In 2021 the European Society of Endodontology (ESE) began the process of developing new S3-Level Clinical Practice guidelines for the treatment of pulpal and apical diseases. These were designed to replace the ESE Quality Guidelines for endodontic treatment published in 2006, using up-to-date guideline development methodology. S3 guidelines are based on comprehensive systematic reviews of the literature prior to a formal guideline process in which clinical treatment recommendations will be made.

 

The project focuses on detection and treatment of the primary endodontic diseases, pulpitis and apical periodontitis. To cover all aspects as thoroughly as possible, to ensure relevance of the outcomes and consistency of the findings, four working groups were established:

 

1 – The treatment of pulpitis

2 – The nonsurgical treatment of apical periodontitis

3 – The surgical treatment of apical periodontitis

4 – The regenerative treatment of apical periodontitis 

 

Within each working group between 2-5 systematic reviews were planned, to cover different aspects of diagnosis and treatment. Each working group included a diverse group of reviewers from throughout the world.

 

The clinical guidelines will focus on outcomes related to the patient, and will be an essential contribution to improving the quality of endodontic treatment for the general population by providing evidenced-based recommendations relevant to patients and clinicians.

 

At the ESE website we will follow the guideline process closely, and provide short summaries of the findings from each of the fourteen systematic reviews.

 

Kind regards

ESE Benefits of Endodontics Committee

 

Reference

Duncan, HF., Chong, BS., Del Fabbro, M., El-Karim, I., Galler, K., Kirkevang, LL., Krastl, G., Peters, OA., Segura Egea, JJ. & Kebschull, M. (2021) The development of European Society of Endodontology S3-level guidelines for the treatment of pulpal and apical disease. International Endodontic Journal, 54(5), 643-645.