Teaching an engine-driven preparation technique to undergraduates: initial observations.
OBJECTIVE
This paper describes the initial experiences following the introduction of a rotary engine-driven preparation technique into the undergraduate endodontic programme at the Zurich University Dental Centre.


METHODS
Forty third-year students practised the ProFile.04 (PF.04) technique between January and July 2001 in a preclinical course. Between November 2001 and February 2002, 20 of these students (Group A) root-treated 51 teeth in their clinical course using either PF.04, the balanced force technique (BFT) or a combination of both. The second group of 20 students (Group B) similarly treated another 36 randomly selected teeth between April and July 2002. Types of teeth treated by the students and the canal preparation techniques were recorded. The students also completed a short questionnaire, evaluating their opinions of the new course.


RESULTS
Of the 87 teeth endodontically treated during the clinical course, 34, 14 and 39 were shaped using PF.04 alone, a combination of PF.04 and BFT and BFT alone, respectively. No rotary instruments were fractured during the 1-year clinical course, although some instruments were fractured during the preclinical laboratory course. Overall, the students rated the rotary technique as positive.


CONCLUSIONS
A rotary technique was successfully introduced into an undergraduate endodontic programme (this will be continued in the foreseeable future). However, the continuity between the preclinical and the clinical courses was poor as a result of the constraints of the general teaching programme.
Hänni
S
S
Division of Endodontics, Department of Preventive Dentistry, Periodontology and Cariology, Zurich University, Switzerland; and Endodontic Division, Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
Schönenberger
K
K
Peters
O A
OA
Barbakow
F
F
D002983:Clinical Competence; D004497:Education, Dental; D004708:Endodontics / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D012388:Root Canal Irrigants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012389:Root Canal Obturation / Q000379:methods; D018915:Root Canal Preparation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D013557:Switzerland; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*
D012388:Root Canal Irrigants