A study of endodontically apexified teeth.

This study was undertaken to determine the clinical and radiographic success of calcium hydroxide apexification in a group of 48 patients requiring endodontic therapy because of pulpal necrosis prior to root-end closure. The study examined tooth number, etiology of pulpal necrosis, age, sex, size of root-end opening, size of radiolucency, crown discoloration, interappointment symptoms, and total treatment time from initial instrumentation to completion of apexification. Apexification required an average of 1 year +/- 7 months. A statistically significant relationship was found between: the presence of a radiolucency and development of interappointment symptoms (p less than 0.04); and the size of apex opening and development of interappointment symptoms (p less than 0.02). If symptoms did develop, apexification was delayed an additional 5 months when compared to patients who did not have symptoms. Calcium hydroxide apexification was found to be statistically highly successful regardless of the clinical variables encountered.