Factors influencing pain experienced during scaling and root planing: a correlative pilot trial

Abstract

Background and aims. Scaling and root planing is one of the most commonly performed procedures in a dental clinic. Most patients consider the procedure annoying and some experience pain. Understanding the factors which relate to experience of pain during the procedure is important for the treatment of periodontal diseases. The present study made an attempt to find factors which are correlated with pain during periodontal instrumentation. Materials and methods. The data for the present study was collected from the control group of a double-blind split mouth study comparing the effect of intrasulcularly applied 20% Benzocaine with a placebo in reducing pain during scaling and root planing. Heft Parker Visual Analog Scale was used to record the level of pain experienced by the 16 control participants during instrumentation. Pearson’s correlation was used to find factors related to pain. Results. Subgingival calculus was negatively correlated with experience of pain while age, gender, severity of periodontitis, and supragingival calculus were found to have no correlation. Conclusions. Severity of periodontitis, age and gender do not affect the experience of pain due to periodontal instrumentation.