A critical need
Despite high success rates of root canal therapies, an estimated 0.5-3.1 million fail each year in the USA, costing ~$1.4-28.5 million in retreatment costs per working day. These persistent failures reveal a clear unmet need for an effective adjunctive disinfection method, one that is addressed by our LED UVC-emitting device, designed to improve clinical success.
Endodontic disease worldwide
Globally, approximately 8.2% of all teeth are root-filled, based on data from 74 studies. More than half of individuals (approximately 55.7%) have at least one root-filled tooth (RFT). Prevalence is highest in South America (12.0%) and Europe (9.3%), reflecting the widespread burden of endodontic disease [Source: León-López et al., Int. Endod. J. 55(11):1105–1127, 2022].
Endodontic disease in USA
In the USA, studies conducted between 1995 and 2017 reported that 2.2-5.7% of teeth were root-filled (RFT), with approximately 34-59% of patients having at least one RFT [Source: León-López et al., Int. Endod. J. 55(11):1105–1127, 2022]. Our derived estimates suggest that approximately 18.8 million root canal treatments are performed each year by 111,000 dentists and 5,500 endodontists, with 1.9-19.1% ending in failure.
Cost of failures in USA
Based on published root-filled teeth (RFT) volumes in the USA (~18.8 million/year) and reported failure rates of 1.9-19.1%, our derived estimates suggest that failed treatments cost ~$363 million-$7.4 billion annually ($1.4-28.5 million per workday). A 10% reduction in failures could save over $700 million per year, highlighting the potential economic value of improved disinfection methods such as UVC LED technology.