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.

Quality of Fixed Dental Prostheses and Patient Satisfaction in a Sample From Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the study was to retrospectively assess the clinical performance of dental prostheses, single crowns, and three-unit bridges to identify clinical biological and mechanical complications in the Ha'il province of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: The study was conducted between March 2021 to October 2021 and included 421 patients who underwent crown and tooth-supported fixed partial denture (FPD) procedures at the Dental Polyclinics Center in the Ha'il region of Saudi Arabia from 2010-2020. The planned sampling approach was applied. Patients who underwent crown and FPD placements at the dental center within the scheduled period were identified through clinical assessments. The inclusion criteria were met by patients with three-unit FPDs and a single crown containing a natural contralateral tooth or teeth. A total of six general dentists conducted clinical exams. Patient satisfaction and technical and biological issues were the evaluation criteria for crowns and FPDs. The frequency and percentage of the various characteristics employed in the current investigation were ascertained using cross-tabulation. The Chi-square test was employed to assess the associations between categorical variables, with p-values ≤ 0.05 considered significant.  Results: Marginal integrity was recorded in 332 participants (78.9%), which was satisfactory for the majority of the restoration. The acceptance morphology was present in 252 (59.9%) restorations. The highest rate of the restorations 274 (66.2%) had satisfactory color. In 86 cases (20.4%), there was visible periodontal depth of at least 5 mm. Three hundred and six (72.7%) of the fixed restorations had gingival bleeding connected to them, and 96 (22.8%) teeth had periapical lesions. A total of 311 patients (73.9%) reported they were satisfied with their fixed restorations. CONCLUSIONS: The technical and biological complications noted in the current study were not higher compared with other studies of crowns and fixed dental prostheses. The majority of patients were satisfied with the restoration.

Influence of Conventional Polymer, Hybrid Polymer and Zinc Phosphate Luting Agents on the Bond Strength of Customized Zirconia Post in Premolars-An In-Vitro Evaluation.

The aim was to identify the influence of conventional polymeric resin based cement (RC), hybrid polymer modified glass ionomer (RMGIC) and Zinc phosphate cement (ZPC) on the pull out strength of the customized zirconia post in premolars. Access cavity and root canals were performed in sixty premolar teeth with the standardized crown down technique (ProTaper Universal, Dentsply). Post space impressions were scanned, and the pre-sintered Zenostar Zr Translucent blanks (Weiland Dental, Pforzheim) were milled with the Opera-system to form the post. All prepared specimens were divided equally in three groups based on the cement type employed for luting as follows: group A: ZPC; group B (GC Fuji PLUS Capsule): RMGIC; group C (and RC (3M RelyX ARC). Ten specimens in each group were thermocycled (TC) at 5 and 55 °C in distilled water baths (40,000 cycles). Pull out bond strength was assessed using a universal testing machine at 0.5 mm/min. The means and standard deviations were compared using ANOVA and Tukey Kramer multiple comparisons tests. A significant difference among the cement groups as well as between TC and non-thermocycled (NTC) groups (p < 0.05) was observed. The highest tensile stress was demonstrated among group C (Resin, 69.89 ± 4.81 (NTC), 64.06 ± 4.36 (TC)) with the least in group A, (zinc phosphate, 43.66 ± 5.02 (NTC), 37.70 ± 5.10 (TC)) for both groups. Group A presented with 100% adhesive bond failures, followed by 80% in group C and 70% in group B, respectively. A similar outcome was observed in the TC group for the cement; however, unlike the NTC group, the TC group showed more cohesive failures compared to the NTC mixed failure. Dual cure polymer based cement demonstrated higher bond strength and efficient adhesive bonding of the customized Zr post with root dentine compared to zinc phosphate (non-polymeric) and RMGIC (hybrid polymer). Thermocycling compromised Zr post adhesive bonding to root dentin.