Trial of the Week

Trial of the Week is a weekly slot. The format is fixed: who was in the trial (patients), what was done and what was measured (procedures and endpoints), how the result holds up across pre-specified subgroups, and what the conclusion is — with the named external-validity question that decides whether the result applies to you. Absolute numbers over relative ones. Industry funding named when present.

Trial of the week

Trial of the Week: a five-year multicenter trial on saving mature molars without a root canal

A 23-centre Iranian trial randomised 407 mature molars with irreversible pulpitis to vital pulp therapy or root canal treatment and followed them for five years. The success rates were the same. The implications for the patient who has been quoted a root canal are worth thinking through carefully.

By Dr. Rita Maloney · 6 May 2026