Single-Visit Root Canal Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Root canal treatment (RCT) is a specialized and one of the most demanded procedures in the public oral health-care sector. Multiple-visit endodontic treatment is considered a conventional method for treating the affected teeth; however, the procedure requires a considerable amount of time to complete the treatment. The recent era is showing an escalating preference of the endodontists as well as the patients toward the single-visit RCT over multiple visits due to some advantages such as the low risk of leakages usually caused by the temporary seal. To the best of our knowledge in this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aim to evaluate the effectiveness of single-visit RCT over multiple-visit RCT in terms of the rate of flare-ups and postoperative pain in both vital and nonvital teeth. Methods: We performed an electronic search through PubMed, MEDLINE Database, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Scopus Database, Web of Science, and LILACS Database. A systematic review was performed using the Cochrane handbook and PRISMA statement. The meta-analysis presented in this study was done by applying the random effects model in RevMan 5.4. Results: A total of 106 articles were referred. Out of these, forty articles were selected for analysis in the database, and 22 were excluded because of the absence and irrelevance of required parameters. A total of ten studies were selected for meta-analysis after the complete screening and analysis. The comparison was done between the incidence of postoperative pain among vital and nonvital teeth. The difference in postoperative pain after 24 and 48 h of single-visit RCT among studied groups was found to be nonsignificant with P = 0.49 and 0.20, respectively. Moreover, the majority of studies have shown that there was no difference in the occurrence of pain whether patients were treated through the single visit or multi-visit RCT. Conclusion: Based on the evidence, single-visit RCT appeared to be a safe treatment mode when considered for flare-ups. However, within the limitation of this study, it is also concluded that the incidence of postoperative pain is seen within 24 h of treatment which was found to reduce with the passage of time.