Postoperative pain after one-visit root-canal treatment on teeth with vital pulps: comparison of three different obturation techniques.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate and compare postoperative pain after one-visit root canal treatment (RCT) on teeth with vital pulps using three different obturation techniques.


METHODS
Two hundred and four patients (105 men and 99 women) aged 12 to 77 years were randomly assigned into three treatments groups: cold lateral compaction of gutta-percha (LC), Thermafil technique (TT), and Backfill - Thermafil obturation technique (BT). Postoperative pain was recorded on a visual analogue scale (VAS) of 0 - 10 after 2 and 6 hours, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 days. Data were statistically analyzed using multivariate logistic regression analysis.


RESULTS
In the total sample, 87% of patients experienced discomfort or pain in some moment between RCT and the seventh day. The discomfort experienced was weak, light, moderate and intense in 6%, 44%, 20% and 6% of the cases, respectively. Mean pain levels were 0.4 ± 0.4, 0.4 ± 0.3, and 1.4 ± 0.7 in LC, BT, and TT groups, respectively. Patients of TT group experienced a significantly higher mean pain level compared to other two groups (p < 0.0001). In TT group, all patients felt some level of pain at six hours after RCT.


CONCLUSIONS
Postoperative pain was significantly associated with the obturation technique used during root canal treatment. Patients whose teeth were filled with Thermafil obturators (TT technique) showed significantly higher levels of discomfort than patients whose teeth were filled using any of the other two techniques.
Department of Endodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Zaragoza, Huesca, Spain.
Luis-O
LO
Alonso-Ezpeleta
Carmen
C
Gasco-Garcia
Lizett
L
Castellanos-Cosano
Jenifer
J
Martín-González
Francsico-J
FJ
López-Frías
Juan-J
JJ
Segura-Egea
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003782:Dental Pulp; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012389:Root Canal Obturation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods*; D012390:Root Canal Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult