ABSTRACT
Introduction: Endodontic treatment, also known as endodontic therapy or root canal treatment (RCT), involves the removal of diseased pulpal tissue to prevent and intercept pulpal/periradicular pathosis and protection of the disinfected tooth from future entrenchment by microorganisms. Materials and Methods: An electronic survey was distributed to a random sample of the population in India using widely used social networks. Excluded surveys were those filled by participants <18 years of age or who are part of the dental profession; all other surveys were included in the study. Results: Participants were asked whether they think if antibiotics can resolve an endodontic infection without the need to visit the dentist, only 9.6% said yes. When assessing their knowledge regarding dental pain, they were asked if they believe that any dental pain indicates that the tooth requires endodontic treatment or not, 13.4% agreed while the remaining did not. A total of 73.8% believed that teeth become weaker after an RCT. Conclusions: Within the limitations of the present questionnaire survey, it was concluded that there was a considerable increase in knowledge and awareness regarding endodontic treatment among the Indian population.
KEYWORDS: Endodontic treatment, General population, Pain