Endodontically Treated Teeth in General Dentistry- Identification of Factors Related to Treatment

Abstract: ABSTRACT There are various factors that affect the success and outcome of root canal treatment.  The aim of the study is to thoroughly investigate the prognosis of endodontic treated by general dental practitioners in the region of Västerbotten, Sweden, and try to identify factors that are related to an unsuccessful root canal treatment. Our hypothesis is about prognosis for teeth, which are treated by a general dentist, is worse than the teeth, which are treated by specialists, and dental students.  Total 210 patients were included in our study. Of those 100 were excluded due to lack of documentation. We analysed these factors, aseptic treatment e.g. rubber dam, quality of root filling length, coronal restoration, and radiograph after 4 years.  In our study, rubber dam was used only in 64 teeth (58 %) throughout whole treatment and only in 27 teeth (22 %) have seen that root filling follow the standard criteria. Twenty-two teeth (20 %) have received coronal restoration and only 21 teeth (19 %) had radiograph after 4 years, six teeth (5 %) had retreatment and 5 teeth (4 %) have been extracted. Lack of documentation was another striking finding which made it difficult for our study to extract complete information.  In conclusion, we identified some factors, which can be improved.   Inadequate documentation.   Deficiencies in pre-treatment diagnostics.   Aseptic treatment e.g. rubber dam   Failure in follow-up documentation of treated teeth   Quality of root filing.