title: Factors associated with root canal ledging during instrumentation.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify the presence of a ledge in 141 cases treated in an undergraduate clinic and in 103 cases treated by endodontists, and to identify the clinical factors associated with ledging. A total of 626 root canals were examined and the factors analyzed were canal location, tooth number and canal curvature. The results indicated that 51.5% of the canals treated by students had been ledged, whereas the percentage was 33.2% for intact pulp cavities treated by endodontists and 40.6% in cases of endodontic retreatment. Canal location was found to have an effect on the incidence of ledging as the mesiobuccal, mesiolingual and distal buccal root canals exhibited a significantly higher ledge incidence rate than the distal and palatal root canals. Canal curvature was the most significant variable affecting the incidence of ledging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontology, School of Dentistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kapalas
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lambrianidis
mesh_terms: D003786:Dental Pulp Cavity / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D004708:Endodontics / Q000193:education; D006171:Gutta-Percha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008963:Molar / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D015588:Observer Variation; D011859:Radiography; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019233:Retreatment; D012387:Root Canal Filling Materials / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012389:Root Canal Obturation; D018915:Root Canal Preparation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D013335:Students, Dental; D015035:Zinc Oxide-Eugenol Cement / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D012387:Root Canal Filling Materials; D015035:Zinc Oxide-Eugenol Cement; C045432:Grossman's sealer; D006171:Gutta-Percha