Prognosis of endodontic treatment

The prognosis for endodontic treatment of the tooth

or teeth in question must be taken into account in the

treatment planning. treatment planning. Data regarding the outcome of
endodontic treatment should be interpreted with
caution because different studies lack standardization
and vary in material composition, treatment procedures
and methodology, i.e., prospective or retrospective in
the study design.

The main reason for the variability

of quoted success rates is because of inconsistent
definition.

Clearly, a more lenient definition increases
the success rate in comparison with a more stringent
one.

Although dentists would like to give the patient as
accurate a prognosis as possible before endodontic
treatment is performed, a less than ideal technical
standard provided, or procedural errors and/or an
inadequate coronal restoration will lead to a reduced
prognosis for the tooth.

Dentists should be reminded
that studies reporting an overall healing frequency
(success rate) do not necessarily imply that this
particular tooth has the same chance of healing.
Quoting a figure or even a range (e.g., 60 per cent or
50–70 per cent chance of healing for a re-treatment
case) can be very misleading.