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The aim of this study was to evaluate whether retreatment of root fillings was judged necessary or not and. which kind of retreatment was preferred among a group of general dental practitioners in Germany. A questionnaire comprising 19 cases of endodontically treated teeth with different case histories and several treatment options was sent to all general practitioners in Göttingen (Germany). The cases included teeth with periapical radiolucencies, pain, apical resorption, under- and overfilling, and unfilled root canals. Results obtained from 43 questionnaires returned indicate that non-intervention or further radiographic monitoring were preferred by the majority of general practitioners in 110 of 19 cases, even in the presence of periapical pathosis. Only five cases; were judged to require conservative endodontic retreatment and, in four cases, root resection. The results revealed large inter- and intra- individual discrepancies in the estimation of endodontic retreatment need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate and compare the prevalence of root canal fillings, apical periodontitis and endodontic treatment needs in a German subpopulation in 1944 and 2004, respectively. Methodology: Two hundred panoramic radiographs taken from 1994 and 2004, respectively, were evaluated using the Periapical Probability Index (PRI). The technical quality of the root canal fillings in terms of length and homogeneity was estimated. Minimum and maximum endodontic treatment needs were calculated. Statistical analysis was performed using the chi-square and Fisher exact test at P < 0.05. Results: There was a total of 4660 teeth without root canal fillings for radiographs taken in 1994 and 4244 teeth for those in 2004. In teeth without root canal fillings in 1994, the frequency of PRI 4 was 1.0% and PRI 5 was 1.2%. In 2004, PRI 4 was 1.1% and PRI 5 was 2.4%. The difference was not significant (P > 0.05). A total of 168 teeth (3.4%) in 1994 and 217 (4.8%) in 2004 were root canal filled and the difference was significant (P < 0.05). The frequency of PRI score 4 and 5 for the root canal-filled teeth was 8.5% and 26.1% for 1994, and 6.9% and 31.8% in 2004, respectively, The difference was not significant (P> 0.05). The percentage of short root canal fillings was 52.7% in 1994, and 50.8% in 2004. In 1994, 48.6% of the root canal fillings were scored as inhomogenous, and in 2004 the percentage was 40.6%. There were no significant differences concerning the radiographic quality of root canal fillings (P > 0.05). Endodontic treatment need was calculated as 3.7% of all teeth in 1994, and 4.6% in 2004. Retreatment need was calculated as 49.7% of canal-filled teeth for 1994 and 54.5% of root canal-filled teeth for 2004. Conclusion: The prevalence of apical periodontitis in root canal-filled teeth and the need for retreatment increased over the observation period. There were no significant improvements in the technical quality of endodontic treatment from 1994 and 2004. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the use of cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) by endodontists in Germany and Switzerland. Sixty‐eight German endodontic specialists (G‐ES), 22 Swiss endodontic specialists (CH‐ES) and 95 dentists with a German Master of Science in endodontics (MSc) were invited to participate. Data on the timing of diagnostic assessments, endodontic case difficulty and indications for CBCT use were collected by questionnaire. The frequencies of pre‐, intra‐ and postoperative use of periapical radiography and CBCT were analysed by case difficulty level. In high difficulty cases, access to a CBCT device was significantly associated with the frequency of both pre‐ and intraoperative CBCT use. The type of endodontic qualification had a significant impact on the rate of preoperative CBCT use in high difficulty cases. German endodontic specialists used preoperative CBCT more frequently than CH‐ES and MSc. Our findings show that CBCT is a valuable imaging tool for endodontists, particularly in high difficulty cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]