Endodontics: The “Root Cause” or an Essential Benefit to Dentistry?

The prospect of having a root canal done is quite frankly a scary proposition for many patients, not the least since public sentiment and media coverage is not always positive. A recent feature length movie accused a root canal treated tooth to be the “root cause” of many ills and got significant worldwide traction. This session will start where this movie left off and give an update of what the real facts in this arena are.

The underlying disease, infection of the dental pulp, the soft tissues and nerves that are essential for tooth development, is treated by a variety of measures. Going forward, keeping the pulp intact rather than removing it will be a much more accepted therapy. Research is ongoing to understand the inflammatory status of the pulp and to select the right tools to move damaged pulps towards a healing condition. My lab is active in research into aspects of both conventional and transformational endodontics, with the ultimate aim to improve the immediate outcomes of a specific patient but also for the population at large. 

About Professor Ove Peters: Professor Ove Peters joined the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, in 2020 after faculty positions in Heidelberg, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as at the University of California, San Francisco. Most recently, he was the founding director of the postgraduate endodontic program at the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco, a professor with tenure and the Chair of the Department of Endodontics at that school.