Introduction. Surgical extraction of impacted lower wisdom teeth is often associated with post‑operative inflammatory processes. In order to alleviate post‑operative pain non‑steroid anti‑inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are predominantly used. Their effectiveness can be assessed using, e.g., visual analogue, numerical and verbal scales. Aim. Evaluate the effectiveness of the analgesic effect of ibuprofen, ketoprofen and nimesulide on the 1st and 3rd day after surgery. Additionally, the study aimed to determine the therapeutic usefulness of visual analogue, numeric and verbal scales in post‑operative pain control. Material and Methods. The study involved 58 patients (36 women and 22 men), 17 to 41 years old, who underwent surgical extraction of an impacted lower wisdom tooth. After surgery, 20 patients were treated with 0.2 g of ibuprofen every 8 hours, 19 individuals with 0.1 g of ketoprofen every 8 hours, and 19 with 0.1 g nimesulide every 12 hours. Each patient evaluated their post‑operative pain twice; 24 hours and 72 hours after surgery; using visual analogue, verbal and numeric scale. Results. There was no statistically significant difference in the intensity of post‑operative pain in patients treated with the various drugs. In each scale pain intensity in the 72nd hour after surgery was lower than in the 24th hour. The higher the score of pain in the visual analogue scale, the higher the patient’s score of pain in the numerical scale; and the worse the patient’s pain in the verbal scale, the higher the values in the numerical scale. Conclusions. The study shows that choice of pain‑killer should be guided by an individual assessment of the patient’s health, individual indications as well as contraindications; and to a lesser extent by the expected effects of analgesia. The use of analgesics reduces pain, enables the control of inflammation and helps shorten the healing time. Pain assessment scales are useful in post‑operative pain control and monitoring pain levels.

Key words: analgesics, anti‑inflammatory drugs, pain, visual analog scale, wisdom teeth.