Occlusal Reduction Reduces Postoperative Pain after Endodontic Instrumentation

Pain management after root canal treatment is a very important issue in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of occlusal reduction on postoperative pain in teeth with irreversible pulpitis and tenderness to percussion. This was a prospective, randomized study conducted in Operative Department of dental section of Bahria Dental College and Hospital from June 2013 to May 2014. One hundred and ten posterior teeth with no or mild preoperative pain, sensitive to percussion requiring endodontic treatment were included in this study. After administration of local anesthesia, the root canals were instrumented, and an intracanal calcium hydroxide dressing was placed. The patients were randomly divided into 2 groups of 55 each. In 1 group the occlusal surface was reduced (OR group), whereas in the other group the occlusal surface was not modified (no occlusal reduction, NOR group). The patients were recalled after 24 hour, 2nd day and 3rd day to record their postoperative pain on the visual analogue scale. Data was analyzed by using Chi-square test. There was no significant difference in postoperative pain between the 2 groups (P > .05) after root canal preparation and calcium hydroxide dressing. Occlusal surface reduction did not provide any further reduction in postoperative pain for teeth with irreversible pulpitis and mild tenderness to percussion compared with no occlusal reduction.