Comparison of different irrigation activation techniques on postoperative pain after endodontic treatment

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of traditional irrigation method and Xp-endo Finisher, EndoActivator and Passive ultrasonic irrigation activation techniques on postoperative pain using visual analog scale (VAS). Patients having asymptomatic nonvital teeth with single root, single and straight canal were included in the study. A total of 100 teeth was treated according to these criteria. The teeth were divided into 4 equal groups in terms of the activation system used as follows; conventional irrigation, Xp-endo Finisher, passive ultrasonic irrigation, EndoActivator techniques. After the canals were prepared with TF-Adaptive system, different activation techniques were applied during final irrigation. The canal treatments of the teeth were completed in a single appointment and the postoperative pain analysis was performed with the VAS scale at 12, 24 and 48 hours. Statistical analysis was performed with Mann Whitney-U test. According to the study, pain significantly decreased at 12th, 24th and 48th hours. The pain intensity after 12, 24 and 48 hours was recorded as highest for the conventional irrigation group, whilst the lowest scores were recorded in the Xp-endo Finisher group compared to the other groups. A statistically significant difference was found between traditional irrigation and Xp-endo Finisher groups at 48th hour. In conclusion, less postoperative pain was observed in Xp-endo Finisher, passive ultrasonic irrigation and irrigation activation with EndoActivator than traditional irrigation group.