The Effect of Systemic Statin Intake on Healing of Apical Periodontitis after Nonsurgical Root Canal Treatment: A...

This retrospective cohort study compared the radiographic healing of apical periodontitis following root canal treatments and retreatments in patients regularly taking statins versus those who had never taken statins.

Patients who underwent root canal treatment or retreatment performed by undergraduate and postgraduate students were included. The patients were divided into 2 age-matched groups: those who reported regularly taking statins and those who had never taken statins. The outcome was assessed using periapical radiographs taken at least at 1-year post-treatment. Teeth with short root canal fillings were excluded. Single and multiple binary logistic regression tested the association between statin use and radiographic treatment outcome while adjusting for root-canal and restoration quality, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, patient age, tooth type, and follow-up period.

A total of 122 teeth were analyzed: 62 from patients taking statins and 60 from patients not taking statins. Using lenient criteria, logistic regression showed no significant difference in healing rates between the statin and control groups (90.3% vs. 90%; OR = 1.04; P = .952). However, under strict criteria, patients taking statins had a significantly lower probability of success compared to controls (62.9% vs 85%; OR = 0.30; P = .008).

Patients taking statins had a lower number of radiographic complete healings than those not taking statins. The results of this study challenge the presumed benefits of systemic statins intake on AP healing.