Assessment of Incidence, Management and Contributory Factors of Root Canal Instrument Separation in an Endodontics Post- Graduate Program: A Retrospective Clinical Study.

BACKGROUND: The successful outcome of nonsurgical root canal treatment (NS-RCT) is largely dependent on the technical quality of the procedure. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the incidence of separated instruments in endodontic postgraduate clinics between January 2018 and December 2021, and to determine the potential contributory factors that increase the risk of instrument separation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted in the Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Data was collected to determine the incidence of separated instruments and their associated variables. Seven variables were analyzed separately: nonsurgical initial or retreatment case, tooth type, tooth arch, tooth location, canal type, root curvature, level of fracture, and file type. RESULTS: A total of 3150 cases were treated, of which 108 cases had separated instruments. The overall incidence of instrument separation was 3.4% while 53.7% of separated instruments occurred in the mandibular molars, followed by 42.6% in the maxillary molars. The highest frequency of instrument separation was recorded in the mesiobuccal canal (35.2%). The level of separation was found to be statistically significant in relation to the management (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Nickel-titanium instruments tend to separate more inside the root canal system than stainless steel instruments. However, under the limitation of this study, the incidence of instrument separation is still quite low, even with postgraduate endodontic residents with limited experience.

Assessment of the quality of root canal fillings performed on extracted teeth by undergraduate dental students in a sample from Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: The educational process in the field of endodontics commences with preclinical exercises to enhance students' proficiency in cleaning, shaping, and performing root canal fillings. Therefore, this study aimed to radiographically evaluate the technical quality of root canal fillings performed by preclinical students on extracted teeth at the College of Dentistry, University of Ha'il, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A total of 788 extracted human teeth received root canal treatment by undergraduate students. The samples were then gathered and radiographically assessed using the three quality criteria of length, density, and taper. The category of root canal fillings was classified as either acceptable or unacceptable. The criteria for evaluating the acceptability of filling quality were defined based on the presence of adequate length, density, and taper. The effectiveness of root canal fillings was also evaluated in relation to the tooth type, sex, and treatment year. The agreement between the examiners was evaluated using Cohen's kappa test, and the relationship between the research variables was determined using the chi-squared test. The significance threshold was set at 0. 05. RESULTS: The overall quality of root filling was determined to be satisfactory in 532 (67.5%) of 788 endodontically treated extracted teeth. The majority of the research sample (88.1%) had enough length, 89.6% had adequate density, and 86.4% had acceptable taper. The quality of anterior teeth was substantially better than that of posterior teeth (p < 0.001). Our findings showed that the quality of root canals was better in 2022 than it had been in earlier years (p = 0.001). The three RCT quality criteria differed significantly when compared between sexes (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The quality of the root canal fillings completed by undergraduate students was rated as acceptable. The findings of the research suggest that the implementation of routine assessments to evaluate the technical competence of undergraduate dental students performing root canal treatments could provide significant insights into the efficacy of the curriculum requirements.

Gerenciamento de urgências endodônticas: conhecimentos de acadêmicos de odontologia / Management of endodontic emergencies: knowledge of dental students

Objetivo: avaliar do conhecimento dos alunos de odontologia sobre os protocolos de atendimento para as urgências endodônticas. Método: 182 alunos dos últimos anos do curso de Odontologia do Centro Universitário Doutor Leão Sampaio, responderam a um questionário contendo perguntas referente ao protocolo adotado em casos de urgência de origem endodôntica. Os dados foram analisados pelo teste de Qui-quadrado de Pearson (p<0,05). Resultados: foram observadas diferenças entre a conduta relata pelos alunos do quarto e quinto ano de graduação quanto a indicação da incisão para drenagem em abscesso periapical agudo submucoso (evoluído), indicação de antibióticos nos casos de flare-up e indicação de antibióticos na dor com edema póstratamento endodôntico. A prescrição de antibióticos foi excessiva para os casos de dor entre consultas (flareup) e dor no pós-operatória. Para as patologias da polpa, a maioria dos alunos indicou protocolos de urgência recomendados na literatura. Conclusão: os resultados indicam a necessidade de melhoria dos programas de treinamento dos alunos em urgências endodônticas, principalmente quanto aos protocolos farmacológicos. (AU)

Objective: to evaluate the knowledge of dentistry students about care protocols for endodontic emergencies. Method: 182 students from the last years of the Dentistry course at Doctor Leão Sampaio University Center answered a questionnaire containing questions regarding the protocol adopted in urgent cases of endodontic origin. Data were analyzed using Pearson's Chi-square test (p<0.05). Results: differences were observed between the conduct reported by fourth- and fifth-year undergraduate students regarding the indication of incision for drainage in submucosal acute periapical abscess (evolved), indication of antibiotics in cases of flare-up and indication of antibiotics in pain with edema after endodontic treatment. The prescription of antibiotics was excessive for cases of pain between appointments (flare-up) and postoperative pain. For pulp pathologies, most students indicated emergency protocols recommended in the literature. Conclusion: the results indicate the need to improve student training programs in endodontic emergencies, especially regarding pharmacological protocols. (AU)

Design of an interactive system for access cavity assessment: A novel feedback tool for preclinical endodontics.

INTRODUCTION: A software program was developed to provide visual, guided feedback to students for access cavity preparations in preclinical learning. The specific aim of the study was to investigate students' overall experiences with the new learning method and compare their experiences with traditional teaching. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A workflow based on freely available software was designed to interactively register three-dimensional models of molars with access cavities, and to metrically compare these to instructor-prepared standard cavities. Third-year students practicing molar endodontics access cavity preparation in the preclinical course were then surveyed. A total of 44/79 students completed self-administered questionnaires prior and after the use of the feedback software to gauge their learning experience. RESULTS: The results of the post-training questionnaire illustrated that all surveyed students agreed/strongly agreed that the software assisted their learning in access cavity preparation. In addition, 86 and 89%, respectively, of students agreed that the use of the software improved their skills of access cavity preparation and felt more confident about their access cavity preparation skills after using the software package, 3D Dental Align. DISCUSSION: The presented software solution permitted setting and comparing access cavity preparations by students against a standard access prepared by an instructor. The process of data acquisition and registration was fast and straightforward. Student feedback was very positive and suggested the integration of this type of experiential learning into the preclinical curriculum. CONCLUSION: This feasibility study demonstrated the utility of the new technology to assist dental students' access cavity preparation learning.

Effectiveness of endodontic complexity assessment tool (E-CAT) on the undergraduate students in an endodontic training program and its predictive capability on complications.

INTRODUCTION: Dental students face a number of challenges when it comes to performing root canal treatments (RCTs). The Endodontic Complexity Assessment Tool (E-CAT) was developed to assist dental practitioners in assessing the complexity of RCTs before beginning treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The E-CAT was filled out independently by both the educator and the student. To allow educators to record scores and complexity classes, they transferred their and students' forms to the website https://www.e-cat.uk/. Students began endodontic treatment after learning about the complexity level of the case. The educators were responsible for recording any complications encountered in every case from the outset to 1 month after treatment. RESULTS: A total of 70 students, 33 in fourth and 37 in fifth-grade, were included in the study. In the cases with higher E-CAT scores, complications such as misdiagnosed, faulty access cavity, furca or coronal third perforation, insufficient root canal instrumentation, working length loss, canal blockage, overpreparation, incomplete root canal filling and overfilling were experienced significantly more often compared to the cases with lower E-CAT scores (p < .05). The number of complications (r = .40, p < .001), treatment sessions (r = .44, p < .001), and teacher support (r = .24, p < .001) positively correlated with E-CAT score (p < .05). CONCLUSION: The E-CAT is an effective tool for assisting dental students in understanding technical challenges, such as complex root canal anatomy and possible complications during treatment. Educators can also use e-CAT to pre-select clinical cases and standardise student training by offering cases of equal complexity.

A comparative analysis of public and private dental benefit payer types for the provision and outcomes of root canal therapy on permanent teeth of children and adolescents in Massachusetts.

BACKGROUND: Despite substantial increases in dental benefits and improvements in the use of dental services among children and adolescents in the United States, oral health disparities according to dental insurance payer type persist. METHODS: The authors used an all-payer claims (2013-2017) database to perform a comparative analysis of the provision and treatment outcomes of an endodontic procedure (root canal therapy) in the permanent teeth of a pediatric population aged 6 through 18 years, according to dental insurance payer type. Statistical analyses, including logistic regression, Cox proportional hazards regression, and the Kaplan-Meier method, were performed at person and tooth levels. RESULTS: Compared with privately insured children and adolescents, public-payer children and adolescent beneficiaries were more likely to have had root canal therapy (adjusted odds ratio, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.73 to 2.11) and had poorer treatment outcomes associated with the procedure (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.53 to 3.14; P < .0001) during the study period. Those enrolled in private insurance were more likely to receive treatment from an endodontist (specialist in providing root canal therapy) (P < .0001). Amounts allowed and paid by the insurer were significantly higher for private payers (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: There were significant differences in the provision and outcomes of endodontic treatment between privately and publicly insured children and adolescents. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Despite ostensibly equal access to care, differences in the provision of oral health care exist between privately and publicly insured patients. These differences may be contributing to persisting oral health disparities.

An application framework of 3D assessment image registration accuracy and untouched surface area in canal instrumentation laboratory research with micro-computed tomography.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop a customized framework for evaluating the registration accuracy of four registration techniques and measuring the untouched surface area of canal instrumentation by visually inspecting and calculating the overlapping area of the surfaces. METHODS: Twenty-one mandibular incisors were scanned by micro-computed tomography before and after instrumentation. Elastix registration, surface registration, manual registration, and DataViewer registration techniques were used to align the pre- and post-operative datasets. The customized MeVisLab framework was created to investigate the registration accuracy by visual inspection and calculating overlapping areas. The canal surfaces were imported into the same framework to measure the untouched surface area and the consistence test was validated. The correlation between registration accuracy and untouched surface area was analyzed. RESULTS: There is a statistically significant difference between manual registration and automatic registration (P < 0.05). There is no statistical difference between the two untouched surface measure methods (P > 0.05). The partial correlation coefficients for the untouched surface area and registration accuracy were 0.45 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This application framework based on free customizable software, allows a new method to measure registration accuracy and untouched surface area in an efficient and sensitive way. The application of a precise registration method would improve the quality of micro-CT canal instrumentation studies. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study developed a customized framework based on free software for evaluating the registration accuracy of different registration techniques and measuring the untouched surface area of canal instrumentation could help researchers to improve the quality of micro-CT studies of canal instrumentation.

Cost-related variables in the public purchase of dental materials for endodontic application: 10-year analysis

Aim: This study analyzed public procurements for different endodontic materials used in the Brazilian public health system and evaluated the variables related to their cost. Methods: A time-series study was performed by screening materials for endodontic application in the public Brazilian Databank of Healthcare Prices from 2010 to 2019. Data were categorized according to material composition and clinical application. The collated variables were used in a multiple linear regression model to predict the impact of unit price in procurement processes. Results: A total of 5,973 procurement processes (1,524,693 items) were evaluated. Calcium hydroxides were found in 79% of the observations (4,669 processes). Prices drop each year by US$1.87 while MTAs and epoxy resins are increasingly purchased at higher prices (US$50.87; US$67.69, respectively). The microregion, the procurement modality, and the type of institution had no influence on unit prices in the adjusted model (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Calcium hydroxide-based materials were the cheapest and most frequently purchased endodontic materials in the public health care system. Novel formulations are being implemented into clinical practice over time and their cost may be a barrier to the broad application of materials such as MTAs, despite their effectiveness

Significance of Endodontic Case Difficulty Assessment: A Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to evaluate the significance of the American Association of Endodontics (AAE) Case Difficulty Assessment on the occurrence of endodontic mishaps in an undergraduate student clinic at the Dental College at King Saud University. METHODS: All teeth endodontically treated by undergraduate dental students in their fourth year at the College of Dentistry, Girls University Campus at King Saud University over 2 years (2018-2019) were selected. Four investigators (3 dental interns and 1 endodontist) recorded the AAE case difficulty level, mishap occurrence, number of treatment visits, type of teeth, and type of instrumentation technique. The associations amongst these variables were analysed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: A point-biserial correlation was used to determine the relationship between the number of visits and the AAE case difficulty and the instrumentation technique. Spearman's rank-order correlation was used to assess the relationship between the number of visits and mishaps. A Mann-Whitney U test was applied to determine any differences in mishaps amongst cases with different difficulty levels. RESULTS: A total of 586 teeth were included (54.1% moderate- to high-difficulty cases), and 34.98% of cases experienced mishaps. Molars were significantly more often found in the moderate- to high-difficulty category. The moderate- to high-difficulty cases experienced more mishaps (64.8%; P = .000) and a greater number of treatment visits (3.49 ± 1.27; P = .000) compared to minimal-difficulty cases (35.12%, 2.38 ± 1.24, respectively). The type of instrumentation technique was not associated with mishap occurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Undergraduate students should use the AAE case classification assessment tool to reduce the number of endodontic treatment mishaps and the number of visits.

Protocol for the clinical practice of photodynamic therapy in endodontics: assessment of guideline quality using the AGREE II instrument.

BACKGROUND: The choice of parameters in Photodynamic Therapy for endodontic treatment, such as wavelength, energy, application time, and number of sessions can vary based on the characteristics of the procedure and the patient. Providing information supported by scientific evidence in an accessible way to clinicians who are unfamiliar with the literature is necessary. Thus, this study aimed to synthesize a clinical protocol for the use of photodynamic therapy in endodontics in permanent teeth. METHODS: Protocols with high methodological quality were identified using a literature search and the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation Instrument (AGREE II), a validated tool for assessing quality. The recommendations of these studies were synthesized and submitted to a group of experts for evaluation and adaptation, and consensus was assessed using the Delphi methodology. RESULTS: The analysis of the literature on the application of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy in endodontics showed that clinical trials with good levels of evidence and clinical recommendations have been reported previously, with two studies identified as having a clinical recommendation level of A1A and an evidence level of A. CONCLUSION: The written protocol was considered to be satisfactory and as having appropriate content validity during the second round of evaluation by the experts. The studies included in this research were predominantly explanatory in nature, highlighting the need for pragmatic designs to increase the degree of clinical applicability.

Guided Access Cavity Preparation Using Cost-Effective 3D Printers.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the accuracy and precision of desktop 3D printers when fabricating stents for guided endodontics. METHODS: A stent was designed using planning software for guided endodontic access on a typodont model. Four different 3D printers were used to fabricate an identical stent, one per printer. Each stent was then used to gain access to the artificial endodontic canal on a typodont tooth and was repeated 10 times per stent by the same operator. Each of the accessed typodont teeth were scanned by a reference scanner and then imported into the inspection software. Inspection software used a best-fit alignment to automatically calculate absolute deviation at the base and tip of the bur. RESULTS: The mean distances between the planned and actual positions of the bur were low, ranging from 0.31 to 0.68 mm. Statistically significant differences were found among the 4 groups (F3,36 = 10.67, P < .05). Post hoc comparison revealed that Group Form2 significantly varied from Groups Form3 and Carbon (P < .05 and P < .05, respectively). Group Form3 obtained the most accurate and most precise axial deviations both coronally and apically. CONCLUSIONS: All of the printers tested produced stents for guided access that allowed for a high level of accuracy in obtaining access to the artificial endodontic canal, which would justify the trial of cost-effective 3D printers for guided endodontic access and necessitates further clinical research on teeth with pulp canal obliteration.

Tooth Survival Following Non-Surgical Root Canal Treatment in South Korean Adult Population: A 11-Year Follow-Up Study of a Historical Cohort.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the survival rate of root canal treatment (RCT) and identified the factors affecting the survival/failure of RCT with respect to the patient's demographic, socioeconomic and dental healthcare factors. METHODS: The data of patients with RCT were analyzed using the 2002 patient data of the Korean National Health Insurance Service (KNHIS). The analysis included 1,193,666 patients, with 1,414,715 targeted teeth. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method based on the occurrence of the untoward event. The proportional hazard of failure of RCT was measured using the Cox proportional hazard model and considering variables were gender, age, income, type of dental healthcare, number of visits for RCT, and type of teeth. RESULTS: The 11-year cumulative survival rate for non-surgical RCT teeth was 88.37%. The Cox proportional hazard model showed significantly lower females (HR 0.704; CI 1.022-1.079) than males. The hazard ratio (HR) of over 65 years (HR 2.959; CI 2.864-3.058) was higher than that of other groups. In addition, the HR varied according to the income level (medical beneficiary was the highest) and the type of dental healthcare (tertiary hospital was the lowest). CONCLUSION: Performing RCT survival analysis using representative data revealed that the demographic and socioeconomic factors of the patients affect the failure of RCT. This study can serve as the basis for improving the survival trend in RCT and provide important implications in clinical decision-making in endodontics.

Methodological assessment and overall confidence in the results of systematic reviews with network meta-analyses in Endodontics.

AIM: The aims of the study were to assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews with network meta-analyses (NMAs) in Endodontics using the 'A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews' (AMSTAR 2) tool, and to evaluate the overall confidence in the results of the individual reviews included in the analysis. METHODOLOGY: Systematic reviews with NMAs within the specialty of Endodontics published in English were identified from the PubMed, EbBSCOhost and SCOPUS databases from inception to July 2021. Two reviewers were involved independently in the selection of the reviews, data extraction, methodological quality assessment and overall confidence rating. Disagreements were resolved by discussion between the reviewers to achieve consensus; if disagreements persisted, a third reviewer made the final decision. The methodological quality of the included NMAs was appraised using the AMSTAR 2 checklist, which contains 16 items. The reviewers scored each item-'Yes'-when the item was fully addressed, 'Partial Yes'-when the item was not fully addressed, or 'No'-when the item was not addressed. The overall confidence in the results of each review was classified as 'High', 'Moderate', 'Low' or 'Critically low' based on the criteria reported by the AMSTAR 2 developers. RESULTS: Twelve systematic reviews with NMAs were included. All the NMAs adequately reported Item 1 ('Did the research questions and inclusion criteria for the review include the components of PICO?'), Item 8 ('Did the review authors describe the included studies in adequate detail?'), Item 9 ('Did the review authors use a satisfactory technique for assessing the risk of bias (RoB) in individual studies that were included in the review?') and Item 16 ('Did the review authors report any potential sources of conflict of interest, including any funding they received for conducting the review?'), whereas only one NMA reported Item 10 adequately ('Did the review authors report on the sources of funding for the studies included in the review?'). The overall confidence in the results of eight reviews was categorized as 'Critically low', one review was 'Low', two reviews were 'Moderate' and one review was 'High'. CONCLUSION: The overall confidence in the results for the majority of systematic reviews with NMAs in Endodontics was judged to be 'Critically low' as their methodological quality was below the necessary standard. AMSTAR 2 and PRISMA for NMA guidelines are available to guide authors to produce high-quality systematic reviews with NMAs and for editors and peer-reviewers when assessing submissions to journals.

Methodological quality assessment criteria for the evaluation of laboratory-based studies included in systematic reviews within the specialty of Endodontology: A development protocol.

High-quality systematic reviews in the field of Dentistry provide the most definitive overarching evidence for clinicians, guideline developers and healthcare policy makers to judge the foreseeable risks, anticipated benefits, and potential harms of dental treatment. In the process of carrying out a systematic review, it is essential that authors appraise the methodological quality of the primary studies they include, because studies which follow poor methodology will have a potentially serious negative impact on the overall strength of the evidence and the recommendations that can be drawn. In Endodontology, systematic reviews of laboratory studies have used quality assessment criteria developed subjectively by the individual authors as there are no comprehensive, well-structured, and universally accepted criteria that can be applied objectively and universally to individual studies included in reviews. Unfortunately, these subjective criteria are likely to be inaccurately defined, unreliably applied, inadequately analysed, unreasonably biased, defective, and non-repeatable. The aim of the present paper is to outline the process to be followed in the development of comprehensive methodological quality assessment criteria to be used when evaluating laboratory studies, that is research not conducted in vivo on humans or animals, included in systematic reviews within Endodontology. The development of new methodological quality assessment criteria for appraising the laboratory-based studies included in systematic reviews within Endodontology will follow a three-stage process. First, a steering committee will be formed by the project leaders to develop a preliminary list of assessment criteria by modifying and adapting those already available, but with the addition of several new items relevant for Endodontology. The initial draft assessment criteria will be reviewed and refined by a Delphi Group (n = 40) for their relevance and inclusion using a nine-point Likert scale. Second, the agreed items will then be discussed in an online or face-to-face meeting by a group of experts (n = 10) to further refine the assessment criteria. Third, based on the feedback received from the online/face-to-face meeting, the steering committee will revise the quality assessment criteria and subsequently a group of authors will be selected to pilot the new system. Based on the feedback collected, the criteria may be revised further before being approved by the steering committee. The assessment criteria will be published in relevant journals, presented at national and international congresses/meetings, and will be freely available on a dedicated website. The steering committee will update the assessment criteria periodically based on feedback received from end-users.

Endodontic treatment during COVID-19 pandemic - Economic perception of dental professionals

Aim: This study evaluated, by the application of questionnaires, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the clinical routine and inspection by the competent authorities, on the flow of patients in the office, as well as on possible changes in Endodontic treatment costs and the amounts charged to patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from May 2nd, 2020 to May 6th, 2020, using an online questionnaire with a convenience sample. The inclusion criterion was professionals who perform endodontic treatments in daily clinical practice and who professional setting is private practice. The questionnaire brought questions about the impact on costs and the amount charged to the patient. Results: A total of 1042 questionnaires were answered from all the different states of Brazil, by professional who usually perform Endodontic treatment, and who is working in private practice. A total of 1010 (96.9%) respondents affirm it was necessary to modify the protective equipment in endodontic treatment due to pandemic and longer intervals between appointments was cited by 922 (88.5%), economically affecting the dental practice. There was no association between routine changes and economic impacts with gender, professional experience, area of residence or education level. Conclusion: In conclusion, most dental professionals recognized changes in the routine of endodontic treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have a perception of increase in endodontic costs, and reduction in the volume of patients

Assessment of Perceptions of Cone-beam Computed Tomography and Endodontic Treatment in a Military Population.

INTRODUCTION: Cone-beam computed tomographic (CBCT) imaging has had a significant impact in endodontic diagnosis and treatment planning. Previous studies have investigated provider attitudes and the use of CBCT technology, but little is known about patients' perceptions of the use of CBCT imaging in endodontics. This study assessed the perceptions of patients within a military population regarding the application of CBCT imaging for endodontic treatment. METHODS: One hundred three consecutive, volunteer patients who were treated in a military dental treatment facility and prescribed a CBCT study according to the American Association of Endodontists/American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology guidelines were given a Likert-type survey that recorded an initial level of knowledge and attitudes regarding the use of CBCT in endodontics. After standardized patient education in the form of a 2-minute video presentation describing the applications and risks associated with CBCT technology, CBCT volumes were acquired. A second survey was administered to record the patients' perceptions of the benefits and risks associated with CBCT imaging. RESULTS: After the video, 75% of the participants had a more positive opinion of CBCT technology; 56% felt that CBCT imaging was essential, and 44% felt it was beneficial. Fifty percent of the participants reported CBCT imaging having less radiation than they previously thought, whereas 11% thought it was more radiation. A total of 85% would seek out a provider who uses CBCT imaging if treatment is needed in the future. CONCLUSIONS: When presented with basic information, most patients within a military population perceive CBCT imaging to have an important role in endodontic treatment.

The Endodontic Complexity Assessment Tool (E-CAT): A digital form for assessing root canal treatment case difficulty.

AIMS: To develop an evidence-based, valid and reliable assessment tool that educational establishments and dental practitioners may use to assess the complexity of root canal treatment (RCT) utilizing digital advancements. The study also aimed to provide a more objective definition of the term 'uncomplicated' root canal treatment as described by the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) and the European Society of Endodontology (ESE) undergraduate curriculum guidelines for Endodontology. METHODOLOGY: The development process involved a narrative review of the literature to identify the complexity factors associated with root canal treatment on permanent teeth; an iterative development and analysis process to assess the weighting of these factors; and the programming of digital software to enhance the efficiency and user interface of the assessment form. Validation of the tool was sought with a panel of 35 specialist endodontists to assess clinical scenarios and assess the consensus inter-examiner agreement with the outcomes provided by the E-CAT. The inter-user and intra-user reliability studies were conducted with 15 dentists to evaluate the same clinical cases and by repeating the experiment 9 months later. The ease of use of the form was also assessed. RESULTS: The E-CAT was successfully developed with a total of 19 complexity criteria and hosted on a secure server under the domain of www.e-cat.uk. The tool provides a smart interactive filtering mechanism and automatic background calculation of the risk scores. Three levels of complexity were defined: class I (uncomplicated), class II (moderately complicated) and class III (highly complicated). The consensus of the panel of endodontists had excellent agreement with the outcome of the E-CAT. The inter-user and intra-user reliability was found to be 0.80 and 0.90, respectively. The average time to assess a case was 1:36 min. CONCLUSION: The E-CAT gave promising results providing an efficient and reliable platform to assess the complexity of cases undergoing root canal treatments. The study design allowed the formulation of a more objective definition to describe 'uncomplicated' root canal treatment as referred to by the ESE and ADEE guidelines. This study is advantageous for educational, public health and referral pathways.

Retrospective evaluation of endodontic case reports published in the International Endodontic Journal and the Journal of Endodontics for their compliance with the PRICE 2020 guidelines.

AIM: To evaluate, retrospectively, the quality of previously published case reports in Endodontics according to the PRICE 2020 guidelines. METHODOLOGY: An electronic literature search was conducted in PubMed database on 12 March 2020, to identify case reports published during the last five years in the International Endodontic Journal and the Journal of Endodontics. For each of the included case reports, information regarding fulfilment of each of the items of the PRICE 2020 guidelines was extracted as '0' (not present in the manuscript), '1' (present in the manuscript) and 'NA' (not applicable) and translated into a score (percentage of items fulfilled). Additionally, the percentage of papers fulfilling each item was calculated. RESULTS: Overall, 70 endodontic case reports were identified. The scores of the papers ranged between 56.41% and 79.55%, with a mean score of 70.26 ± 4.36% (SD). The percentage of papers fulfilling each item of the applicable PRICE 2020 items ranged widely, between 0% and 100%. The median of the percentage of all the items (n = 47) was 97.01% and mean 73.33 ± 36.28% (SD). The lowest scores were recorded for specific items in the following domains: 'Case Report Information'-Items 6c, 6g-i, 'Patient Perspective'-Item 8a and 'Quality of Images'-Items 12c-d. CONCLUSIONS: Several areas with low reporting rates were identified in case reports published over the last 5 years in Endodontics. Authors should be encouraged to follow the PRICE 2020 guidelines in order to increase the quality and improve reproducibility of their case reports.

Environmental sustainability in endodontics. A life cycle assessment (LCA) of a root canal treatment procedure.

BACKGROUND: To analyse via life cycle analysis (LCA) the global resource use and environmental output of the endodontic procedure. METHODOLOGY: An LCA was conducted to measure the life cycle of a standard/routine two-visit RCT. The LCA was conducted according to the International Organization of Standardization guidelines; ISO 14040:2006. All clinical elements of an endodontic treatment (RCT) were input into OpenLCA software using process and flows from the ecoinvent database. Travel to and from the dental clinic was not included. Environmental outputs included abiotic depletion, acidification, freshwater ecotoxicity/eutrophication, human toxicity, cancer/non cancer effects, ionizing radiation, global warming, marine eutrophication, ozone depletion, photochemical ozone formation and terrestrial eutrophication. RESULTS: An RCT procedure contributes 4.9 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 eq) emissions. This is the equivalent of a 30 km drive in a small car. The main 5 contributors were dental clothing followed by surface disinfection (isopropanol), disposable bib (paper and plastic), single-use stainless steel instruments and electricity use. Although this LCA has illustrated the effect endodontic treatment has on the environment, there are a number of limitations that may influence the validity of the results. CONCLUSIONS: The endodontic team need to consider how they can reduce the environmental burden of endodontic care. One immediate area of focus might be to consider alternatives to isopropyl alcohol, and look at paper, single use instrument and electricity use. Longer term, research into environmentally-friendly medicaments should continue to investigate the replacement of current cytotoxic gold standards with possible natural alternatives. Minimally invasive regenerative endodontics techniques designed to stimulate repair or regeneration of damaged pulp tissue may also be one way of improving the environmental impact of an RCT.

Assessment of carvacrol paste as endodontic medication associated with laser photobiomodulation in tissue repair: an experimental study in rats / Avaliação da pasta de carvacrol como medicação endodôntica associada à fotobiomodulação a laser no reparo: um estudo experimental em ratos

This study aimed to analyze the tissue reaction caused by carvacrol paste associated or not with laser photobiomodulation (LPBM) at λ660 nm in the subcutaneous tissue of rats. Sixty Wistar rats were divided into four groups and they received the following interventions: subcutaneous implantation of empty polyethylene tubes (CTR), implantation of tubes containing carvacrol paste (CVC), implantation of empty tubes and LPBM (LLLT), and implantation of tubes containing carvacrol paste and LPBM (CVCLT). The animals were euthanized at three, eight, and 15 days after surgery. The inflammatory reaction and fibroplasia were analyzed histomorphometrically. Significant differences among the groups were determined by ANOVA and Tukey's test (p<0.05). In the 3-day period, the CVCLT group had low inflammatory infiltration (p<0.01). In the 8- and 15-day periods, the LLLT and CVCLT groups presented a low amount of lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrate (p<0.01 and p<0.05). Regarding the formation of fibrous tissue, the CVC group had the highest formation of type III collagen in the 8-day period (p<0.001). In the 15-day period, the CVCLT group had a lower formation of type I collagen than the CTR and LLLT groups (p<0.05). The use of the carvacrol paste associated with photobiomodulation optimizes the inflammatory period and tissue repair.

Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar a reação tecidual causada pela pasta de carvacrol associada ou não à fotobiomodulação a laser (LPBM) a λ660 nm no tecido subcutâneo de ratos. Sessenta ratos Wistar foram divididos em quatro grupos e receberam as seguintes intervenções: implantação subcutânea de tubos de polietileno vazios (CTR); implantação de tubos contendo pasta de carvacrol (CVC); implantação de tubos vazios e LPBM (LLLT); implantação de tubos contendo pasta de carvacrol e LPBM (CVCLT). Os animais foram eutanasiados aos 03, 08 e 15 dias após a cirurgia. A reação inflamatória e a fibroplasia foram analisadas histologicamente. Diferenças significativas entre os grupos foram determinadas pelo teste ANOVA e teste de Tukey (p<0,05). No período de três dias, o grupo CVCLT apresentou menor infiltração inflamatória (p<0,01). No período de 8 e 15 dias, os grupos LLLT e CVCLT apresentaram menor quantidade de infiltrado inflamatório linfocitário (p<0,01 e p<0,05). Em relação à formação de tecido fibroso, o grupo CVC apresentou maior formação de colágeno tipo III no período de 8 dias (p<0,001). No período de 15 dias, o grupo CVCLT apresentou menor formação de colágeno tipo I em relação aos grupos CTR e LLLT (p<0,05). O uso da pasta de carvacrol associado à fotobiomodulação a laser otimiza o período inflamatório e o reparo tecidual.