A survey of dental practitioners in Wales to evaluate the management of deep carious lesions with vital pulp therapy in permanent teeth.

Objective To evaluate the management of deep carious lesions with vital pulp therapy in permanent teeth by dental practitioners within Wales.Design Postal questionnaire.Setting General practitioners (GDS), community (CDS) and hospital-based dentists (HDS) in Wales.Methods Community and hospital dental services with a remit for provision of restorative dentistry (CDS = 71; HDS = 46) and general dental practitioners (N = 510) were approached regarding their management of deep carious lesions with vital pulp therapy in permanent teeth. The postal questionnaire took the form of an anonymous survey. Questions covered usage parameters, training issues and reasons for material choice.Results The response rate was 29%. The majority of HDS (89%) used MTA or Biodentine for vital pulp therapy in contrast to GDS (41%) and CDS (32%). The main reasons cited for avoiding the use of MTA or Biodentine included cost, lack of training and difficulty in material handling.Conclusion Usage of MTA or Biodentine for vital pulp therapies is low in the general dental and community dental settings. Cost and lack of training are the main barriers for the uptake of these materials. Postgraduate training may be useful in addressing these barriers. Increasing their adoption would be advantageous as they have been shown to produce a more predictable outcome compared to traditional materials (for example, calcium hydroxide).