Influence of instrument design on post-operative pain in single-visit root canal treatment with Protaper Next and V taper 2H rotary systems in symptomatic irreversible pulpitis of multirooted teeth – A randomized clinical trial

AIM: The objective of this randomized clinical trial was to clinically evaluate the incidence of postoperative pain after root canal treatment in symptomatic irreversible pulpitis of multirooted teeth using two different instruments design rotary file systems, namely, Protaper Next (PTN) and V taper 2H (VT2H). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective randomized clinical trial, 60 patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis of multirooted teeth, indicated for root canal therapy, were randomly assigned to two groups according to instrument system used, namely, PTN and VT2H. Root canal treatments were performed in single visit. After treatment, the participants were asked to rate the intensity of post-operative pain on modified verbal descriptor scale after 8 h, 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h over the telephone by a second investigator. Patients were advised to call the second investigator by telephone if they felt very uncomfortable at any point of the follow-up time. At that time, they were asked to take ibuprofen 200 mg as the rescue drug. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was found among the two groups in relation to post-operative pain and intake of analgesic medication at 4 time points assessed (P>0.05, Kruskal–Wallis test). CONCLUSION: The PTN system and VT2H rotary system were found to be equal in the incidence of post-operative pain and pain intensity was found to decrease with time, postoperatively, in both the rotary systems. RELEVANCE FOR PATIENTS: The instrument design has little effect on post-operative pain in symptomatic irreversible pulpitis patients after single-visit root canal therapy.