An Audit of Post-Endodontic Coronal Restorations Incorporated in Pre-treatment Plans in a Nigerian Tertiary Health Facility

Abstract

Root-treated teeth remain susceptible to fractures and coronally-approaching infections, underpinning the need for temporary as well as definitive restoration of all such root-treated teeth. This study was designed to audit endodontic treatment plans and determine whether a temporary or definitive coronal restoration was incorporated and documented in the written treatment plan. This was a 2-year retrospective study of all case notes of patients who received endodontic treatment at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Edo State Nigeria. Pre-treatment plans were assessed for the incorporation of coronal restorations, both temporary and definitive. All data collated were screened for completeness and analysed using IBM SPSS 21.0. The endodontic plans all had the type of endodontic treatment to be rendered and the tooth to be endodontically treated was indicated. However, 48.8% and 37.4% of the teeth to be treated had no temporary coronal restoration or definitive coronal restoration indicated in the treatment plan respectively. There was statistically significant association between the ages of the patients and recording the type of temporary and definitive coronal restoration that will be employed as part of the endodontic treatment plan. All patients above 35 years of age had the definitive coronal restoration included in the endodontic treatment plan. Almost half of the patients did not have both temporary and definitive coronal restorations incorporated into their endodontic treatment plans, reflecting the seeming lack of importance attached to the incorporation of both temporary and definitive coronal restorations in the endodontic treatment plans.

Keywords: endodontic, coronal restorations, pre-treatment plans