Working length variation during multiple-visit endodontic treatment: An observational study.

This study investigated variation in working length during multiple-visit endodontic treatment. Patients (N = 106) with pulpitis or pulp necrosis, with or without apical periodontitis, were included. During the first appointment, glide path was performed with ProGlider and shaping with ProTaper Next. Working length was detected four times. Working length was then re-recorded prior to filling during the second appointment and a 0.5 mm threshold was selected as the minimum clinically meaningful variation. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate the impact of tooth anatomy, preoperative pulp status, apical periodontitis and lesions of endodontic origin on working length variation. Working length varied between first and second appointments in 34% of patients. The presence of apical periodontitis was the only variable significantly associated with variation in working length (p = 0.011). These data suggest that working length should be re-checked prior to root canal filling to prevent procedural errors.

The overestimated prevalence of hypertension in a population survey: a cross-sectional study from Hebei province, China.

OBJECTIVE: Currently, the prevalence of hypertension is mainly ascertained using a one-visit population survey, which may lead to overestimation. The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of hypertension prevalence determined by a one-visit population survey. METHODS: For this cross-sectional study, we continuously enrolled 1116 volunteers without a hypertension history in Hebei province from January 2018 to December 2019. The study population included 511 (45.80%) males and 605 (54.20%) females with a mean age of 48 years. The hypertension prevalence was assessed using two methods: one-visit screening and daytime ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring. We directly compared the performances of daytime ambulatory BP monitoring and one-visit screening in the same group of subjects. In addition, we explored possible thresholds to improve the detection of hypertension. RESULTS: During the one-visit survey, the mean BP value was about 8 mmHg higher than that determined by daytime ambulatory BP monitoring. The prevalence of hypertension was 29.84% and 14.07% during the one-visit and daytime multiple visit surveys, respectively. The risk factors for overestimated hypertension were female sex, body mass index < 24.00 kg/m2, and diastolic BP of 100 mmHg. The positive predictive value of the one-visit population survey for diagnosing hypertension was 36.34%. Furthermore, receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that in males, the best diagnostic threshold for hypertension diagnosis was 148/96 mmHg. CONCLUSION: The hypertension prevalence was likely overestimated by 2-fold in the one-visit survey group compared to the daytime ambulatory BP monitoring group. Thus, the threshold for one-visit BP screening should be raised to 148/96 mmHg to improve the accuracy of hypertension diagnosis.

Average time in between appointments for multivisit pulpectomy in patients reported to a university dental hospital.

Complete removal of the infected coronal and radicular pulp tissue along with obturation of the canal space with suitable medication is defined as pulpectomy. The most common indication for pulpectomy is a tooth with irreversible pulpitis which shows symptoms of nocturnal pain and abscess. To determine the average time in appointments for multivisit pulpectomy in patients reported to a university dental hospital. It is planned as a retrospective analysis of the case records of patients who were treated as two visit pulpectomy procedures in a university dental hospital, India. The study concluded that in the majority of the situations the average time in between appointments for multivisit pulpectomy was found to be within 1 week.

Influence of maintaining apical patency in post-endodontic pain.

BACKGROUND: The concept of instrumentation beyond the apical foramen by small flexible file to prevent apical blockage is apical patency. However, this procedure might endow postoperative pain, thus to maintain apical patency or not is the matter of dilemma. Hence, the primary objective of this study was to compare postoperative pain between apical patency and non-patency groups and secondary objective was to evaluate the influence of number of visits, vitality of teeth, group of teeth and preoperative pain on post-operative pain. METHODS: Preselected (n = 178) patients based on group of teeth and status of pulp were randomly divided into 2 groups, apical patency and non-patency which was further treated in either single or multiple visits. After exclusion, 160 patients were included. Each group (n = 80) was subdivided in single visit (n = 40) and multiple visits (n = 40), including vital (n = 20) and non-vital teeth (n = 20) and single-rooted (n = 10) and multiple-rooted teeth (n = 10). Apical patency was maintained with a size 10 K-file during conventional hand filing step-back shaping procedure. Intensity of pain was recorded before treatment and on days 1, 2, and 7 after treatment using Numerical Rating Scale (NRS-11). Statistical analysis was done using Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman correlation and Multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The primary outcome of this study showed statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in postoperative pain scores between patency and non-patency groups with higher pain scores in patency group on 1st, 2nd and 7th day follow up. The secondary outcome showed postoperative pain in patency-maintained group was influenced by status of the pulp and preoperative pain only. Vital teeth of patency-maintained group treated in multiple visits showed statistically significant (p = 0.02) post-operative pain in day 1 follow up. Pre-operative pain showed positive correlation with postoperative pain with statistically significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: Our study concluded that maintenance of apical patency increased postoperative pain. Evaluation of influence of number of visits, status of pulp, group of tooth and preoperative pain revealed status of pulp and preoperative pain as influencing factors for postoperative pain in patency group.

Clinical outcomes of non-surgical multiple-visit root canal retreatment: a retrospective cohort study.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of several clinical factors on the success and survival rates of multiple-visit non-surgical root canal (NSRC) retreatment. Failed endodontically treated 236 teeth in 161 patients (18-72 years, 48% males; and 52% females) were retreated between March 2014 and December 2015 and were enrolled in this study. Two calibrated examiners evaluated the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative outcomes using the periapical index (PAI) scores. The teeth were classified as healed (healthy apical tissues, PAI ≤ 2, no signs or symptoms), healing (no signs and symptoms, PAI > 2 but reduced from the initial PAI score), and not-healed (presence of apical periodontitis, signs and/or symptoms, PAI > 2). The teeth scored as healed and healing was considered to be successful, while the not-healed ones were considered as failures. Of the 236 teeth, 135 (57.3%) in 103 patients (63.9%) were lost to follow-up, yielding to follow-up of 101 teeth (42.7%) in 58 patients (36%). Three teeth were extracted yielding to an overall success rate of 85.1%, at a mean observation time of 33.8 months. The teeth with periapical lesions < 5 mm had an 88.6% success rate, while those ≥ 5 mm had an 80% success rate (P > 0.05). While, age, gender, preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors did not significantly affect the outcomes (P > 0.05), tooth type significantly affected the success rate (P < 0.05). The most frequently failed teeth were the mandibular first molars (P < 0.05). Based on these results, the multiple-visit NSRC retreatment exhibited a favorable success rate and could be offered for the endodontically failed teeth.

Postoperative Pain Intensity after Single- versus Two-visit Nonsurgical Endodontic Retreatment: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate postoperative pain after single-visit and 2-visit non-surgical endodontic retreatments with 2 different intracanal medicaments. METHODS: A total of 150 patients with asymptomatic root canal-treated teeth in need of nonsurgical endodontic retreatment were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 50). Patients were selected randomly from among those without preoperative pain. Patients in group 1 (single visit) were treated in a single visit. Patients in group 2 and group 3 were treated in different visits with calcium hydroxide and chlorhexidine (CHX) as intracanal medicaments. The presence of postoperative pain was assessed 1, 2, 3, and 7 days and 1 month after treatment. All 2-visit treatments were completed 1 week after the initial visit. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and Pearson chi-square tests (α = 0.01, 0.05). RESULTS: Postoperative pain was significantly higher in the CHX group in comparison with the single-visit group (P ≤ .05) on the first day of assessment. On the second day, postoperative pain was significantly less in the single-visit group (P < .05) than in the other 2 groups. There were no significant differences among the groups on the third and seventh days of assessment. At the 1-month assessment, postoperative pain was significantly higher in both the calcium hydroxide group (P < .05) and the CHX group (P < .05) in comparison with the single-visit group. CONCLUSIONS: Single-visit nonsurgical endodontic retreatment presented fewer incidences of postoperative pain in comparison with 2-visit nonsurgical endodontic retreatment based on assessments ranging from 1 day to 1 month.

Comparative evaluation of postoperative pain intensity after single-visit and multiple-visit retreatment cases: a prospective randomized clinical trial / Avaliação comparativa da intensidade da dor pos-operatoria após casos de retratamento em sessao unica ou multipla: estudo clínico randomizado prospectivo

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate postoperative pain after endodontic retreatment. Material and Methods: Asymptomatic, multirooted molar & premolar teeth requiring retreatment with 2­5 mm periapical lesions were included. Seventy-eight teeth were randomly placed in four groups (n=20): single-visit (control, group 1), Ledermix (group 2), metronidazole, ciprofloxacin, minocycline mixture (group 3), calcium hydroxide (group 4). The postoperative pain was recorded using a VAS at 6, 12, 24, and 48 h after retreatment. Statistical evaluation was performed using TwoWay Repeated Measures ANOVA and Tukey test. Results: Mild pain occurred in 67.5%, moderate in 30%, and flare-ups in 2.5%, and there was a significant difference between the groups (p <0.01). Significantly lower postoperative pain was observed in TAP and CaOH2 groups (p <0.05). In the 6, 12, and 24 h intervals, there was a significant difference in the pain levels (p <0.05). Conclusion: TAP and CaOH2 are effective for reducing postoperative pain after retreatment. (AU)

Objetivo: Este estudo foi projetado para avaliar a dor pós-operatória após o retratamento endodôntico. Material e Métodos: Foram incluídos dentes molares e pré-molares multirradiculados e assintomáticos que necessitavam de retratamento com lesões periapicais de 2-5 mm. Setenta e oito dentes foram distribuídos aleatoriamente em quatro grupos (n = 20): sessão única (controle, grupo I), Ledermix (grupo II), metronidazol, ciprofloxacina, mistura de minociclina (grupo III), hidróxido de cálcio (grupo IV). A dor pós-operatória foi registrada usando um VAS às 6, 12, 24 e 48 h após o retratamento. A análise estatística foi realizada utilizando ANOVA de dois fatores para medidas repetidas e teste de Tukey. Resultados: Ocorreu dor leve em 67,5%, moderada em 30% e agudizações 2,5%, e houve diferença significativa entre os grupos (p <0,01). Foi observada dor pós-operatória significativamente menor nos grupos TAP e hidróxido de cálcio (p <0,05). Nos intervalos de 6, 12 e 24 h, houve diferença significativa nos níveis de dor (p <0,05). Conclusão: TAP e hidróxido de cálcio são eficazes para reduzir a dor pós-operatória após o retratamento.(AU)

Strength of recommendation for single-visit root canal treatment: grading the body of the evidence using a patient-centred approach.

AIM: To identify, search for and critically interpret the results from clinical studies on single- versus multiple-visit root canal treatment in the light of an evidence-based paradigm. For that purpose, the quality of the available body of evidence was assessed using the SORT 'grade' - Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy. METHODOLOGY: A protocol was followed including all aspects of the review methods: (i) search strategy, (ii) inclusion criteria for studies, (iii) screening methods, (iv) quality assessment, (v) data synthesis of the selected studies, and (vi) the assessment of quality of the body of evidence available by the means of the SORT 'grade'. An extensive search of recent biomedical literature was performed in PubMed (up to May, 2014), EMBASE (dating from 1980 to May 2014) and Cochrane databases with appropriate headings and keywords related to single- and multiple-visit root canal treatment. Selected studies were stratified according to their level of evidence using the SORT criteria: (i) quality - Level A high-quality evidence, Level B medium/low-quality evidence and Level C no evidence; (ii) degree of consistency - consistent, when most studies found a similar conclusion, or inconsistent, when there was considerable variation amongst study findings. RESULTS: After the digital and manual searches, 246 studies were indentified. Two hundred and seven studies were eliminated by exclusion criteria, resulting in a yield of 39 articles that were selected for retrieval. Of the 39 articles, only 11 could be classified as Level 2 (B); the other 28 articles did not obey the criteria to be considered as real patient-oriented evidence; thus, they were classified as Level 3 (C). No studies were ranked as Level 1 because they did not obey the minimum standard to be considered as both good-quality research and patient-oriented evidence. Despite this, all of the selected Level B studies reported no significant differences between single- and multiple-visit treatments. CONCLUSION: There is B-level (mid-level) evidence to confirm there is no difference between the two different treatments, based on research addressing clinical outcomes and using some consistent but limited-quality methods of scientific investigation. More studies focused on evaluating patient-centred outcomes are urgently required.

Endodontists perceptions of single and multiple visit root canal treatment: a survey in Florianópolis - Brazil

Introduction: One of the main debates that have occurred in Endodontics is about the amount of sessions required to complete an appropriate treatment. There are very different philosophies regarding this matter. Objective: to the aim of this study was to investigate the Endodontists' point of view regarding single and multiple visit root canal treatment, identifying the basis on which the choice is made and how the information necessary for the choice is acquired. Material and methods: Endodontists registered in the dental practice board of Florianópolis/SC were contacted, and if they agreed to participate, they were interviewed using a questionnaire. The following topics were addressed: demographics, current clinical procedures, treatment rationales and preferences. Forty-three endodontists agreed to participate in the study. Results: Single visit endodontic treatment is carried out in 59.5% of biopulpectomy cases, 31.0% of necropulpectomy cases without lesion and only 11.9% in necropulpectomy cases with periapical lesion. The presence of vital pulp (81.4%) and a canal without exudate (93.0%) are the most important criteria for carrying out single visit endodontic treatment. The most used intracanal medication was calcium hydroxide. The lack of studies comparing long-term success on single visit endodontic treatment is considered an important issue to determine this therapy. Conclusion: It can be concluded that Florianopolis-Brazil endodontists prefer multiple visit over single visit root canal treatment in pulp necrosis cases. When pulp vitality is not compromised there is an increase in the number of endodontists who choose single visit root canal treatment.