared with the control group. Vertical and oblique facial swelling were significantly lower at most early postoperative time points, whereas no significant differences were observed for horizontal swelling at any time point.

Kinesio taping may help reduce early postoperative pain, swelling, and trismus after mandibular third molar surgery. However, these findings are limited to short-term outcomes and should be further validated in larger multicenter studies.

The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06967246).

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12663-026-03156-9.