RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To gather information on the materials and methods employed in root canal treatment by dentists in Turkey. METHODS: A questionnaire was distributed to 1,527 dentists who attended the Turkish Dental Association Congress. Respondents were asked to choose one or more suitable answers for the questions. Data was gathered for demographic and professional information regarding stages, materials, and methods commonly used in endodontic therapy. The collected data was analyzed using the statistical package SPSS. Descriptive statistics were given as frequencies (n) and percent (%). Chi-square (χ(2)) test was used to investigate the influence of gender and the years of professional activity for the materials and techniques employed. RESULTS: The response rate was 49%. A total of 97% of respondents were working in a general dental practice. Of respondents, 44% were using an agent containing arsenic or aldehyde. Only 5.1% of the respondents preferred the rubber dam isolation method. Sodium hypochlorite was the most popular choice (73%) as a root canal irrigation solution. Calcium hydroxide was the most commonly used medicament (53%). Most of the practitioners (77%) preferred radiographs for working-length determination. Root canal preparation done solely with K-Files or in combination with other instruments was preferred by 73.1% of the respondents. Ni-Ti hand or rotary files were used by 79.7% of the practitioners. Polymer based root canal sealers were the sealers most frequently chosen (48.4%). The majority of the respondents (66.2%) preferred cold lateral condensation as an obturation technique. Gender affected the preference of intracanal medicament, periapical radiographs for working-length determination, root canal instrument, root canal sealers, and root canal obturation technique (P<.05). Years of professional experience affected the preference of devitalizing agents, irrigation solutions, intracanal medicament, root canal instrument, root canal sealer, and root canal obturation technique (P<.05). CONCLUSIONS: It is clear that a number of dentists, irrespective of the time elapsed since their graduation, relied on techniques, and used products and materials that are currently favoured by expert opinion. Unfortunately, it was noted that some practitioners are still using arsenic- and aldehyde-containing devitalizing agents, and most did not use rubber dam as an isolation method.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the radiographic quality of root canal fillings performed by first and second clinical year dental students at the Faculty of Dentistry in Süleyman Demirel University, Turkey. METHODS: The technical quality of 833 root canal fillings was evaluated by three examiners according to the density of the filling and the distance between the end of the filling and the radiographic apex. A root canal with acceptable filling length and homogeneous root filling was defined as being good quality endodontic work (GQEW). A treated tooth was defined as having good quality endodontic work tooth (GQEW-T) when all its canals had a GQEW rating. RESULTS: A Chi-square (χ(2)) test at the 0.05 significance level was used for the statistical analysis of the data. Of a total of 833 root canals, 662 (79.47%) root fillings were classed as GQEW. Two hundred fifty canals (73.4%) (135 teeth) treated by first clinical year dental students were defined as GQEW-T while 412 canals (204 teeth) (73.9%) treated by second clinical year dental students were defined as GQEW-T (P>.05). Most of the GQEW-T were defined in anterior teeth (90.1%), whereas the fewest were in molar teeth (46.6%) for both first and second clinical year dental students (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The quality of root canal fillings in anterior teeth performed by undergraduate dental students in Isparta, Turkey was satisfactory. However, to improve the success with molar teeth, education about newer techniques and instruments must be incorporated into the preclinical and clinical curriculum.