Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe the dental service distribution of endodontic treatment in private dental clinics in Japan. Dental care records registered in the national medical expenditure survey of 1980, 1983, 1985, 1990 and 1994 were used. The results were as follows, 1. The age groups in the dental care records changed from 30-39 years old (in 1980) to 50-59 years old (in 1994). 2. The mean age of patients receiving pulpectomy went up 9 years during the 14 years of the survey period, and that of patients receiving infected root canal treatment increased by 11 years. A remarkable increase was seen in the mean age of patients receiving endodontic treatment of single rooted teeth. 3. The 15 to 24 year age group continued to receive the highest number of pulpectomy of multi-rooted teeth over the 14 years. This suggests the need for new measures to prevent pulpectomy in molars. The elder group received single rooted teeth pulpectomy more frequently than the young group and the frequency increased year by year. 4. The distribution of pulpectomy of single rooted teeth peaked in 1990 while that of multirooted teeth decreased from 1985 to 1994. The frequency of infected root canal treatment of both single and multi-rooted teeth declined year by year.
