(PR097) Differences in Healing in Periapical Lesions with Side Vented Syringe Irrigation vs. GentleWave®

Objectives: This study aims to determine if there are differences in the volumetric healing of periapical lesions with conventional needle irrigation vs GentleWave® irrigation system.

Methods: The study involves two groups of patients with periapical lesions at the Endodontics Department of the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine: Group 1: Irrigation with safe ended side-vented syringe needle Group 2: Irrigation with GentleWave® system. All patients received the same endodontic treatment protocol, including standard access cavity preparation, shaping and cleaning of root canals, and restorative procedures. CBCT scans were taken pre-operatively for various reasons and 6 months post-operatively on a volunteer basis to evaluate volumetric changes in periapical lesions.

Results: There were ten participants in each of the groups in this pilot study. The average difference in volume from pre-op to post-op CBCT with the GentleWave® group was 66.076% decrease with a standard deviation of 33.00555%. The average difference in volume from pre-op to post-op CBCT with the needle irrigation group was a 36.4909% decrease with a standard deviation of 54.78698%. The t-test had a value of - 0.043 and p value = 0.95.

Conclusion: The results of the study show that there is not enough evidence to conclude that there is a statistically significant difference between the volumetric healing of the two irrigation methods. As this was solely a pilot study, the sample size was much lower than what would be needed to gather significant results. However, other confounding variables will need to be accounted for with a larger population due to less standardization