Factors Affecting Clinical Decision-Making and Treatment Planning Strategies for Tooth Retention or Extraction: An...

Dentists are often confronted with challenges concerning the determination of the treatment type for questionable teeth (retention or extraction) in their routine dental practice. The objective of this review was to explore the available literature pertaining to the factors influencing clinical decision-making and treatment strategies of dentists regarding tooth retention or extraction. Explorative analysis of the literature was conducted based on its relevance to the subjected study area and scope. Primarily, the papers were extracted from sources such as ERIC, PubMed, Scopus, and Medline. The keywords used for searching articles include Clinical Decision-Making, Treatment Strategies, Tooth Extraction, and Tooth Retention. Papers published up to 2018 were extracted and evaluated. The analyzed studies highlighted that a successful treatment plan is based on the practitioner's knowledge, abilities, and skills as well as patients' preference, which is also a determinant of treatment success in restorative dentistry. Multidisciplinary dental treatment is generally adopted for decision making in dental clinics. Overall, the treatment plan should be based on the extensive learning and keen observation of the disease and the associated factors which enable long-term success of the treatment.