title: Pulpa dentis D30 for acute reversible pulpitis: A prospective cohort study in routine dental practice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pulpa dentis D30 (PD: dental pulp of the calf, prepared in a homeopathic D30 potency) has been used in acute reversible pulpitis for pain relief and to avoid or postpone invasive dental treatment.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study short-term clinical outcomes of PD therapy for acute reversible pulpitis in routine dental practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, observational, open-label, single-arm cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven dental primary care practices in Germany.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-two patients starting monotherapy with PD for acute reversible pulpitis without visible or radiological abnormalities. PD was applied as 1-mL submucous injections into the mucobuccal fold, repeated daily as needed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Avoidance of invasive dental treatment (pulp capping, root canal therapy, tooth extraction) and remission of pain, measured on a 0-10 point scale (partial remission: reduction by > or =3 points; complete remission: reduction from > or =4 points to 0-1 points) during the 10-day follow-up period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median pain duration was 14.0 days. The patients received a median of two PD applications (range 1-7). A total of 81% (n=26/32) of patients did not require invasive dental treatment, and 19% (n= 6) had root canal therapy. Remission status was evaluable in 24 patients. Of these, 63% (n = 15/24) achieved pain remission, 58% (n = 14) remitted without invasive dental treatment (complete remission: n=12, partial remission: n=2), and 29% (n= 7) had a close temporal relationship between PD and remission (ratio "time to remission after first PD application vs pain duration prior to first PD application" <1:10).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study of PD for acute reversible pulpitis, 58% of evaluable patients achieved pain remission without invasive dental treatment. The open-label pre-post design does not allow for conclusions about comparative effectiveness. However, more than one-fourth of evaluable patients remitted with a close temporal relationship between the first PD application and pain remission, suggesting a causal relationship between therapy and remission.
authors: Institute for Applied Epistemology and Medical Methodology, Freiburg, Germany. harald.hamre@ifaemm.de
authors: Harald Johan
authors: HJ
authors: Hamre
authors: Inge
authors: I
authors: Mittag
authors: Anja
authors: A
authors: Glockmann
authors: Helmut
authors: H
authors: Kiene
authors: Wilfried
authors: W
authors: Tröger