Animal Testing: A Re‐Evaluation of What it Means to Endodontology

Animal testing has a long history in the biological evaluation of medical devices used in Dentistry (ISO 7405). Indeed, tests on animals have been used to develop new interventions, materials, devices and drugs as they tend to provide information on their biological mechanisms of action, as well as their efficacy and side-effects before human applications (Singh et al. 2016). As an example, animal studies supported the basis for the understanding of orofacial development (Sharpe 1995). However, animal tests are not essential and may be prohibited by international and local laws, for example, the European Union animal testing ban for cosmetics (EU Regulation No 1223/2009) and the California Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act (SB-1249). The animal testing bans indicate a public policy shift away from animal testing, to placing more reliance on the results from lab-on chip, organ-on-chip, human cell-based studies and …