Survival of Root-filled Teeth in the Swedish Adult Population

The aim was to assess survival in the Swedish population of teeth treated by nonsurgical root canal treatment during 2009.

Data from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier analysis to assess cumulative tooth survival during a period of 5-6 years of all teeth that were root-filled during 2009.

In 2009, 248,299 teeth were reported as root-filled. The average age of the patients at the time of the root filling was 55 years (range, 20-102 years). The teeth most frequently root-filled were the maxillary and mandibular first molars. During the 5- to 6-year period 25,228 of the root-filled teeth (10.2%) were reported to have been extracted; thus 223,071 teeth (89.8%) survived. Tooth survival was highest in the youngest age group (93.2%). The highest survival (93.0%) was for the mandibular premolars, and the lowest (87.5%) was for the mandibular molars. Teeth restored with indirect restorations within 6 months of the root filling had higher survival rates (93.1%) than those restored with a direct filling (89.6%).

In the adult population of Sweden, teeth that are root-filled by general practitioners under the tax-funded Swedish Social Insurance Agency have a 5- to 6-year survival rate of approximately 90%.