Aim: To evaluate postoperative pain and radiographic healing of asymptomatic posterior teeth with chronic apical periodontitis following root-canal treatment performed using different methods of irrigation activation.~Methodology: In this prospective clinical trial, root-canal treatment was performed on 162 posterior teeth with chronic apical periodontitis. After routine canal preparation, patients were assigned to either a control group treated using conventional needle irrigation (CNI) without activation or to one of 3 treatment groups, each of which was treated using a different activation protocol during the final irrigation [manual dynamic irrigation (MDI), passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI), sonic irrigation (SI)]. All treatment was completed in a single visit. Patients provided self-assessments of the severity of postoperative pain at 24h, 48h and 7 days using a modified 4-step visual analogue scale (VAS). Patients were recalled at 12 months for clinical and radiographic examinations. Periodontal healing was evaluated using a periapical index (PAI), with scores of 1 or 2 considered to represent treatment success and scores of 3, 4, or 5 to represent treatment failure. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests, with differences of P < 0.05 considered statistically significant.
This study evaluates postoperative pain and radiographic healing of asymptomatic posterior teeth with chronic apical periodontitis following root-canal treatment performed using different methods of irrigation activation.