Outcomes of Nonsurgical Root Canal Therapy Completed in Children Aged 6-13 Years

Introduction: Tooth survival following non-surgical root canal treatment (NSRCT) in adult populations has been documented as high as 97%. However, to our knowledge, no studies have examined tooth survival following NSRCT in children. The aim of this study was to determine the long-term outcomes of non-surgical root canal treatment in children aged 6-13 years provided by both endodontists and other providers.Methods & Materials: Insurance claims from the Delta Dental of Wisconsin Insurance database of 4927 anterior and molar NSRCT completed in children aged 6-13 years from the years 2002-2014 were analyzed. The teeth were followed during continuous insurance eligibility from the time of treatment until the occurrence of any untoward event or end of the study period. Untoward events were identified using Current Dental Terminology (CDT) codes for retreatment, apicoectomy, or extraction. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates were calculated for 1, 5, and 10 years. Cox regression models were used to analyze the effect of provider type, tooth type, and age of child on survival. Analyses were performed using SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC) and R version 3.6.3. Results: The survival was 99.3% at 1 year, 91.3% at 5 years, and 82.7% at 10 years. The survival of teeth treated by endodontists and other providers at 10 years was 86.7% and 79.4%, respectively (p\u3c0.05) At 10 years, first molars have a significantly lower survival rate when compared to central and lateral incisors (p\u3c0.05). Conclusions: The survival of NSRCT in children aged 6-13 years is high at 10 years regardless of the provider. Teeth treated by endodontists have significantly higher success rates than those treated by other providers