This week an awareness campaign around root canal therapy has been launched in the UK, targeting the National Health Service and aiming for recognition for endodontics, and pushing for better remuneration given the additional skills and equipment necessary for the specialty.
With new dental payment systems about to be piloted in April, and widespread agreement that the NHS should be rewarding quality, the people behind the “Saving Teeth Awareness Campaign” believe it is an ideal time to introduce commissioning of specialist treatment in general practice.
Recent figures for the NHS show that two million teeth were removed last year but only approximately half a million root treatments were undertaken. The options for replacing a lost tooth might be a bridge, a denture or an implant. In the interests of dental health, however, if the natural tooth can be saved through root canal therapy and adequately restored, it should be first choice.
A recent Adult Dental Health Survey showed that thirty per cent of all adults are extremely anxious about having a tooth drilled. However, modern local anaesthetics can ensure that all dental procedures that involve drilling, including root canal treatment, are virtually painless. Professor Tim Newton, Professor of Psychology as applied to Dentistry, comments: “When you feel anxious it’s not easy to make choices. Fear of dental treatment remains a significant barrier to dental care for many people. People who are anxious will often avoid dental treatment, and when they do attend often make decisions which they might not make if they were less anxious – for example to have teeth extracted rather than have to attend for more appointments for treatment to restore their teeth.”
Meanwhile, a study in the March issue of the Journal of Endodontics has found that the most effective response to a failed root canal was endodontic microsurgery. The study, by researchers at Columbia University, used U.S. dental fee data from 2009. The study found that the most cost effective option was apicoectomy. The least effective treatment for the cost was removing the tooth and placing a single-tooth implant in the bone. The success rate of this treatment was very high. However, it was also the most expensive option.
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