Survival of Surgical Endodontic Treatment Performed in a Dental Teaching Hospital

Objectives: To assess the survival function of surgical endodontic treatment performed at least one year before in a dental teaching hospital. Methods: A total of 194 teeth surgically treated between 1991 and 2001 were recalled and examined clinically and radiographically using a set of strict criteria. The Kaplan-Meier method and log rank test were used to evaluate the survival time. Results: The median survival time of the 154 first-time surgically treated teeth was 92.1 months and that of the 40 re-surgery cases was 39.1 months. The majority of failures of the first-time surgical treatment occurred within the first two years after surgery. The pre-operative marginal bone loss, tooth type, the operator and re-surgery had a significant influence on the survival time (P<0.05). Conclusions: The survival of surgical endodontic treatment declined non-linearly with time. The preoperative marginal bone loss, tooth type, re-surgery were important factors affecting the survival time of this treatment modality.