Postoperative pain after single visit root canaltreatment using multiple rotary files andsingle reciprocating file instrumentationtechniques in asymptomatic mandibularmolars with necrotic pulps: a randomizedcontrol clinical trial

Aim This prospective clinical study compared postoperative painfollowing single visit root canal treatment in patients with asymp-tomatic mandibular molar teeth with necrotic pulps using twodifferent instrumentation techniques: multi-file rotary (ProTaperUniversal), and reciprocating single-file (WaveOne) techniques.Methodology Forty patients, who fulfilled specific inclusion crite-ria were randomly and equally assigned to 2 groups according tothe root canal instrumentation technique used. All treatmentswere performed in one appointment. Patients were asked to com-plete a numerical rating scale (NRS) for recording pain levels at6, 12, 24, 72 h and at 1 week postoperative intervals. In addi-tion, the Face Pain Scale was associated with the form to simplifythe recording of pain for the patients. The patients wereinstructed to use mild analgesics if required and asked to recordthe number of analgesic tablets on their NRS forms. The datawere analysed using Chi-square test to compare between thetested groups with a significance set at P < 0.05.Results The mean NRS pain scores recorded at all periods werenot significantly different for both instrumentation techniques(P > 0.05). Also, the mean analgesic consumption with both sys-tems was not significantly different (P > 0.05).Conclusions In patients with asymptomatic mandibular molarswith necrotic pulps, root canal preparation with either ProTaperor the Wave-One instrumentation techniques was not associatedwith a significant difference in postoperative pain or analgesicconsumption