Long-term survival and vitality outcomes of permanent teeth following deep caries treatment with step-wise and partial-caries-removal: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVES: A systematic review was performed to compare the long-term survival of deep dentine caries-affected permanent teeth treated with partial-caries-removal (PCR) versus similar teeth treated with stepwise-caries-removal techniques (SWT).

DATA: Clinical studies investigating long-term PCR and SWT outcomes in unrestored permanent teeth with deep dentine caries were evaluated. Failures were defined as loss of pulp vitality or restorative failures following treatment.

SOURCES: PubMed, Web of Science, Dentistry and Oral Sciences Source, and Central databases were systematically searched.

STUDY SELECTION: From 136 potentially relevant articles, 9 publications utilizing data from 5 studies (2 RCTs, and 3 observational case-series) reporting outcomes for 426 permanent teeth over two to ten years were analyzed. Regarding restorative failures, >88% success at two years for both techniques was reported. For loss of pulp vitality, observational studies reported >96% vitality at two years for each technique, while one RCT reported significantly higher vitality (p<0.05) at three years for PCR (96%) compared to SWT (83%). Risk of bias was high in all studies.

CONCLUSION: Successful vitality and restorative outcomes for both PCR and SWT have been demonstrated at two years and beyond in permanent teeth with deep dentine caries. Partial-caries-removal may result in fewer pulpal complications over a three year period than SWT, although claims of a therapeutic advantage are based on very few, limited-quality studies.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Partial-caries-removal and SWT are deep caries management techniques that reduce pulp exposure risk. Permanent teeth with deep dentine caries treated with either technique have a high likelihood for survival beyond two years.