Aim:To assess dentists’ attitude towards deep caries (DC) on primary molars (PM).Materials and methods:200 dentists with various professional backgrounds filled in an online questionnaire on how they choose to treat DC in PM, with/without pulp exposure (PE).Results and discussion:Answers were received from 76.5% (153 dentists): 12.4% (n=19) pediatric dentists (PD), 36.6% (n=56) other specialties (OS), 51% (n=78) general practitioners (GP). For asymptomatic PM without PE, 42.5% of them (n=65) correctly chose the stepwise technique (47.36%-PD; 46.15%-GP; 35.7%-OS; p>0.05), 35.9% (n=55) chose pulpotomy, 12.4% (n=19) opted for pulpectomy, while 9.2% (n=14) would refer the case to a PD. For symptomatic PM with PE, 51.6% (n=79) correctly opted for pulpectomy (63.15%-PD; 50%-GP; 50%-OS; p>0.05), 35.3% (n=54) chose pulpotomy, while 11% (n=17) would refer to a PD.Conclusions:Regardless of dentists’ expertise and specialty, treatment options were different, leading to the conclusion that constant knowledge update is necessary.
Keywords:- deep caries
- primary molars
- TREATMENT OPTIONS