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Clinical trial of gingival retraction cords
1Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Statement Of Problem:
A wide spectrum of different gingival retraction cords is used, while the relative clinical efficacy of these cords remains undocumented.
Purpose:
This study aimed to determine whether clinicians were able to identify differences in clinical performance among 3 types of gingival retraction cords.
Methods And Material:
Dental students and faculty members ranked pairs or series of cords according to 6 criteria for clinical performance, with a blind experimental study design. Cords differed in consistency (knitted or twined) and impregnation (8% dl-epinephrine HCl, 0.5 mg/in or 25% aluminum sulfate, 0.5 mg/in).
Results:
Knitted cords were ranked better than twined cords (P =.03). Cords containing epinephrine performed no better clinically than aluminum sulfate cords (P >.05).
Conclusion:
Clinicians were unable to detect any clinical advantages of using epinephrine impregnated gingival retraction cords compared with aluminum sulfate cords.