Non-Cochrane · intervention · PM39264795
The effectiveness of partial pulpotomy compared with full pulpotomy in managing deep caries in vital permanent teeth with a diagnosis of non-traumatic pulpitis.
Louzada Lidiane M, Hildebrand Hauke, Neuhaus Klaus W, et al. · International endodontic journal · 2025 · PubMed · doi:10.1111/iej.14149
Full textEvery question was extracted from the full text, figures and supplements by two independent LLM extractors, disagreements adjudicated. Rows cite where in the review the value comes from.
Questions
9
current version
GRADE rated
1
No studies
4
Included studies
2
linked below
No studies 4 · 44.4%Ungraded 4 · 44.4%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 1 · 11.1%
Ungraded means an effect was reported without a GRADE rating; it is not a gap. No studies means the review found nothing to answer the question. The six categories are a display order, not a score.
Review question
| Element | Planned (methods) | Found (results) |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Patients with deep caries lesions in mature or immature permanent teeth with no symptoms, reversible pulpitis, or signs and symptoms indicative of irreversible pulpitis | Mature permanent (mandibular molar) teeth with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis (spontaneous pain); 156 teeth treated, 135 assessed (n=2 RCTs) |
| Intervention | Partial pulpotomy | Partial pulpotomy (2-3 mm; Biodentine or ProRoot MTA capping) (n=2) |
| Comparison | Full (complete) pulpotomy | Full (complete) pulpotomy (to canal orifices; Biodentine or ProRoot MTA capping) (n=2) |
| Outcomes | Combination of patient- and clinical-reported outcomes, with tooth survival as the most critical outcome (also clinical/radiographic success, postoperative pain, analgesic use, OHRQoL) | Clinical/radiographic success at 1 year; postoperative pain (VAS); analgesic use; hard-tissue barrier (1 study); pulp sensibility (1 study). Tooth survival and OHRQoL not reported (n=2) |
| Study designs | English-language comparative clinical trials (RCTs) | Randomized controlled trials (n=2) |
| Timing | Tooth survival and most outcomes: minimum 12 months; pain/tenderness/swelling/analgesics: 7 days to 3 months; OHRQoL: minimum 6 months | 12-month (1-year) follow-up; postoperative pain assessed 24 h to 7 days (n=2) |
Search date: July-August 2023 (1 July to 1 August 2023). Databases: Cochrane CENTRAL (Cochrane Library); PubMed (including MEDLINE); Ovid; Scopus; grey literature (OpenGrey, Google Scholar, NDLTD, OATD); hand-searched journals (International Endodontic Journal, Journal of Endodontics, Journal of Dental Research, Journal of Dentistry, Clinical Oral Investigations)
Questions and results
Partial pulpotomy vs Full (complete) pulpotomy
Population: Mature permanent (molar) teeth with deep caries and symptoms indicative of irreversible pulpitis (spontaneous pain)
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Postoperative analgesic use Postoperative (up to 1 week) Postoperative analgesic use was similar or lower with full pulpotomy; one RCT reported significantly less analgesic use after full pulpotomy (ungraded). Source: Results 'Other outcomes measured' · same question in other reviews | Analgesic use recorded in both studies. Jassal: PP 12% vs FP 8%. In one study, significantly fewer patients required analgesics with complete/full pulpotomy (30.6%) than partial pulpotomy (54.5%), and mean analgesic… | 2 studies · 156 participants | Ungraded |
Radiographic hard-tissue (dentine) barrier formation 1 year Radiographic hard-tissue barrier formation did not differ significantly between partial and full pulpotomy (single RCT; ungraded). Source: Results 'Other outcomes measured' (Ramani et al. 2022) · same question in other reviews | Ramani: radiographic hard-tissue barrier formation evident in 24.4% of full pulpotomy cases vs 11.6% of partial pulpotomy cases; difference not significant (p>.05). | 1 study · 106 participants | Ungraded |
Pulp sensibility (EPT/cold response) 1 year Pulp sensibility (EPT/cold) responses at 1 year were more frequent after partial than full pulpotomy (single RCT; ungraded). Source: Tables 2 and 3 (Jassal et al. 2023, pulp sensibility) · same question in other reviews | Jassal: positive pulp sensibility at 1 year - EPT positive in PP 95.45% (21/22) vs FP 63.6% (14/22); cold test positive in PP 45.45% (10/22) vs FP 13.63% (3/22). Sensibility was not used to ascertain the success… | 1 study · 44 participants | Ungraded |
Postoperative pain (VAS) 24 h to 7 days Postoperative pain was similar between partial and full pulpotomy in one RCT but significantly greater after partial pulpotomy in the other (ungraded). Source: Results 'Postoperative pain'; Tables 2 and 3 · same question in other reviews | Jassal: no significant difference in postoperative pain between PP and FP at 24 h, 48 h and 7 days (preoperative PP 7.44+/-0.96 vs FP 7.52+/-1.08, p>.879). Ramani: no difference in pain incidence at 24 h (p=.496) but… | 2 studies · 156 participants | Ungraded |
Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) >=6 months No included study reported oral health-related quality of life (a planned outcome), so no evidence is available. Source: Methods 'Review question' (OHRQoL planned, minimum 6 months); Results 'Treatment modalities and study design' and Abstract (OHRQoL not… · same question in other reviews | no estimate extracted | 0 studies | No studies |
Clinical and radiographic success (composite) 1 year (12 months) Within two high-quality RCTs, partial and full pulpotomy achieved similar 1-year clinical/radiographic success for irreversible pulpitis (pooled 83% vs 90%), with no significant difference (high certainty). Source: Tables 2 and 3; Results 'Study characteristics and outcome assessment'; Abstract and Conclusions (pooled 90%/83%); Table 4 (GRADE quality… · same question in other reviews | FP 90%, PP 83% (pooled unadjusted 1-year success; no significant difference; no meta-analysis) | 2 studies · 135 participants | High |
Partial pulpotomy vs Full (complete) pulpotomy
Population: Asymptomatic permanent teeth with deep caries (no symptoms)
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Patient- and clinical-reported outcomes (tooth survival, clinical/radiographic success, pain) No studies compared partial versus full pulpotomy in asymptomatic permanent teeth with deep caries, so no evidence is available. Source: Abstract; Results 'Study selection' ('There were no studies for asymptomatic teeth or teeth with reversible pulpitis'); Methods 'Review… · same question in other reviews | no estimate extracted | 0 studies | No studies |
Partial pulpotomy vs Full (complete) pulpotomy
Population: Permanent teeth with deep caries and reversible pulpitis (non-spontaneous pain)
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Patient- and clinical-reported outcomes (tooth survival, clinical/radiographic success, pain) No studies compared partial versus full pulpotomy in permanent teeth with reversible pulpitis (non-spontaneous pain), so no evidence is available. Source: Abstract; Results 'Study selection' ('...or teeth with reversible pulpitis'); Methods 'Review question' · same question in other reviews | no estimate extracted | 0 studies | No studies |
Comparison
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Tooth survival - | no estimate extracted | 0 studies | No studies |
AMSTAR 2 appraisal
Two independent extractors rated each item. Their ratings are shown side by side because they have not been reconciled yet. The overall rating follows Shea et al. 2017: one critical flaw gives Low, more than one gives Critically Low.
| Item | Extractor A | Extractor B | Agree |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Research question includes PICO components | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 2Protocol established before the reviewcritical | Partial Yes | Partial Yes | yes |
| 3Choice of study designs explained | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 4Comprehensive literature searchcritical | Yes | Partial Yes | no |
| 5Study selection in duplicate | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 6Data extraction in duplicate | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 7List of excluded studies with reasonscritical | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 8Included studies described in detail | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 9Risk of bias assessed satisfactorilycritical | RCT: Yes · NRSI: N/A | RCT: Yes · NRSI: N/A | yes |
| 10Funding of included studies reported | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 11Appropriate meta-analysis methodscritical | RCT: N/A · NRSI: N/A | NRSI: N/A · RCT: N/A | no |
| 12Impact of risk of bias on the pooled results | N/A | N/A | yes |
| 13Risk of bias accounted for in interpretationcritical | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 14Heterogeneity explained | Yes | N/A | no |
| 15Publication bias investigatedcritical | N/A | N/A | yes |
| 16Conflicts of interest reported | Yes | Yes | yes |
| Overall | High | High | yes |
Included primary studies 2
Open as a trial list| Study | Also included by | Outcomes it informs here | Trial PICO | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jassal 2023 Outcome of partial and full pulpotomy in cariously exposed mature molars with symptoms indicative of irreversible pulpitis: A randomized… DOI:10.1111/iej.13872 | 1 other review | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Ramani 2022 Comparative evaluation of complete and partial pulpotomy in mature permanent teeth with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis: A randomized… DOI:10.1111/iej.13714 | 1 other review | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
Overlap with other reviews
Reviews that include the same primary studies are not independent evidence. Shared counts match studies by PMID, DOI or NCT, and otherwise by author and year (a probable match).
| Review | Shared studies | Jaccard |
|---|---|---|
| Partial pulpotomy for carious pulp exposure in adult mature permanent teeth: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) | 2 | 0.18 |