Reflection to enhance dental students´ awareness of and comfort with uncertainty - an experimental study.

Background: Uncertainty is present in many situations in dental practice, but must not prevent wise clinical decision-making. Dental education should acknowledge uncertainty and teach useful management strategies. This study explored if dental students are aware of, and comfortable with uncertainty.

Endodontic treatment modifies circulatory inflammatory mediator levels: A systematic review with meta-analysis.

Background: There is limited and conflicting data on the reduction of circulatory inflammatory mediators in patients with apical periodontitis (AP) following endodontic treatment.

Objective: To answer the following research question: in adult healthy patients with AP [Population (P)], is there a difference before [Comparator (C)] and after various endodontic treatments (nonsurgical, surgical or retreatment) [Intervention (I)] on systemic levels of inflammatory biomarkers [Outcome (O)] in the follow-up period [Time (T)]?

Methods: An electronic literature search was conducted in the databases Scopus, PubMed, Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Grey literature from inception to July 2024 with no language restrictions. Observational studies examining changes in serum levels of inflammatory mediators were included.

Why do dentists refrain from intervention in cases of persistent asymptomatic apical periodontitis in root canal filled teeth? An interview study among general dental practitioners.

Aim: To explore the context in which general dental practitioners (GDPs) decide to refrain from further treatment, that is, ortho- or retrograde retreatment or extraction of a root canal filled tooth with persistent asymptomatic apical periodontitis (PAAP).

Methodology: Fifteen GDPs were strategically selected for in-depth interviews. The informants were encouraged to describe in their own words and in as much detail as possible, the three most recent patient cases of PAAP of a root canal filled tooth, in which they decided to refrain from further treatment.

Interventions in root-filled teeth identified in general dental practice: A 6-year longitudinal observational study.

Aim: To investigate what happens to cross-sectionally identified root-filled teeth over a 6-year period, regardless of the time that elapsed since primary root canal treatment, in a cohort of adult patients regularly attending a Public Dental Service. A secondary aim was to investigate how the cumulative events affecting root-filled teeth over the same time were associated with variables obtained from a baseline examination.

Methodology: Adult patients with ≥1 previously root-filled tooth and regularly attending the Public Dental Service in Örebro County were enrolled for study participation in 2015.

Further Interventions after Root Canal Treatment Are Most Common in Molars and Teeth Restored with Direct Restorations: A 10-11-Year Follow-Up of the Adult Swedish Population.

Introduction: The aims were to investigate 1) the frequency of nonsurgical retreatment, root-end surgery, extraction, and further restorative treatment during a follow-up of 10-11 years after root filling and compare the frequencies according to tooth group and type of coronal restoration and 2) the timing of nonsurgical retreatment, root-end surgery, and extraction.

Methods: Data were collected from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency's register. A search for treatment codes identified teeth root filled in 2009 and the type of coronal restoration (direct, indirect, and unspecified) registered within 6 months of root filling.