A follow-up study of pulpotomies and root canal treatments performed under general anaesthesia.

OBJECTIVES

A previous study considered whether the proportions of clinically satisfactory root canal treatments (RCT) done under general anaesthesia (GA) or under local anaesthesia were equivalent, but the proportion of treatment with long-term satisfactory endodontic outcomes remains unknown. Moreover, no evaluation of pulpotomies performed under GA has been reported.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

From 614 endodontic treatments (ETs) performed on permanent teeth under GA, 225 [193 RCT and 32 pulpotomies (P)] were examined after follow-up periods of 1-6 months (71 cases), 6-24 months (77 cases) and over 2 years (77 cases). Changes in the periapical index between the treatment date (T0) and the control time (T1) allowed the treatment to be classified as "success," "uncertain outcome" or "failure." Explicative variables for success of ET were the duration of follow-up and tooth-related criteria expected to affect the outcomes of endodontic treatment.

RESULTS

Overall, 87 % of ETs were scored as "success," while 9 % were uncertain and 4 % were failures. There was no difference in the distribution of success in relation with the type of tooth, the pulpal status, the level of endodontic difficulty, the periapical status or the technical quality of RCT. The proportion of endodontic cases with high level of difficulties was higher in the P group than in the RCT group.

CONCLUSION

Longer follow-ups and higher numbers of cases are needed to analyse the factors affecting success and failure in endodontic treatments performed under GA.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The relatively high rates of success of pulpotomies and RCT support undertaking endodontic treatment under GA.