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This article is intended to familiarize clinicians with several pulp therapy modalities and new materials that are currently available for immature young pulp in the adolescent population. Objectives and considerations for immature young permanent teeth as well as the healing potential of the young pulp tissue after treatment of the inflammatory process are discussed. The article emphasizes that the future holds great possibilities for the regeneration of dental pulp in adolescent patients.

Adolescence represents an extremely important time in the dental care of the pediatric patient. Health care professionals who interact with adolescents should recognize that it is a time of unprecedented change. It is the transitional period between puberty and maturity where accelerated physical growth and dynamic hormonal change are accompanied by heightened self-awareness and social maturity. As adolescents begin to develop more independence, the responsibility of dental home care should be managed effectively by themselves rather than by their parents. The dentist is in a unique position among health care professionals to guide the adolescent’s oral health because of the frequent recall examinations. In turn, the adolescent should have more opportunities to discuss some of the physical, psychosocial, and risky behavioral issues that may impact his or her oral health. The practitioner must have the requisite knowledge of adolescent oral health concerns and be able to apply the principles of anticipatory guidance to the adolescent’s dental care. In addition, the dentist needs to be an excellent clinician as well as an exceptional educator and communicator in providing information that is clinically relevant and psychologically sensitive to meet the teenager's needs.