Patient-centered Outcomes of Root Canal Treatment: A Cohort Follow-up Study

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of pulpal pathology in terms of oral health-related quality of life and to evaluate root canal treatment in terms of pain during and at 7 days after treatment.

A consecutive sample of 250 adult patients requiring root canal treatment for a permanent tooth (incisors, canines, premolars, and molars) participated in this 1 week-follow-up study. The baseline impact regarding oral pain and well-being was recorded. After the root canal treatment had been performed, the pain and the comfort experienced during and 7 days after treatment were recorded on a 0-10 visual analog scale. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate the modulating factors of pain.

At baseline, 41.2% of the patients reported a lot of pain, and the severity of the pain and the functional limitation were significantly greater among men compared with women. During the procedure, 62% of patients did not feel any pain, and 95% were relatively comfortable during the intervention. After 7 days, 60.4% reported some kind of post-treatment pain although on average this was very slight (1.5 ± 1.6 on a 0-10 range). Intrasubject comparisons revealed that the pain decreased progressively from the preoperative phase up to the postoperative phase, the pain being more acute in patients with vital teeth than those with necrotic pulps.

The main impact on quality of life of pulpal pathology occurred in the pain and psychological discomfort dimensions. In more than 90% of patients undergoing root canal treatment, pain was totally or partially relieved after 7 days.