I'm gonna go buy another CFL

carabelli

Steve, here's one link of many, it was even in The New York Times:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,321197,00.html

The Weekly World, I haven't seen that in a long time...don't know if
it's still on the stands. Mermaid gives birth to a Rottweiler. That was
amusing reading. The story above took place in the Hell's Kitchen area,
I think....the epitome of chutzpah, really, I can't believe these guys
would try to pull this off!

Said nothing of the sort.
Was not telling you anything.

What is more appalling and disgusting is your lack of motivation and
initiative to do your own scientific study and statistical analysis to
answer your own question.

We care about our patients.
We just don't care about you or your preposterous premise.

Leave SB out of this discussion. He is a gentleman.

What is more astounding, scary, and frightful is your
holier-than-thou attitude.
The pseudo-intellectual that you are, resides in a fantasy
world that was clearly defined in "OZ".

What gives you the right to diminish and demean the honest
practitioners that frequent SMD ?

Hereby label you a "Troll" and send you to the vast
abyss that is commonly known as 'never land'.

GFYS

PS
Was right about calling you a 'moron' from the get go.
You ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

    I feel I must respond.  First, thanks for the complement, but while I
like to keep my eyes and ears open for developments in the field, as a
generalist it is simply no longer possible to keep up with all the
research out there.  We have to be selective and cull the most important
clinical information.
    Newbie may have a few more rough edges than I do (maybe just on usenet)
but I know he is a highly skilled and respected dentist.  In terms of
his profession curiosity he has extended his skills far more than
I--particularly in both surgery and particularly in endodontics.  We
have corresponded sufficiently that I know he successfully treats teeth
requiring endodontic treatment that I would certainly refer to specialists.
    I'm not sure what specifically the aim of your question is.  More
important to me is whether endodontic teeth continue to function for
extended periods of time.  For what it's worth, I have an older
practice.  I would say the majority of patients over 70 have either lost
most or all of their teeth, or have one or more teeth that have had root
canal treatment.  In the time I have been out of dental school (coming
up on 32 years) the number of dentures I make has declined.  The primary
reasons I would credit for this are increased periodontal care and
endodontic treatment.  I have had patients in their 80s, 90s and at
least one gentleman over 100 with root canal treatments (one of which I
did 30 years ago).
    The one factor which may change this is the increasing use of implants.
 In the past we would often do root canals and crowns on questionable
teeth in lieu of bridges and dentures.  We now look at some badly
broken-down teeth that would have a questionable prognosis with root
canals and crowns and opt instead for implant replacement where
possible.  Generally this determination depends upon an assessment of
whether a root canal and crown is likely to give a long-term successful
result.  So I believe that those teeth that we choose to save with root
canal treatment and crown will have a better prognosis than in the past.

Steve

You have been treated with much more kindness and caring than you
deserve, but due to your obvious inability to comprehend what it is
to be a dentist, I'll explain a little more.

Most of us on the ng have been in private practice for more than 20
years.  This means that we have thousands of patients.  It is impossible
to have each patients chart emblazened into our memory (that's why
we have the individual records at the office <duh>).

To accurately answer your question, I would have to search the patient
base for patients over 80, and try to remember if they had any failings
on the last appt.  Then I would have to check each record to see if
they have had any teeth with root canals.

I know that many of them do match your criteria, but whether that is
30% or 80%, I can't say without a lot of work.  No reason to do that.

Endo is safe and effective.  It does not lead to early death or
debilitating illness or infirmaty.

Steve

Dentistry is completely unregulated, that's how I got posioned by my
dentist
and many other people get screwed by dentists. But don't be so
surprised, all
most industries care about is $$$, not the health of their clients. Up
until know
have you ever questioned the safety of root canals or other dental
procedures.
What is truly scary is a public that lets dentists behave in this
manner. Given the
public's lack of concern over what goes on in the dental profession I
wouldn't be
surprised by the lack of intellectual and scientific curiosity shown
here (as well as the complete disregard for the health of dental
patients) I would expect it!