What Every Vet Should Know About Vital Pulp Therapy—and Why Precision Matters

Veterinary Vertex

Content provided by AVMA Journals. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by AVMA Journals or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

15d ago 17:12

MP3•Episode home

Send us a text

A fractured canine tooth tests more than a dog’s bite—it tests our choices as clinicians. We sat down with researchers Ethan Elazegui and Dr. Elias Wolfs to reexamine vital pulp therapy with new data, honest surprises, and practical guidance you can use on your next dentistry day. The conversation starts with what holds true: an ~80% success rate keeps vital pulp therapy squarely in the toolkit as a tooth-sparing option when pulp exposure is recent and the tissue is viable. Then we challenge a common belief: younger dogs didn’t show a significant edge in outcomes, pushing us to prioritize indications and technique over age alone.
We break down what most affects success, and one factor stands out—pulp dressing extrusion. Precision during placement isn’t a nicety; it’s the difference between healing and failure. We also talk timing, including a small-sample quirk that reminds us to interpret data with care. From there, we explore material science: MTA’s respected performance versus biodentine’s faster set, strong biocompatibility, and reduced discoloration risk. Human literature suggests comparable success and better cementum repair for biodentine, a promising path for veterinary endodontics as adoption grows.
Beyond procedures and products, we highlight the power of mentorship and student peer review to raise research quality—and why that matters for everyday clinical decisions. We even look ahead to AI-driven radiograph interpretation, where large, annotated datasets could help flag subtle endodontic and periodontal changes and support more consistent decision-making in general practice.
You’ll leave with clear steps for case selection, referral thresholds, and owner communication about follow-ups—because even good cases need rechecks to catch the 1-in-5 that fail months or years later. If you care about predictable outcomes, better materials, and sharper imaging insights, this conversation is for you. Enjoy the episode, share it with a colleague who does dentistry, and if it helped your practice, subscribe and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

JAVMA article: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.25.04.0224

INTERESTED IN SUBMITTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO JAVMA ® OR AJVR ® ?

JAVMA ® : https://avma.org/JAVMAAuthors

AJVR ® : https://avma.org/AJVRAuthors
FOLLOW US:
JAVMA ® :

Facebook: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association - JAVMA | Facebook

Instagram: JAVMA (@avma_javma) • Instagram photos and videos

Twitter: JAVMA (@AVMAJAVMA) / Twitter

AJVR ® :

Facebook: American Journal of Veterinary Research - AJVR | Facebook

Instagram: AJVR (@ajvroa) • Instagram photos and videos

Twitter: AJVR (@AJVROA) / Twitter
JAVMA ® and AJVR ® LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/avma-journals

Chapters

1. Sponsor Message: Canine Nutrition (00:00:00)

2. Welcome & Guest Introductions (00:00:35)

3. Why Reassess Vital Pulp Therapy (00:01:12)

4. Key Findings: Success Rates & Myths (00:02:28)

5. Student Research Journey & Mentorship (00:03:26)

6. Surprises in the Data (00:06:10)

7. Future Materials: MTA vs Biodentine (00:07:18)

8. Can AI Read Dental Radiographs? (00:08:35)

9. Training Paths & Getting Research Done (00:10:17)

10. Practical Takeaways for Vets and Clients (00:12:30)

11. Lightning Round: Superpower & Puzzles (00:14:22)

12. Closing & Where to Read the Study (00:16:57)

169 episodes

#Science #Fitness #Podcasting Education #Medicine #AVMA Journals