Root Canal Therapy Reduces Multiple Dimensions of Pain: A National Dental Practice-based Research Network Study

Abstract

Background Initial orthograde root canal therapy (RCT) is used to treat dentoalveolar pathosis. The affect RCT has on pain intensity has been frequently reported, but the affect on other dimensions of pain has not. Also, the lack of large prospective studies involving diverse groups of patients and practitioners that are not involved in data collection suggest that there are multiple opportunities for bias to be introduced when this data is systematically aggregated. Method This prospective observational study assessed pain intensity, duration, and its interference with daily activities among RCT patients. Sixty-two practitioners (46 general dentists, 16 endodontists) in the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network enrolled patients requiring RCT. Patient reported data were collected before, immediately following, and one week after treatment using the Graded Chronic Pain Scale. Results Enrollment of 708 patients was completed over 6 months with 655 patients (93%) providing one-week follow-up data. Prior to treatment, patients reported a mean (±standard deviation) worst pain intensity of 5.3±3.8 (0-10 scale), 50% had “severe” pain (≥7), and mean days in pain and days pain interfered with activities were 3.6±2.7 and 0.5±1.2, respectively. Following treatment, patients reported a mean worst pain intensity of 3.0±3.2, 19% had “severe” pain, and mean days in pain and days with pain interference were 2.1±2.4 and 0.4±1.1, respectively. All changes were statistically significant (p<0.0001). Conclusions RCT is an effective treatment for patients experiencing pain, significantly reducing pain intensity, duration, and related interference. Further research is needed to reduce the proportion of patients reporting “severe” post-operative pain.

Influence of skin cold sensation threshold in the occurrence of dental sensitivity during dental bleaching: a placebo controlled clinical trial

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“…In addition, the questionnaire contained information regarding the kind of pain experienced, and the period and oral region in which it occurred. This questionnaire is widely used in scientific literature for dental research 12 . It is also used for dental and facial pain studies 3 , 11 .…”

Validity of Preoperative Clinical Findings to Identify Dental Pulp Status: A National Dental Practice-Based Research Network Study

“…The present report is based on secondary analyses of data originally collected. The original study was designed to prospectively assess outcomes following root canal treatment (RCT), and details of study methods (18) and outcomes (19–22) have been previously reported. In brief, 62 dentists (46 general practitioners and 16 endodontic specialists) from 5 regions (Alabama/Mississippi, Florida/Georgia, Minnesota, Oregon/Washington, and Denmark/Sweden) participated by collecting observational data from endodontic patients in their practices.…”

Predicting Severe Pain after Root Canal Therapy in the National Dental PBRN

“…Ethical review board approval from each region and from the University of Minnesota was obtained prior to initiation of this research. The study methods have been previously reported (Nixdorf et al 2012), as have details regarding the outcome of "severe" postoperative pain following RCT (Law et al 2014), and they conform to Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) reporting guidelines.…”