Postoperative pain relief after one- off thermal gutta- percha root canal therapy: a comparative study of three root canal sealers

Objective To observe the occurrence of postoperative pain of three different root canal sealers which were applied in one- off thermal gutta- percha root canal therapy. Methods 126 vital pulp permanent teeth required for root canal therapy were randomly divided into three groups,each group of 42 cases. The warm vertical condensation( WVC) technique was applied to fill the root canal with Roekoseal,Cortisomol and Vitapex as sealers respectively. The occurrence of postoperative pain was evaluated by the visual analog scale( VAS),the duration of pain and pain index after root canal filling were assessed. Results The number of postoperative pain in Roekoseal group,Cortisomol group and Vitapex group were 6,6,14 cases respectively,which accounted for 14. 29%,14. 29% and 33. 33% of the total number; the incidence of pain among the three groups were statistically significant by grading rank test( χ2= 54. 032,P 0. 05). The incidence of postoperative pain of Vitapex group was higher than the other two groups,and that was not statistically significant between Roekoseal and Cortisomol groups( Z =- 0. 088,P = 0. 930). The VAS scores showed no statistically significant difference on the 1 st day and 2 nd day after operation( F = 1. 292,P = 0. 638),and that showed the difference on the 3 th day after operation( F = 39. 483,P = 0. 002). There were significant differences in the mean VAS score( F =15. 635,P =0. 017),duration of pain( F =11. 589,P = 0. 023) and mean pain index( F = 35. 677,P = 0. 004) among the three groups. Conclusion The one- off thermal gutta- percha root canal treatment with Roekoseal and Cortisomol sealer can be effective in reducing the occurrence of postoperative pain and pain intensity.