Patient preferences regarding 1-visit versus 2-visit root canal therapy

Patient preferences should be taken into account by clinicians when treatment planning. The purposes of this study were to describe the number of visits patients preferred when undergoing root canal therapy (RCT) and to assess whether their preferences were related to hypothetical treatment success rates.

Self-administered questionnaires were mailed to 351 consecutive patients scheduled for initial RCT appointments in the University of Iowa College of Dentistry's graduate or faculty endodontic clinic. The questionnaires ascertained demographic information; preferences for 1-visit versus 2-visit RCT given different hypothetical success rate scenarios for the 2 approaches, as well as patient dental history. Univariate frequency distributions were generated, and relationships between hypothetical success rates and patient preferences were evaluated.

Questionnaires were returned by 124 patients (35% response). Given equal success rates, 78% of respondents preferred 1-visit RCT, compared with 7% who preferred 2-visit RCT and 16% who would follow their dentist's recommendation. As success rates for 2-visit RCT went from equal to 5% better to 10% better to 20% better compared with 1-visit RCT, the proportion of respondents who preferred 2-visit RCT increased from 7% to 34% to 46% to 65%, respectively. Regardless of success rates, approximately 5% of respondents said they would prefer 2-visit RCT, and 20% would do whatever their dentist recommended.

Although most respondents preferred 1-visit RCT regardless of success rates, many would prefer 2-visit RCT if its success rate were greater than that of 1-visit RCT. This finding confirms the importance of discussing success rates and considering patients' wishes when treatment planning.