A double-blind study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of piroxicam with that of indomethacin in the treatment of inflammation associated with oral surgery. Patients received either 20 mg of piroxicam once daily or 25 mg of indomethacin three times daily for 5 days. Evaluations included assessments of pain and other indices of inflammation (swelling, redness and temperature). A trend favoring piroxicam over indomethacin in the effect on individual symptoms was noted at both Day 3 and Day 6. In the overall evaluations of improvement and drug usefulness at the end of the study, the better performance of piroxicam was statistically significant (p less than 0.05). The incidence of side effects was low for both drugs; indomethacin tended to produce slightly more headaches. Piroxicam should prove highly useful for the treatment of various types of inflammatory conditions, including that produced by oral surgery.