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, n = 35) or two-visit RCT (Group 2, n = 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 t-test and Chi-square test. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Pain score in multiple-visit (MV) was significantly higher than SV after 12- (P = 0.039) and 48 h (P = 0.043). Short-term postoperative pain was higher in MV than SV RCT of mandibular first molar teeth.