[Investigation of the current situation on clinical application of endodontic treatments in Shanghai municipality].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the present state of endodontic treatments applied in Shanghai municipality.


METHODS
A questionnaire survey about clinic application of three endodontic treatments including pulp mummification (PM), resinifying therapy(RT) and root canal therapy(RCT) was conducted by 136 dentists of 42 hospitals selected from three different types of hospitals in Shanghai. The questionnaire concerned the proportion and the scale of three treatments used clinically , the indications, the evaluation of the curative effect and the prospective application in future. SAS6.04 statistical software was used for Chi square test and Kruskal-Wallis test.


RESULTS
(1) PM and RCT were applied widely, RT was seldom used. There was significant difference in the proportion using PM among three different types of hospitals (P<0.001). (2) PM was primarily applied to the teeth suffering from acute or chronic pulpitis, especially molars with vital pulp.(3)Good long-term curative effect was the primary factor affecting dentists to chose endodontic treatment.(4) Most dentists affirm that the best curative effect would be obtained for RCT, however, the effect was uncertain for PM to treat acute or chronic pulpitis.


CONCLUSIONS
The current situation of clinical use of endodontic therapeutic methods in Shanghai falls some short of the concepts accepted internationally. But in general, RCT should be popularized while PM should be eliminated gradually.
Zhu
Ya-qin
YQ
Department of Oral Medicine, School of Stomatology, Ninth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. zhu1590@hotmail.com
Du
Rong
R
Ding
Sheng
S
Li
Chen
C
Qin
Feng
F
Gu
Ying-xin
YX
D002681:China; D003790:Dental Pulp Necrosis; D004708:Endodontics / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D011671:Pulpitis / Q000628:therapy; D012390:Root Canal Therapy