Evaluation of general practitioner's treatment choices of deep occlusal caries without pulpal involvement in young permanent teeth

The first permanent molar is easily decayed, especially at early years of eruption. Some factors such as avoid of treatment by very young patients, their low age, the lack of clear guideline, and the uncertainty of the outcome of the treatment undermine the dentists to choose a decisive treatment plan. The purpose of this study was identification of selected treatment plans by Tehran general dentists for the treatment of deep caries in young permanent teeth.
This was a descriptive cross-sectional study, which was performed on 401 general dentists. A specific questionnaire was designed to assess the performance of general dentists when dealing with a young patient with deep occlusal caries of young permanent teeth. This questionnaire sent to dentists by social network. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and multinominal regression analysis. Dentist's responses were compared with approved therapies based on the references and the various articles to measure their compliance with these guide lines.
Around 50% of dentists in the event of pulp exposure during treatment, selected the root canal therapy, and in the absence of exposure, 80% of dentists chose indirect pulp therapy.
Most of the treatments that were discussed by dentists as patient treatment were not consistent with the design of approved therapies by valid references, which emphasizes the need for a clinical guide to be compiled.