Factors Associated with Incomplete Endodontic Care

Abstract

Introduction: Incomplete endodontic treatment has been associated with detrimental health outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective study reviewed charts of patients receiving endodontic care over a 1-year period at the Postgraduate Endodontic Clinic at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, Newark, NJ, to assess whether factors such as receipt of palliative endodontic care and demographic factors were associated with completion, or noncompletion, of initial nonsurgical root canal therapy (RCT).

Results: A total of 1806 patient charts met the study inclusion criteria. With descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis, the variables of palliative care, Medicaid recipient, age group, and distance from the clinic were significantly associated with RCT completion (P < .05). In the binary logistic regression with all independent variables, palliative care and age group variables were the significant factors (P < .05). Patients who had no palliative care had 8.5 times the odds of completing RCT than patients who had received palliative care. The age group of 18-35 years had 0.59 times the odds of complete RCT than the age group <18 years.

Conclusions: Incomplete nonsurgical endodontic treatment is highly associated with the receipt of prior palliative care. Further research is indicated to investigate additional factors that may influence patient completion of endodontic care and opportunities to improve public health care program design to obtain optimal patient-centered outcomes.

Keywords: Delayed root canal therapy; Medicaid; incomplete endodontic treatment.