Incidence of postoperative pain after single-visit and multiple-visit root canal therapy: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND

Short-term complications after root canal therapy (RCT) include mild pain or flare-up. Patients regard these complications as a benchmark for the assessment of clinician's abilities. In this context, the evidence for recommending either one- or two-visit RCT is not consistent.

AIMS

This study aims to compare the prevalence of postoperative pain and tenderness to percussion after single-visit (SV) versus two-visit RCT on the mandibular first molar.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was registered with www.ctri.nic.in (CTRI/2019/05/019067). Seventy individuals requiring RCT on a mandibular first molar were selected and randomly ascribed to either single- (Group 1, = 35) or two-visit RCT (Group 2, = 35). Postoperative pain levels were assessed using heft parker visual analog scale. The treated teeth were appraised for tenderness to percussion after 1 week of obturation.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Thirty-four patients were evaluated in each group: One patient, each, dropped out from both the groups. The data analysis was done using Student's -test and Chi-square test.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

Pain score in multiple-visit (MV) was significantly higher than SV after 12- ( = 0.039) and 48 h ( = 0.043). Short-term postoperative pain was higher in MV than SV RCT of mandibular first molar teeth.