The clinical success rates of endodontic treatments can exceed 90%.
However, many teeth are not given the opportunity to be saved by
endodontic treatment and instead are extracted, with subsequent
placement of an artificial prosthesis, such as an implant. Regenerative
endodontic methods have the potential for regenerating both pulp and
dent in tissues and therefore may offer an alternative method to save
teeth that may have compromised structural integrity. Several
developmental issues have been described to accomplish endodontic
regeneration. Each one of the regenerative techniques has advantages and
disadvantages, and some of the techniques are hypothetical or at an
early stage of development. The available case reports of pulp
revascularization were generally reported on young patients (with high
stem cell populations) and teeth with open apices. However, for
regenerative endodontic procedures to be widely available and
predictable, endodontists will have to depend on tissue engineering
therapies to regenerate pulp dent in tissue. The proposed therapies
involving stem cells, growth factors, & tissue engineering all require
pulp revascularizaton, in itself an enormous challenge.