
SP-25 Maintaining the Natural Dentition: Considerations for Access to Endodontic Care and Treatment Outcomes
CE Hours: 0.75
Description: As Endodontists our mission is to save teeth and our specialized training equips us to do so. Biologic and clinical factors that impact endodontic treatment outcomes are widely studied, discussed, and considered in treatment planning. However, other, external factors also impact our ability to maintain the natural dentition. This session will explore factors that have been shown to impact access to endodontic care and outcomes of endodontic treatment, with an emphasis on oral health policy, economic forces, and clinician decision-making. Further, this session will consider how endodontists can promote oral health equity through clinical practice and advocacy.
Learning Objectives:
- List clinical factors shown to have significant influence on the outcomes of nonsurgical endodontic treatment.
- Discuss nonclinical factors that may impact access to endodontic care.
- Describe national (U.S.) trends in dental care use, insurance coverage, and barriers.
Key:






Lorel E. Burns, D.D.S.
Dr. Lorel Burns is a clinician-investigator and assistant professor at New York University (NYU) College of Dentistry. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics. Dr. Burns earned her DDS degree at NYU College of Dentistry, completed her specialty training in Endodontics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and was awarded her master’s degree in Clinical Investigation by NYU School of Medicine. In 2019, she was selected as the American Association of Endodontists (AAE) Foundation’s Endodontic Educator Fellow. In 2022, she recognized with the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Junior Faculty Award. Dr. Burns’ research interests include endodontic treatment outcomes, access to dental care, clinician decision-making, and dental education. Her research has been funded by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH)/ National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), and the American Dental Education Association, ADEAGies Foundation. Her work has been published in peer- reviewed journals including the Journal of Endodontics (JOE), the International Endodontic Journal (IEJ), the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA), and the Journal of Dental Education (JDE). Dr. Burns maintains part-time private practice limited to Endodontics in New York, USA.
Speaker Disclosure:
I declare that I have no proprietary, financial, or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service, course, and/or company, or in any firm beneficially associated therewith, that will be discussed or considered during the proposed presentation.