Results:
There were 62 survey forms returned, which was a response rate of 84% of the ANZAE members. Retreatment of previously root-filled teeth constituted an average of 38% of all treatment performed by the respondents in their practices. The average number of root canal retreatments commenced each month was 27, with an average of three cases per month being treated surgically; the average number of posts removed each month was six. The majority of retreatment cases were treated by orthograde techniques and when a post was present in a tooth that required retreatment, 66% of respondents preferred to remove the posts, whilst 27% considered removing the post or considered doing periapical surgery. Of the respondents who considered post removal and periapical surgery, 75% were concerned that post removal may cause the roots to fracture. However, of those that preferred to remove the post, only 46% were concerned about root fracture.
Forty-seven per cent of the respondents indicated that they would avoid removing posts in certain situations and the most common reason was the presence of a wide post and the concern that the root may fracture. Some other common situations were when:
The coronal restoration was deemed clinically satisfactory, particularly in situations where the cost to replace the coronal restoration was high;
Removal of the restoration would result in the tooth being unrestorable;
The patient chose to have periapical surgery. There was no statistically significant difference in the use of post removal devices amongst respondents who reported avoiding post removal in certain situations ( 2 = 0.81, P = 0.37).
