Root Canal vs. Dental Implants: Is The Evidence Truly Compelling?

Summary:

Last week, the American Association of Endodontists (AAE), announced new research which appeared to suggest that root canal is the better treatment option than dental implants, but is the new study really that compelling?

Full Article:

Nearly two years ago, a reader posed a question on OsseoNews.com if "Dental Implants are Impacting Endodontics?" Many subscribers chimed in with their opinion on the subject, with some readers suggesting that a paradigm shift away from root canal to implants was definitely under way. Others, however, objected to this viewpoint and suggested that implants would in no way impact endodontic treatment (you can read all the comments here).

Last week, the American Association of Endodontists (AAE), announced new research which appeared to suggest that root canal is the better treatment option than dental implants. The study was published in the November issue of the Journal of Endodontics, the official journal of the AAE. These data were collected as part of a larger project comparing implant and endodontic outcomes and is funded by the AAE Foundation.

Essentially, researchers evaluated the success and failure rates of teeth treated with a root canal (endodontically treated teeth) or extracted and replaced with a dental implant. While the findings concluded that the success rate of each treatment was similar, the data showed that significantly more dental implants required additional treatment or surgical intervention after the procedure compared to endodontically treated teeth (12.4 percent versus 1.4 percent, respectively).

Lead investigator James Porter Hannahan, D.M.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL commented that, "While the success of both procedures is similar, saving the natural tooth through a root canal rarely requires follow-up treatment and generally lasts a lifetime; implants, on the other hand, have more post-operative complications and higher long-term failure rates."

But our question is: Does this new research really provide the final answer to the Implant vs. Endo debate? Do implants truly have more post-operative complications? And what about the potential for implant treatment to get cheaper in the future. Will this tip the balance of implants over root canal? Interestingly, there is also little in this study concerning patient reactions to an implants and root canals. Isn’t the patient satisfaction level more of an important criteria when making a decision of implants over root canal? What has been your practical experience with patients who opted for one or the other treatment?

Naturally, we believe this debate is far from over and we welcome your comments.

Source:

OsseoNews.com Editors,
Quotes on New Study from:
American Association of Endodontists