Radiographic and Clinical Findings of Single-Visit Root Canal Treatments with Apical Enlargement in Necrotic Teeth: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

This study evaluated the long-term clinical outcomes of single-visit root canal treatments with apical enlargement on patients with necrotic pulp tissue retrospectively. A total of 137 teeth with necrotic pulp tissue which underwent single-visit root canal treatments were included. The root canals were shaped up until the apical constriction, which was determined by an apex locator. The outcomes were evaluated by two independent and calibrated endodontists clinically and radiographically. Teeth were dichotomized into healed ( $\text{PAI}\le 2$ , no signs or symptoms) and nonhealed ( $\text{PAI}>2$ , with/without signs or symptoms) groups. Each patients’ preoperative PAI and lesion size were recorded to evaluate the preoperative periapical status as well as several other prognostic factors. Statistical analyses were performed ( $p=0.05$ ) on ninety teeth. The mean observation time was 60 months. Out of ninety teeth, 87 (96.7%) were healed and 3 (3.3%) were nonhealed. No correlations were found between the prognostic factors and the outcomes ( $p>0.05$ ). Cohen’s kappa and Gwet’s agreement coefficient scores between the preoperative PAI scores and preoperative lesion sizes showed good agreements, with values of 0.834 and 0.898, respectively. Apical enlargement is a viable treatment option for single-visit root canal treatments.