title: Pulp exposures in adults--choice of treatment among Swedish dentists.
abstract: This study comprises a survey of Swedish dentists'treatment preferences in cases of carious exposure of the dental pulp in adults.The survey was conducted as part of a comprehensive report on methods of diagnosis and treatment in endodontics, published in 2010 by the Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment. A questionnaire was mailed to a random subsample of 2012 dental offices where one dentist at each office was requested to answer all questions. Each questionnaire contained one of three sets of questions about endodontic practice routines.Thus around one-third of the subsample received case-specific questions about treating carious exposure. Only general practitioners aged below 70 years were included.The final study sample comprised 412 participants.The dentists were presented with two case scenarios. In Case 1 a 22-year old patient had a deep carious lesion in tooth 36 and in Case 2 a 50-year old patient had a deep carious lesion in tooth 14.The participants were asked to nominate their treatment of choice: pulp capping, partial pulpotomy or pulpectomy. For Case 1, 17 per cent of the respondents selected pulpectomy; the corresponding rate for Case 2 was 47 per cent. Female gender and age group 25-49 years were predictive of selection of less invasive treatment options. However, according to recent guidelines (2011) from the National Board of Health and Wellfare, Swedish dentists are recommended to elect pulpectomy prior to pulp capping/partial pulpotomy when confronted with a tooth having a cariously exposed pulp in adults.
authors: The Institute for Postgraduate Dental Education, Jönköping, Sweden.
authors: Fredrik
authors: F
authors: Frisk
authors: Department of Endodontology, Institute of Odontology at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Kvist
authors: SBU (Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment), Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Susanna
authors: S
authors: Axelsson
authors: Department of Endodontology, Institute of Odontology at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors: Gunnar
authors: G
authors: Bergenholtz
authors: SBU (Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment), Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Davidson
authors: SBU (Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment), Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Ingegerd
authors: I
authors: Mejare
authors: SBU (Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment), Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Anders
authors: A
authors: Norlund
authors: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Odontology, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden.
authors: Arne
authors: A
authors: Petersson
authors: Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Hans
authors: H
authors: Sandberg
authors: SBU (Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment), Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Sofia
authors: S
authors: Tranaeus
authors: Department of Behavioral and Community Dentistry, Institute of Odontology at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors: Magnus
authors: M
authors: Hakeberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003785:Dental Pulp Capping / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003789:Dental Pulp Exposure / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011670:Pulpectomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011672:Pulpotomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012389:Root Canal Obturation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013044:Specialty Boards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult