Knowledge Attitude and Practice on Vital Pulp Therapy in Clinical Practice.

Abstract

Introduction:

The dental pulp is the living tissue of the teeth and its vitality is essential for long-term tooth survival. Vital pulp therapy (VPT) is a treatment which is  conducted to preserve the  vitality and function of the coronal or remaining radicular pulp tissue that has been compromised but  not destroyed  by trauma,  caries, or  restorative procedures in a healthy state. The cariously exposed pulp is  treated based on the  maturity of the tooth. Various VPT techniques  are indirect pulp treatment (IPT),  direct pulp  treatment (DPT),  partial pulpotomy, and  full pulpotomy  in vital permanent teeth.

Aim: The aim of the study is to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of vital pulp therapy in clinical practise.

Materials and methods:

An online questionnaire-based study which was conducted among the undergraduate students. The data was collected from the filled questionnaires and was entered in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The statistical program SPSS was used for data management and analysis.

Results:

In this survey, a total of 100 participants responded. When the awareness on vital pulp therapy was asked, 91.43% said that they were aware and 8.57% said that they were not aware. When a question regarding the knowledge on indirect pulp capping was asked, 56.19% said affected dentine, 23.81% said affected pulp, 7.62% said affected enamel and 12.38% said all the above. Then we asked if they have practised direct pulp capping in permanent teeth. 89.52% answered that they have done before and 10.48% answered they have not done before.

Discussion:

In the present study, a total of 100 responses were collected. Most of the participants knew about vital pulp therapy and they were aware about it. The main aim of VPT is to maintain pulpal health in teeth that have been exposed to caries, trauma, restorative procedures, and anatomic abnormalities by stimulating pulpal cells to produce dentin to provide durable seal that protects the pulp.

Conclusion:

This study concluded that the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding vital pulp therapy among general dental practitioners are adequate. But still most of them need to be educated about the importance of preserving pulp. The participants in this study showed fair-to-good knowledge and attitude toward VPT of young permanent teeth