Restoring teeth that are endodontically treated through existing crowns. Part I: Survey of pulpal status on access

The purpose of this study was to identify the pulpal findings encountered b y practitioners when accessing complete-coverage crowns that require nonsur gical root canal treatment and the relevance of coronal leakage to the succ ess of the RTC. Method and materials: The survey package consisted of a cov er letter stating the instructions, rationale, and purpose for the question naire, a questionnaire with 8 short-answer questions, and a stamped, self-a ddressed envelope. A randomized sample of active dentists (300 general prac titioners, 300 prosthodontists, and 300 endodontists) was selected, Collect ed data were analyzed with the chi-square test. Results: A 60% response rat e was obtained. Statistically significant differences were found among the practitioner groups, depending on the question. General practitioners and e ndodontists obtain access through crowns and maintain these crowns as final restoration significantly more often than do prosthodontists. Practitioner s responded that teeth with complete crowns require nonsurgical root canal treatment after 5 to 10 years. Conclusion: Respondents believe that leakage must be addressed when endodontic access cavities in artificial crowns are restored after nonsurgical root canal treatment. General practitioners per form nonsurgical root canal treatment more frequently than do prosthodontis ts. Practitioners indicated that when teeth with complete crowns require no nsurgical root canal treatment, treatment is most often performed 5 to 10 y ears after placement of the crown.