RESULTS Application of the Oral Health Impact Profile ( OHIP ) demonstrated that disease of pulpal origin affects quality of life with moderate severity , primarily through physical pain and psychological discomfort , and that RCT results in broad improvement of quality of life .
Satisfaction with RCT is extremely high , but cost is the primary reason for dissatisfaction .
Anxiety and fear affect RCT patients , profoundly influencing their behaviors , including treatment avoidance , and their pain experience .
Fear of pain is " fair " to " very much " prior to RCT .
Pain is widely feared , disliked , and remembered ; however , disease of pulpal origin generally produces moderate , but not severe pain .
RCT causes a dramatic decrease in pain prevalence and severity over the week following treatment .
Survival rates of teeth after RCT are very high ; complication rates are low .
Cost is a barrier to RCT , but initial costs , lifetime costs , cost effectiveness , cost utility , and cost benefit all compare extremely well to the alternatives involving replacement using implants or fixed prostheses .
INTRODUCTION Root canal treatment ( RCT ) success criteria inform us of the path to bony healing and of prognostic factors , but tell little about how the patient perceives , feels , or values RCT .
Patients choose , undergo , and pay for RCT , they live with the result , and inform their community .
The purpose of this narrative review was to appraise patient-centered outcomes of initial non-surgical RCT and nonsurgical retreatment , in adults .
Prevalence of and factors affecting post-obturation pain in patients undergoing root canal treatment.
AIM This longitudinal , prospect i ve study ( 1 ) investigated the prevalence of post-obturation pain after root canal treatment  and ( 2 ) evaluated the influence of factors affecting the pain experience . METHODOLOGY Twenty practitioners , comprising general dental practitioners , MSc graduates and Endodontists , participated in this study . The patient sample ( n = 415 ) was derived from consecutive patients attending the practitioners ' surgeries for root canal treatment on a single tooth . Demographic , medical history , preoperative and intra-operative data as well as  pain experience on day 1 and day 2 after root canal obturation were recorded . Intensity of pain experienced was recorded on a visual analogue scale ( VAS ) of 0 - 5 . The data were analysed using logistic regression models . RESULTS The prevalence of post-obturation pain within 48 h after treatment was 40.2 % ( n = 167 ) but less than 12 % of patients experienced severe pain ( VAS 4 or 5 ) on either day 1 or day 2 . The factors that significantly influenced post-obturation pain experience were : gender ( OR = 0.434 , P < 0.001 ) , tooth type ( OR = 1.733 , P = 0.007 ) , size of periapical lesion ( OR = 0.493 , P = 0.004 ) , history of post-preparation pain ( OR = 4.110 , P = < 0.001 ) or generalized swelling ( OR = 3.435 , P = 0.005 ) and number of treatment visits ( OR = 2.604 , P < 0.001 ) . CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of post-obturation pain was high ( 40.2 % ) . The important prognostic determinants of post-obturation pain were female , molar tooth , size of periapical lesion smaller than 3 mm , history of post-preparation pain or generalized swelling and single-visit treatment
RESULTS Application of the Oral Health Impact Profile ( OHIP ) demonstrated that disease of pulpal origin affects quality of life with moderate severity , primarily through physical pain and psychological discomfort , and that RCT results in broad improvement of quality of life .
Satisfaction with RCT is extremely high , but cost is the primary reason for dissatisfaction .
Anxiety and fear affect RCT patients , profoundly influencing their behaviors , including treatment avoidance , and their pain experience .
Fear of pain is " fair " to " very much " prior to RCT .
Pain is widely feared , disliked , and remembered ; however , disease of pulpal origin generally produces moderate , but not severe pain .
RCT causes a dramatic decrease in pain prevalence and severity over the week following treatment .
Survival rates of teeth after RCT are very high ; complication rates are low .
Cost is a barrier to RCT , but initial costs , lifetime costs , cost effectiveness , cost utility , and cost benefit all compare extremely well to the alternatives involving replacement using implants or fixed prostheses .
INTRODUCTION Root canal treatment ( RCT ) success criteria inform us of the path to bony healing and of prognostic factors , but tell little about how the patient perceives , feels , or values RCT .
Patients choose , undergo , and pay for RCT , they live with the result , and inform their community .
The purpose of this narrative review was to appraise patient-centered outcomes of initial non-surgical RCT and nonsurgical retreatment , in adults .