Frequency of root-filled teeth and prevalence of apical periodontitis in an adult Turkish population.

AIM: To report the frequency and distribution of root-filled teeth as well as the prevalence of apical periodontitis in an adult population in Turkey. SUMMARY: Digital panoramic radiographs of 1000 patients who were examined at the Baskent University Faculty of Dentistry between December 2004 and May 2005 were evaluated. Patients ageing <15 years and those with less than nine remaining teeth were excluded. The coronal and periapical status of all the teeth with the exception of third molars was examined according to the criteria proposed by De Moor et al. (2000). Statistical analysis was performed with the Rao and Scott adjusted chi-square test for the comparison of clustered binary data. In all, 24 433 teeth were examined. A total of 346 teeth (1.4%) had radiographic signs of apical periodontitis, and 812 were root filled (3.3%). Of the 812 root-filled teeth, 148 (18.2%) had apical periodontitis. Of the 23,621 nonroot-filled teeth, 198 (0.8%) had apical periodontitis. The number of root-filled teeth in male subjects was significantly less than that in female subjects (P < 0.001), but the presence of apical periodontitis in male subjects was significantly higher than that in female subjects (P < 0.05). KEY LEARNING POINTS: * The prevalence of apical periodontitis and the frequency of root-filled teeth with apical periodontitis were lower than in comparable populations in other countries. * The number of root-filled teeth was comparable to that found in other epidemiologic studies.

Sealer area associated with cold lateral condensation of gutta-percha and warm coated carrier filling systems in canals prepared with various rotary NiTi systems.

AIM: To compare the area of sealer surrounding root fillings completed by two coated carrier systems (Thermafil Obturator and System GT Obturator) and the cold lateral compaction technique, following root canal preparation with two different NiTi rotary systems (Profile ISO and System GT). METHODOLOGY: Sixty extracted human mandibular premolars were instrumented with ProFile ISO 0.06 taper and System GT instruments (n = 30 each). The teeth were divided into four subgroups (n = 15) for filling as following: group 1: ProFile + Thermafil Obturator, group 2: ProFile + Cold Lateral Compaction, group 3: System GT + GT Obturator, and group 4: System GT + Cold Lateral Compaction. In all groups the canals were prepared to a final size of 40, 0.06 taper in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and Topseal was used as a sealer. Horizontal sections were obtained every 1 mm up to 12 mm from the apical foramen. Sections were digitally photographed under a stereomicroscope and the images were transferred to an IBM-compatible PC for image analysis. The cross-sectional area of the root canal and the area filled by sealer were calculated for each section and compared statistically both at all levels and by grouping the data as apical, middle and coronal segments; using the Kruskal-Wallis test with Bonferroni correction and chi-square tests (P = 0.05). RESULTS: In the apical third (1-4 mm), the GT Obturator (group 3) had significantly less area of sealer (P < 0.05), while the difference between groups 1 and 2 was not significant (P > 0.05). For the middle and coronal thirds, both coated-carrier systems had significantly less area of sealer compared with their laterally compacted counterparts (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: With the combined use of ProFile + Thermafil Obturator and System GT + GT Obturator, significantly less area of sealer occurred than that achieved with both NiTi preparation systems followed by cold lateral compaction.