Objective: Root canal treatment (RCT) has been widely used to save teeth from extraction and restore themto their normal functionality by eliminating the pain factor and reconstructing their natural shape and size.This study aimed to assess the reasons for patients opting out of extraction and refusing root canal treatment. Materials and Methods: A prospective study of 150 patients over a timeframe of 5 months was carried out inthe Outpatient Department of one of a tertiary care hospital in Islamabad. Patients belonged to either gender,their ages ranged from 16 years to 79 years. The inclusion criteria were patients with fully erupted teethhaving dental caries and symptoms of irreversible pulpitis but with a restorable prognosis. Results: Most common reason for extraction was more appointments with pain (23.9%), followed by instantpain relief by extraction (19.6%) and high cost of root canal treatment (17.4%) and others (4.3%) whichincludes commute problems, travelling abroad, non-salvageable, orthodontic treatment, and severely mobileteeth. Conclusion: The most common reason for choosing extraction over root canal treatment was pain during theprocedure. Public awareness about the effectiveness of root canal treatment is needed, and the pain mythshould be dispelled, to ensure that more people are inclined to save their natural teeth rather than preferringimplants or artificial teeth.
Khattak et al. (Fri,) studied this question.