The Fourth Dimension of Endodontic Treatment Outcomes: Patient- Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) Following Root Canal Treatment by Dental Interns.

Introduction: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) capture the patient's direct perspective on treatment effectiveness. This study evaluated PROs after root canal treatment (RCT) performed by dental interns on quality of life using pre- and post-RCT Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) scores. It also examined associations between demographics, baseline pulpal/periapical diagnosis, and OHIP scores.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted at the Operative Dentistry Department of a dental institution (January-June 2023) with 317 patients requiring RCT and meeting inclusion criteria. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test compared pre- and post-RCT OHIP scores. Differences in OHIP scores based on gender, arch, and tooth position were assessed with the Mann-Whitney U test. The Kruskal-Wallis test examined OHIP score variations by pulpal/periapical diagnosis and age, with Dunn's post hoc test for pairwise comparisons. Significance level was set at < .05.

Results: The final sample comprised 266 participants. OHIP scores significantly reduced post-RCT indicating enhanced quality of life after RCT (P < .05). Males had higher pre- and post-RCT OHIP scores than females with statistical significance (P < .05). Patients aged 51+ had the lowest pre-RCT OHIP scores (P < .05). Those with acute apical abscess and asymptomatic apical periodontitis had significantly higher pre-RCT OHIP scores (P < .05), with acute apical abscess patients showing the greatest post-RCT improvement as depicted by reduction in OHIP scores (P < .05).

Conclusions: From the patients' perspective, regardless of demographics or pulpal/periapical diagnosis, RCT significantly improved quality of life. Male participants had greater perceived discomfort before and after treatment as compare with females. Patients aged 51+ perceived a lower impact of pulpal or periapical disease both before and after RCT. Greater post-RCT improvement was observed in participants diagnosed with acute apical abscess.