Prevalence of Apical Periodontitis and Frequency of Root-Filled Teeth in an Adult Czech Population

Overview

The pathogenesis of chronic apical periodontitis (CP) is almost clear today. This enables to perform causal therapy [1,2, 3, 5, 6]. Proper root canal treatment and obturation prevent development of CP. If CP is present at the time of treatment, it usually heals up. Additional surgical intervention is required very rarely. CP as a frequent coincidental finding in patients requesting treatment at the Dental Clinic in Hradec Kralove evokes the question of prevalence of CP. Panoramic X-ray films (OPG) from patients examined at the Dental Clinic in Hradec Kralove were used for the purpose of this study. The results illustrate the quality of dental care in patients involved in this study. Overall prevalence of CP, psot-endo treatment, sound and missing teeth was recorded. 801 OPG were examined. 5789 (22.6 %) teeth were missing. Only 556 (43.7 %) of 1272 endodonticaly treated teeth were without CP. In 492 individuals (61.4 %) we have found at least one tooth with CP. In 106 teeth treated with post and core we have not seen any radioopaque root filling in the root canal. Although it is well known how to diagnose and treat CP, results of our study illustrate frequent inadequate endodontic treatment.

Key words:
chronic apical periodontitis – endodontics – dentistry