Postoperative pain evaluation in patients undergoing endodontic treatment subsequent to working length determination with and without integrated apex locator endomotor: Randomized control trial.

INTRODUCTION

Precise working length control during chemomechanical preparation is one of the primary factors for successful endodontic therapy.

AIM: The study aims to evaluate the postoperative pain after determining working length with an integrated apex locator-endomotor and a separate apex locator-endomotor.

SUBJECTS AND

METHODS

One hundred and twenty subjects with a diagnosis of symptomatic irreversible pulpitis and preoperative pain score Visual Analog Scale (VAS) >50 were allocated into Group I with nonintegrated apex locator and endomotor and Group II with integrated apex locator endomotor, further treated by single endodontist. Postoperative pain was assessed with a VAS chart on days 1, 3, and 7. The necessity of analgesic intake if required was considered as the highest VAS score.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Pre- and post-operative VAS scores between the groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney and one-way ANCOVA tests.

RESULTS

On days 1 and 3, Group II showed significantly lower values of postoperative pain and lesser frequency of rescue medication when compared with Group I (P < 0.05). On day 7, none of the patients reported postoperative pain.

CONCLUSION

Simultaneous working length determination during instrumentation leads to significantly lesser postoperative pain.