Tooth survival following regenerative endodontic treatment: A review

Based on published studies of regenerative endodontic treatment (RET), an attempt was made to draw conclusion about the survival outcome of RET treated teeth. PubMed searches were conducted using the terms “survival”, “functional retention”, “outcome”, “regenerative endodontic treatment” and “revascularization therapy” as well as combinations of these terms and other related ones. After full-text evaluation, twelve papers fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Traumatized nonvital incisors were the most commonly RET treated teeth followed by premolars. There was wide variability in the follow-up timings across the studies. Intracanal irrigation was performed in all studies with sodium hypochlorite with variable concentrations. In addition, a considerable variation of intracanal medication was observed, with the use of double, triple antibiotic paste (DAP-TAP), and Ca(OH)2. Based on the best available evidence, RET has an excellent tooth survival rate. The tooth survival ranged from 81.3% - 100%. The most commonly reported late-stage effects were pulp canal obliteration and tooth discoloration. This review revealed excellent success rates in terms of tooth survival after RET. However, there is a paucity of well-documented long-term prospective studies that report on long- term tooth survival outcomes beyond 18 months and the prognostic factors. Thus, well-designed standardized long-term prospective studies should be conducted to provide more concise and safe information.