This AAE Consensus Conference held on October 3, 2008 in Chicago, Ill., addressed issues regarding the lack of standardized endodontic diagnostic terms, especially between the predoctoral curriculum, endodontic textbooks, American Board of Endodontics, the AAE Glossary of Endodontic Terms and those used for national board exams.
Generously funded by the AAE Foundation, this conference was by invitation only. Invitees were carefully selected and represented all interested parties including educators, the AAE Board of Directors, ABE and AAE Foundation, international participants, textbook authors, JOE associate editors and representatives from test committees. The conference gave leading endodontic educators, researchers, leaders and other interested parties a forum to discuss the wide variation in terms with the intent of reaching consensus on the terminology, definitions, evaluation criteria and treatment modalities for pulpal and periapical disease.
The conference was modeled after the National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference format, which involves proposing questions that can be answered by the presentation of scientific information derived from evidence-based research. As a result, the Association identified four subcommittees to develop papers, each addressing a specific question. Those questions were:
- Identify and determine the metrics, hierarchy and predictive value of all the parameters and/or methods used during endodontic diagnosis;
- Identify and define all diagnostic terms for pulpal health and disease states;
- Identify and define all diagnostic terms for periapical/periradicular health and disease states; and
- Identify various endodontic treatment modalities based upon the diagnoses.
The draft papers were revised following a comment period, and the final papers were presented at the conference for discussion and consensus. The event proceedings will be published in a future issue of the Journal of Endodontics.
Please contact Jill E. Forister, education coordinator, 800/872-3636 (North America) or 312/266-7255 (International), ext. 3034, or via e-mail at jforister@aae.org, if you have any questions or concerns regarding the Consensus Conference.