Profile of nonsurgical root canal treatment under the National Health Insurance in Taiwan in 2006

Abstract

Nonsurgical root canal treatment (NSRCT) is a valuable dental procedure, because it is reported to have a high 5-year tooth retention rates of > 90% in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pattern of NSRCT by analyzing different age groups of patients and tooth types according to different age groups of patients in Taiwan in 2006. Materials and methods: Data on the population were obtained from a database of the Ministry of Interior, Taiwan, and the data of the NSRCT were obtained from a database of the Taiwan Dental Association. The population older than 5 years was divided into seven age groups, and the treatment rate and number of permanent tooth which received NSRCT per 1000 patients in each age group were analyzed. Results: The results found that 8,865,201 patients received dental treatment, and 1,907,325 permanent teeth received NSRCT in a total population of 21,783,585. This gave an overall dental treatment rate of 40.7%, and overall number of NSRCTs of 215.1 teeth per 1000 patients. The number of NSRCTs per 1000 patients gradually increased from 34.6 in the 5- to 14-year age group to a peak of 342.5 in the 55- to 64-year age group and then slightly declined to 322.5 in the oldest age group of ≤ 65 years. The most frequent tooth type which received NSRCT was first molars (21.0%), followed by second premolars (18.4%), second molars (16.7%), first premolars (13.0%), central incisors (10.6%), lateral incisors (9.7%), canines (9.0%), and third molars (1.9%). Conclusion: The overall NSRCT rate per 1000 patients was 215.1 teeth, the incidence of NSRCT increased with the age of the patients, and the frequency of canine treatment increased with the age of patients.

Keywords

• age group
• endodontic treatment
• nonsurgical root canal treatment
• tooth type