ACDE Webinar | Vital Pulp Therapy Using Direct Pulp Caps in Permanent Teeth: An Alternative to Root Canals?

The dental pulp is the connective tissue that lives protected inside the hard tissues of the tooth. When exposed to trauma, caries, or damage (such as tooth fracture), the tissue is at risk of infection, leading to pain and necrosis of the pulp. In permanent teeth, the current standard of care for infected pulp tissue is to proceed directly to root canal treatment. 

However, the best treatment results occur in teeth that preserve the vitality of the pulp. A potential alternative treatment has recently gained clinical popularity – vital pulp therapy. Vital pulp therapy (VPT) treats the infection without completely removing the dental pulp tissue. Learn the clinical procedures associated with vital pulp therapy, the specific cases where vital pulp therapy should and should not be used, and discuss the success rates reported in current research.