The purpose of the study was to histologically analyse transition from pulpitis to periapical periodontitis on dog's teeth. Pulps of mandibular premolars (37 roots) were exposed using a low-speed handpiece. Teeth were left open to the oral environment for 20, 35, 50 and 65 days. After the experimental period animals were sacrificed. Undemineralised teeth with surrounding bone, embedded in methy...

AIMS To evaluate the impact of the quality of coronal restorations scored on a clinical and radiographic basis and the quality of root fillings on periapical health. METHODOLOGY Periapical radiographs were taken of 745 root-filled teeth, randomly selected from patients attending the Ghent University Dental School. The teeth had not received restorative treatment in the previous year. The coro...

Apical periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder of periradicular tissues caused by aetiological agents of endodontic origin. Persistent apical periodontitis occurs when root canal treatment of apical periodontitis has not adequately eliminated intraradicular infection. Problems that lead to persistent apical periodontitis include: inadequate aseptic control, poor access cavity design, m...

OBJECTIVES Recent studies have investigated the occurrence of human cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr Virus in samples from apical periodontitis lesions and a role in the pathogenesis of this disease has been suggested. Because genotype distribution and seroprevalence of EBV and HCMV differ among populations, it is important to determine the presence of these viruses in endodontic periapical les...

The aim of this study was to examine morphologically the participation of extraradicular biofilm in refractory periapical periodontitis. Six teeth and five extruded root filling gutta-percha points associated with refractory periapical periodontitis were investigated by scanning electron microscope. In nine of 11 samples examined, bacterial biofilms were seen at the extraradicular area. The gut...

INTRODUCTION Intermittent administration of parathyroid hormone (PTH) promotes oral osseous wound healing and protects against ligature-induced alveolar bone loss. However, its therapeutic value on periapical periodontitis is unknown. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of intermittent PTH administration on the progression of periapical periodontitis. METHODS Seven lymphotoxin ...

AIM To determine the prevalence of apical periodontitis and assess the quality of endodontic fillings in the population of the city of Zagreb, Croatia. METHODS A total of 1462 orthopantomograms from new patients at 6 different dental practices was analyzed during 2006 and 2007. The presence of periapical lesions was determined by using the periapical index score (PAI). The quality of endodont...

Apical periodontitis is produced in the majority of cases by intraradicular infection. Treatment consists in the elimination of the infectious agents by endodontia. Even when carrying out a correct cleansing and filling of canals, it is possible that periapical periodontitis will persist in the form of an asymptomatic radiolucency, giving rise to the post-endodontic periapical lesion. The chron...

OBJECTIVES This review article discusses the host response in apical periodontitis with the main focus on cytokines, produced under this pathological condition and contributing to the degradation of periradicular tissues. The pace of research in this field has greatly accelerated in the last decade. Here we provide an analysis of studies published in this area during this period. MATERIAL AND...

Epidemiology is the study of disease distribution and factors determining or affecting it. Likewise, endodontic epidemiology can be defined as the science of studying the distribution pattern and determinants of pulp and periapical diseases; specially apical periodontitis. Although different study designs have been used in endodontics, researchers must pay more attention to study designs with h...