Dental Pulpotomy and the Public Health

Abstract

From a public health and disease prevention standpoint, tooth retention and oral health (on an individual basis) are the keys to decreasing morbidity and delaying mortality in the human lifetime. Root canal therapy is expensive and time consuming. When faced with the necessity of endodontic treatment for cosmetics, people will usually “find the money” to prevent extraction of an anterior tooth. However, molar root canals are even more expensive and mostly out of the price range of affordability for the middle or lower socioeconomic status (SES) populations. In addition, molar endodontic treatment is time consuming (i.e., both for the dentist and the patient) and often requires the services of a specialist (at even a higher cost to the patient). Epidemiologically speaking, even endodontic therapy is often not for a lifetime but merely a stage in eventual tooth loss. Extraction of teeth, the most common choices for the lower SES patient in pain, removes important body parts and effectively makes the patient a “dental cripple.” Pulpotomy though is an inexpensive alternative treatment for the patient and technically easy procedure for the dentist. Pulpotomy supplants or delays root canal therapy and sometimes the ultimate next step in tooth loss, i.e., extraction.

Keywords: Pulpotomy, pulpectomy, root canal therapy (RCT), extraction

Cite this Article

Flaer P., Badri S., Kirsh E., Macajoux J., Daneshgar M., Ghadakzadah S. Dental Pulpotomy and The Public Health. Research and Reviews: Journal of Dentistry. 2016; 7(2): 1–6p.