Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jun;47(6):2381-2393.
doi: 10.1177/0300060519843406. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Dentist-related factors influencing the use of vital pulp therapy: a survey among dental practitioners in China

Mengjie Li  1   2 , Xiaoli Hu  1   2 , Xiaolan Li  1   2   3 , Shuxiang Lei  1   2 , Ming Cai  1   2 , Xi Wei  1   2 , Dongmei Deng  2   3
Affiliations

Dentist-related factors influencing the use of vital pulp therapy: a survey among dental practitioners in China

Mengjie Li et al. J Int Med Res. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate dentist-related factors associated with the use of vital pulp therapy (VPT) for the treatment of pulp exposures in permanent teeth.

Methods: This survey-based study sent an online questionnaire to collect data on the demographics of the respondents, the use of VPT and the choice of materials for VPT, to all members of the Society of Endodontology of Guangdong, China.

Results: A total 183 of 380 members responded (48.2%). The majority (89.6%; 164 of 183) had performed direct pulp capping (DPC) while 55.2% (101 of 183) had performed partial pulpotomy (PP) at least once. The most-cited reason for not performing VPT was unfamiliarity with the technique. Mineral trioxide aggregate was the most commonly used material for both DPC (67.1%; 110 of 164) and PP (73.3%; 74 of 101). Endodontists, compared with general practitioners, preferred to perform DPC and chose calcium silicate materials (CSMs) for VPT (odds ratios 5.81 and 8.07, respectively). DPC and CSMs for VPT were also favoured more by respondents who had practised for > 5 years. Senior respondents were more likely to use PP.

Conclusions: Speciality, years of practise and age of dentists influenced the decision making and the choice of materials for VPT. Continuing education is essential to promote the clinical use of VPT.

Keywords: Calcium silicate materials; dentist-related factors; direct pulp capping; partial pulpotomy; survey.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Monthly cases of direct pulp capping (n = 164) (a) and partial pulpotomy (n = 101) (b) performed in 2017 among respondents (n = 183) who completed the questionnaire on their use of vital pulp therapy (VPT) in permanent teeth and their current application of calcium silicate materials in VPT. The colour version of this figure is available at: http://imr.sagepub.com.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Choices of capping materials among respondents who had ever performed direct pulp capping (DPC; n = 164) or partial pulpotomy (PP; n = 101). Respondents could choose more than one material that had been used as capping materials. The colour version of this figure is available at: http://imr.sagepub.com.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Duration of use of calcium silicate materials for direct pulp capping (a; n = 130) and partial pulpotomy (b; n = 98) among respondents who completed the questionnaire on their use of vital pulp therapy (VPT) in permanent teeth and their current application of calcium silicate materials in VPT. The colour version of this figure is available at: http://imr.sagepub.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Simon S, Perard M, Zanini M, et al. Should pulp chamber pulpotomy be seen as a permanent treatment? Some preliminary thoughts. Int Endod J 2013; 46: 79–87. - PubMed
    1. Schmalz G, Smith AJ. Pulp development, repair, and regeneration: challenges of the transition from traditional dentistry to biologically based therapies. J Endod 2014; 40: S2–S5. - PubMed
    1. Taha NA, Khazali MA. Partial pulpotomy in mature permanent teeth with clinical signs indicative of irreversible pulpitis: a randomized clinical trial. J Endod 2017; 43: 1417–1421. - PubMed
    1. Aguilar P, Linsuwanont P. Vital pulp therapy in vital permanent teeth with cariously exposed pulp: a systematic review. J Endod 2011; 37: 581–587. - PubMed
    1. Morotomi T, Washio A, Kitamura C. Current and future options for dental pulp therapy. Jpn Dent Sci Rev 2019; 55: 5–11. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources