Prevalence of previous endodontic treatment, technical standard and occurrence of periapical lesions in a randomly selected adult, general population

Abstract

A random sample of 967 subjects selected from the total population in a Swedish county were examined radiographically regarding prevalence and quality of endodontic treatment and occurrence of periapical lesions. The relationship between the technical standard of endodontic treatment and the occurrence of periapical lesions was also analyzed. Of the selected individuals, 95% attended examination (751 dentate and 169 edentulous individuals). Of the 17,430 teeth examined, 1,492 (8.6%) were endodontically treated. Approximately 70% of the treated root canals were inadequately obturated; 10% showed excess of root filling beyond the apex. The prevalence of periapical lesions was 2.9%, and 24.5% of the endodontically treated roots demonstrated periapical lesions. Root fillings ending more than 2 mm from apex had a significantly lower frequency of periapical lesions than root fillings ending within 2 mm of the apex. No difference in the frequency of periapical lesions was found between properly and improperly obturated root canals. Excess of root filling material beyond the apex was related to a significantly higher frequency of periapical lesions.

Prevalence and Quality of Endodontic Treatment in the Northern Manhattan Elderly

“…It is well documented that the quality of the root filling is important to the long-term success of endodontic treatment (5,11,16,22,29,31,32). A proper seal and a root filling ending less than 2 mm from the apex has been shown to be an important endodontic treatment outcome criterion.…”

“…The quality of the root fillings were assessed by measuring the distance of the root filling from the radiographic apex of the tooth. The root fillings were then categorized by distance from the radiographic apex: less than 2 mm, more than 2 mm, or beyond the radiographic apex (11,16,17). Root filling density was assessed by noting the homogeneity of fill and whether voids were present.…”

“…Other factors influencing endodontic treatment outcomes are intracanal presence of bacteria and quality of endodontic therapy. Several epidemiologic studies of northern European populations have investigated the prevalence of teeth with apical periodontitis and/or endodontic treatment (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11) in elderly populations. A recent review by Torabinejad et al (12) suggests that there have been relatively few quality studies of endodontic treatment outcomes in the United States.…”

Extension and Density of Root Fillings and Postoperative Apical Radiolucencies in the Veterans Affairs Dental Longitudinal Study

“…Diagnostic criteria for radiographic evaluation of AR, extension, and density were adapted from Odesjo et al (23):…”

Retreatment of Root Canal Fillings Performed With a Calcium Silicate Based Root Canal Sealer and Gutta-Percha With Different Root Canal Solvents

“…Non-surgical retreatment is preferred as the first choice to correct recent problems in the previous endodontic treatment and involves three-dimensional cleaning and obturation of root canal. 6 Many techniques, such as rotary Ni-Ti instruments [7][8][9] , laser 10 , ultrasonic instruments 11 , heated pluggers 12 and hand instruments combined with different chemical solvents such as chloroform, eucalyptol, turpentine, orange oil [13][14][15] have been suggested for the removal of root canal filling materials from the root canals. However, in retreatment cases, entire removal of root fillings from the root canal walls could not be achieved in any technique.…”